Since 1994, Joe Buck has been on everybody’s television screens calling NFL games or Major League Baseball games (since 1996) for FOX. However, if you ask him, he felt he was more lucky enough to work for a network that had the rights to those sports, so he could have that opportunity.
This week, Buck was on the The Athletic Baseball Show with Jayson Stark and Doug Glanville. One of the things he talked about is how people think Buck hates their team when he calls games:
Stark asked Buck if he would have told Buck back then that he would end up calling 23 World Series and 6 Super Bowls as well as calling baseball for a total of 30 years (both locally in St. Louis and nationally), what would he say? The son of the late, great Jack Buck thought what he’s done is more of an indication on how great FOX is doing than what he is doing:
“It’s weird for me to look back. I was just trying to make sure I wasn’t going to get exposed as some fraud. A lot of stuff was swirling around and I just remember thinking let’s get through this one. Calling my dad before and after games and just knowing I ended up in a place that just continues to buy the rights to baseball. I didn’t win a national title search and Simon Cowell isn’t evaluating my broadcasts. FOX wrote the bigger checks and I was lucky enough to audition when they got football and get in the door. I just ended up at the place that continues to want to pay to cover baseball in October at a network level.”
Glanville asked Buck about what the difference is between baseball and football in terms of being able to elevate big moments, such as a home run call.
“I think baseball lends itself to those moments a little bit more. The NFL doesn’t lend itself to that. Baseball has so much nuance and so much more time to talk about how we talk to the manager, here is the matchup he’s looking at, here’s who on his bench. The guy could be at the plate fouling off pitches. There’s time to do that. If you love the strategy of baseball which is becoming less and less part of the game in my opinion unfortunately, you love calling this game.”
Glanville also asked Buck what he thinks about athletes voicing their opinion on social issues. Buck says his dad told him before Buck started calling Triple-A games to realize how hard it is for people to play the game.
“I think my dad would be very proud that the people he admired so much are willing to use their voice for social change. I think that is the next step in the evolution of the professional athlete. I couldn’t be more proud of what I see around me. The way Colin Kaepernick grew up is so different than the way I grew up and I respect that. Then, when they start putting money and time behind these efforts, you realize how special a lot of these athletes are. I’m very proud that the people I get to cover are also making a difference in society.”
