Jack Buck

John Francis Buck (August 21, 1924 – June 18, 2002), born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, was an American sportscaster, best known for his work announcing Major League Baseball games of the St. Louis Cardinals. Buck received the Ford C. Frick Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987.

CBS baseball career

From 1983-1989, Buck teamed with the likes of Sparky Anderson, Bill White, and Johnny Bench for World Series radio broadcasts. Buck, along with CBS Radio colleagues Johnny Bench and John Rooney, was on hand at San Francisco's Candlestick Park on October 17, 1989 when the Loma Prieta earthquake hit. After the earthquake hit, Buck told the listening audience "I must say about Johnny Bench folks, if he moved that fast when he played, he would have never hit into a double play. I never saw anybody move that fast in my life."

Related Topics:
1983 - 1989 - Sparky Anderson - Bill White - Johnny Bench - World Series - John Rooney - San Francisco - Candlestick Park - October 17 - Loma Prieta earthquake

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An interesting tidbit about Jack Buck's television work for CBS was the fact that he originally wasn't intended to be their main play-by-play announcer for baseball telecasts. Buck was promoted at practically the last minute after Brent Musburger was fired on April Fools Day of 1990.

Related Topics:
Brent Musburger - April Fools Day - 1990

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After two years of calling baseball telecasts (including the All-Star Game, National League Championship Series, and World Series), Buck was dismissed by CBS. The official reasoning behind Buck's ouster was that he simply had poor chemistry with lead analyst Tim McCarver. Buck was soon replaced by Boston Red Sox announcer Sean McDonough. Buck later rued that "CBS never got that baseball play-by-play draws word-pictures. All they knew was that football stars analysts. So they said, 'Let McCarver run the show.'" Buck was also criticized by some for his supposed habit of predicting plays on air. One such example came during the conclusion of Game 4 of the 1991 World Series. Buck had called Atlanta Braves second baseman Mark Lemke out mere seconds before the umpire signaled that Lemke was actually safe (thus scoring the game winning run).

Related Topics:
All-Star Game - Tim McCarver - Boston Red Sox - Sean McDonough - Atlanta Braves - Mark Lemke

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Jack Buck didn't help his cause when he made controversial statements about singer Bobby Vinton during the 1991 National League Championship Series. After Vinton sung an off-key rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, in his home town of Pittsburgh, Buck lightly referenced Vinton's Polish heritige. Buck soon got death threats from Pittsburgh Pirate fans, who even went as far as leaving a footprint on Buck's hotel pillow. The next day, CBS Sports director Ted Shaker spotted Buck in the hotel lobby and simply told Buck that he was in trouble. The final baseball play that Jack Buck narrated for CBS television was Gene Larkin's game winning bloop single in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series ("The Twins are going to win the World Series! The Twins have won it! It's a base hit! It's a 1-0 10th inning victory!").

Related Topics:
Bobby Vinton - 1991 - Star Spangled Banner - Pittsburgh - Polish - Pittsburgh Pirate - CBS Sports - Gene Larkin - Twins

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In all, Jack Buck called 11 World Series (for a national audience only), 17 Super Bowls, and four Major League Baseball All-Star Games.

Related Topics:
Super Bowl - Major League Baseball All-Star Games

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Final years

Over the course of the 1990s, Buck decided to cut down his schedule to calling only Cardinals home games (or 82 games a year unless there was a "special occurrence"). Health concerns obviously could have played a factor in this as Buck suffered from such ailments as Parkinson's disease, diabetes, a pacemaker, cataracts, sciatica, and vertigo. Buck once joked "I wish I'd get Alzheimer's, then I could forget I've got all the other stuff." In 1997, Buck published his autobiography which was aptly titled That's a Winner! In 1998, the Cardinals dedicated a bust of Buck that showed him smiling with a hand cupping his left ear.

Related Topics:
1990s - Parkinson's disease - Diabetes - Pacemaker - Cataracts - Sciatica - Vertigo - Alzheimer's - 1997 - Autobiography - 1998

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One of Jack Buck's final public appearances was on September 17, 2001 in Busch Stadium in St. Louis. It was the first night that Major League Baseball resumed after the September 11th terrorist attacks. Although looking rather frail (Buck at the time was sick with lung cancer) and struggling to maintain his composure (Buck was obviously showing the signs of Parkinson's disease by this point), Buck stirred emotions with a patriotic themed poem that he read during the pre-game ceremonies.

Related Topics:
September 17 - 2001 - Busch Stadium - September 11th terrorist attacks - Lung cancer

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Jack Buck died on June 18, 2002 at the age of 77 in Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. He had stayed in the hospital for all but the first two days of January 2002. He was in the hospital to undergo treatment for lung cancer, Parkinson's disease, and to correct an intestinal blockage. Buck died just four days before Cardinal pitcher Darryl Kile, who passed away at the age of 33. Buck was interred at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis. Buck's spot on the KMOX Cardinals broadcasts was subsequently filled by former Colorado Rockies announcer Wayne Hagin.

Related Topics:
June 18 - 2002 - January 2002 - Intestinal - Darryl Kile - Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery - Colorado Rockies - Wayne Hagin

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Buck's youngest son, Joe Buck (Jack had 8 children in all; five daughters and three sons), is currently the lead play-by-play announcer for both MLB and the NFL on the Fox network and does occasional local telecasts for the Cardinals. During postseason telecasts, Joe often pays homage to his late father by signing off with "We'll see you tomorrow night!"

Related Topics:
Joe Buck - MLB - The NFL - Fox

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