Joseph Francis "Joe" Buck (born April 25, 1969) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sportscasterA sports commentator is a type of journalist on radio and/or television who specializes in reporting or commentating on sporting events...
and the son of sportscaster
Jack BuckJohn Francis "Jack" Buck 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, and is honored with a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame...
. He has won numerous
Sports Emmy AwardsThe Sports Emmy Awards are presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in recognition of excellence in American sports television programming, including sports-related series, live coverage of sporting events, and best sports announcers...
for his
play-by-playSports commentary, in broadcasting, is a term that means the reporting of a sporting event with a voiceover describing the details of the game in progress. In North America, in a lot of sports, the sports commentator is assisted by a color commentator, and sometimes a sideline reporter...
work with Fox Sports.
Education
Buck was born in
St. Petersburg, FloridaSt. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The city is known as a vacation destination for North American and European vacationers. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 248,232. As of 2006, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 248,098. The 2007...
(where the
St. Louis CardinalsThe St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball...
, for whom his father broadcast, then conducted their
spring trainingIn Major League Baseball, spring training is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to audition for roster and position spots, and gives existing team players practice time prior to competitive play...
) and raised in
St. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. With an estimated population of 354,361 in 2008, it is the principal municipality of Greater St. Louis, population 2,866,517, the largest urban area in Missouri and sixteenth largest in the United States...
. After graduating from
St. Louis Country Day SchoolMary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School or "MICDS" is a secular, co-educational, private school for about 1,200 students in grades JK-12, separated into three different sections: JK-4th grade , 5th-8th grade , and 9th-12th grade . Its 100 acres campus is located in the St...
, Buck began his broadcasting career in 1989, while he was an undergraduate at
Indiana UniversityIndiana University is the flagship campus of the Indiana University system. It is also known as Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana, or simply IU, and is located in Bloomington, Indiana....
. When Buck graduated from Indiana two years later, he received a
B.A.Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences or both....
in English and a minor in telecommunications. Buck was also a member of Sigma Nu Fraternity Beta Eta Chapter.
Career timeline
- 1991–2007: St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball...
play-by-play
- 1992–1993: University of Missouri
The Missouri Tigers athletics programs include the extramural and intramural sports teams of the University of Missouri, located in Columbia, Missouri, United States. The name comes from a band armed guards called the Missouri Tigers who, in 1864, protected Columbia from plundering Union squads as...
basketball color commentator
- 1994–1997: NFL on Fox
NFL on Fox is the brand name of the Fox Broadcasting Company's coverage of the National Football League's games wherein the road team is from the National Football Conference, produced by Fox Sports...
regional play-by-play
- 1996–present: Major League Baseball on Fox lead play-by-play
- 2002–present: NFL on Fox
NFL on Fox is the brand name of the Fox Broadcasting Company's coverage of the National Football League's games wherein the road team is from the National Football Conference, produced by Fox Sports...
lead play-by-play
- 2006: Fox NFL Sunday
Ford Drive One Fox NFL Sunday is the pregame show for the TV show The NFL on Fox. The program is broadcast on Fox television affiliates nationwide. The audio portion of the show is broadcast over the Fox Sports Radio network, distributed by Premiere Radio Networks...
host
- 2009–present: Joe Buck Live
Joe Buck Live is a talk show hosted by sportscaster Joe Buck. The show premiered on HBO on June 15, 2009. It replaces Costas Now, which Bob Costas hosted for HBO until February 2009, when he left for the MLB Network.-First episode:...
host
Before FOX
Buck called play-by-play for the then-
Louisville RedbirdsThe Memphis Redbirds are the Triple-A minor league baseball affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They play their home games at AutoZone Park in downtown Memphis, Tennessee. The stadium's capacity is 14,320. They entered the Pacific Coast League as an expansion team in 1998, and are owned as a...
, a
minor leagueMinor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in North America that compete at levels below that of Major League Baseball. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses, and many are members of Minor League Baseball, an umbrella organization for leagues...
affiliate of the Cardinals, and was a reporter for
ESPNESPN is an American cable television network dedicated to broadcasting and producing sports-related programming 24 hours a day....
's coverage of the
Triple-A All-Star GameThe Triple-A All-Star Game is a single baseball game held between the two Triple-A leagues in minor league baseball—the International League and the Pacific Coast League...
. In 1991, Buck did reporting for St Louis' CBS affiliate
KMOVKMOV is a CBS affiliated television station, operating on Channel 4 in St. Louis, Missouri. KMOV is owned by the Dallas, Texas-based Belo Corporation, with studio and office facilities in St. Louis and transmitter located in Lemay, Missouri.-History:...
. Also, in
1991The St. Louis Cardinals 1991 season was the team's 110th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 100th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 84-78 during the season and finished 2nd in the National League East division....
Joe followed in his father's footsteps by broadcasting for the Cardinals on local television and
KMOXKMOX is a radio station broadcasting from St. Louis, Missouri. It is a 50,000-watt clear channel radio station, which permits its nighttime signal to be heard in most of the continental U.S. KMOX operates as "NewsRadio 1120" and refers to itself as "The Voice of St...
Radio, filling in while his father was working on CBS telecasts. In the 1992–95 season he was the color commentator for
University of Missouri basketballThe Missouri Tigers men's basketball team represents the University of Missouri in the Big 12 Conference. The Tigers are located in Columbia, Missouri. The team last played in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in 2009, reaching the Elite 8. The Missouri Tigers men's basketball team...
broadcasts.
Buck continued to call Cardinals games after being hired by FOX, initially with his father on KMOX and later on
FSN MidwestFox Sports Midwest is a regional sports network that operates in eastern and central Missouri, Southern Illinois, Southern Indiana, and Iowa. FSN Midwest began in the November 1989 as Prime Sports Midwest as an affiliate of the Prime Network, which then was seen mainly in Indiana, before moving...
television. As his network duties increased, however, Buck's local workload shrunk, and prior to the
2008The St. Louis Cardinals' 2008 season was the 127th season for the franchise in St. Louis, Missouri and the 117th season in the National League. The Cardinals, coming off a 78-84 season that was their worst since 1999, improved by eight games, going 86-76 in 2008...
season it was announced that Buck would no longer be calling Cardinals telecasts for FSN Midwest. This would mark the first time since
1960The St. Louis Cardinals 1960 season was the team's 79th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 69th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 86-68 during the season and finished third in the National League, nine games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates....
that a member of the Buck family would not be part of the team's broadcasting crew.
Hiring at FOX
In
1994The 1994 NFL season was the 75th regular season of the National Football League. To honor the NFL's 75th season, a special anniversary logo was designed and each player wore a patch on their jerseys with this logo throughout the season...
Buck was hired by FOX, and at the age of 25 became the youngest man ever to announce a regular slate of
National Football LeagueThe National Football League is the largest professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing its name to the National Football League in 1922. The league currently consists of...
games on network television.
Major League Baseball on Fox
In he was named FOX's lead play-by-play voice for Major League Baseball, teaming with
Tim McCarverJames Timothy McCarver is an American former Major League baseball catcher, and a current sportscaster for Fox Sports.-Playing career:...
, who had previously worked with Joe's father on CBS. That year, he became the youngest man to do a national broadcast (for all nine innings and games, as a network employee as opposed to simply being a representative of one the participating teams) for a
World SeriesThe 1996 World Series matched the defending champion Atlanta Braves against the New York Yankees, with the Yankees winning in six games to capture their first championship since 1978, and their 23rd overall. The Yankees became the third team to win a World Series after dropping Games 1 and 2 at...
, surpassing
Sean McDonoughSean McDonough is an American television sportscaster.-Early life and career:The son of Boston Globe sportswriter Will McDonough, Sean graduated from Syracuse University in 1984. It was in Syracuse where McDonough began his broadcasting career in 1982 as the play-by-play announcer for the Syracuse...
, who called the
1992 World SeriesThe 1992 World Series was the first Series ever with games played outside the United States of America. It pitted the American League champion Toronto Blue Jays against the National League champion Atlanta Braves...
for CBS at the age of 30. McDonough had replaced Jack Buck as CBS' lead baseball play-by-play man after the elder Buck was fired in late .
On September 8, Joe Buck called
Mark McGwireMark David McGwire is a former Major League Baseball player who played his major league career with the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Cardinals....
's 62nd
home runIn baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle all the bases, ending at home plate and scoring runs for himself and each runner who was already on base, with no errors by the defensive team on the play...
that broke
Roger MarisRoger Eugene Maris was an American right fielder in Major League Baseball who is primarily remembered for hitting 61 home runs for the New York Yankees during the 1961 season...
' single-season record. The game was nationally televised live in
prime timePrime time or primetime is the block of programming on television during the middle of the evening.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period, for example, from 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm...
on FOX. It was a rarity for a nationally televised regular season game to not be aired on
cableCable television is a system of providing television to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through fixed optical fibers or coaxial cables as opposed to the over-the-air method used in traditional television broadcasting in which a television antenna is required...
since the end of the
Monday Night BaseballMonday Night Baseball is a live game telecast of Major League Baseball that airs most Monday nights during the regular season on ESPN and is also available in high definition on ESPNHD. The official name of the game is Monday Night Baseball presented by Bank of America. The game starts at 7 p.m...
era on ABC in .
During FOX's broadcast of the
2002 World SeriesThe World Series was the 98th edition of the Fall Classic, held from October 19–27, 2002. The series featured the American League champion Anaheim Angels defeating the National League champion San Francisco Giants, 4–3, to win the franchise's first ever World Series.The series was notable as being...
, Joe Buck paid implicit tribute to his father, who had died only a few months earlier (he had read the eulogy at his father's funeral), by calling the final out of Game 6 (which tied the series at 3–3, and thus ensured there would be a Game 7 broadcast the next night) with the phrase, "We'll see you tomorrow night." This was the same phrase with which Jack Buck had famously called
Kirby PuckettKirby Puckett was a center fielder in Major League Baseball who played his entire major-league career with the Minnesota Twins from 1984 to 1995. He is the Twins franchise's all-time leader in career hits, runs, doubles and total bases...
's home run off
BravesThe Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball team based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. From to the present, the Braves have played in Turner Field....
pitcherIn baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter who attempts to either make contact with it or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the pitcher is...
Charlie LeibrandtCharles Louis "Charlie" Leibrandt, Jr. was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played from 1979 to 1993 for the Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, Atlanta Braves and Texas Rangers...
which ended Game 6 of the
1991 World SeriesThe 1991 World Series was played between the Minnesota Twins of the American League and the Atlanta Braves of the National League between October 19 and October 27, 1991. The Series was, in some respects, similar to the 1987 World Series also played by the Minnesota Twins , most notably in that...
. Since then he has continued to use this phrase at appropriate times.
Buck famously announced the end of the "
Curse of the BambinoThe Curse of the Bambino was a superstition cited as a reason for the failure of the Boston Red Sox baseball team to win the World Series in the 86-year period from 1918 until 2004. While some fans took the curse seriously, most used the expression in a tongue-in-cheek manner...
" with: "Back to
FoulkeKeith Charles Foulke is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher who currently plays for the Newark Bears organization.-Career:...
.
Red Sox fansRed Sox Nation refers to the fans of the Boston Red Sox. The phrase "Red Sox Nation" was first coined by Boston Globe feature writer Nathan Cobb in an October 20, 1986, article about split allegiances among fans in Connecticut during the 1986 World Series between the Red Sox and the New York Mets, ...
have longed to hear it: the
Boston Red SoxThe Boston Red Sox are a member of the Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Since , the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park. The "Red Sox" name originates from the iconic uniform feature....
are
World ChampionsThe 2004 World Series was the Major League Baseball championship series for the 2004 season. It was the 100th World Series and featured the American League champions, the Boston Red Sox, against the National League champions, the St. Louis Cardinals...
!"
His low-key statement "St. Louis has a World Series winner," at the close of the
2006 World SeriesThe 2006 World Series, the 102nd edition of Major League Baseball's championship series, began on October 21 and ended on October 27, and matched the American League champion Detroit Tigers against the National League champion, St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals won the Series in five games, taking...
, echoed a long-time catchphrase of Jack Buck's, at the close of any Cardinals victory: "And that's a winner!"
NFL on Fox
Buck became Fox Sports' lead
NFLNFL on Fox is the brand name of the Fox Broadcasting Company's coverage of the National Football League's games wherein the road team is from the National Football Conference, produced by Fox Sports...
play-by-playSports commentary, in broadcasting, is a term that means the reporting of a sporting event with a voiceover describing the details of the game in progress. In North America, in a lot of sports, the sports commentator is assisted by a color commentator, and sometimes a sideline reporter...
man in
2002The 2002 season of the National Football League was the 83rd one played by the major professional American football league in the United States. The league expanded to 32 teams with the addition of the Houston Texans. The clubs were then realigned into eight divisions, four teams in each...
(taking over for
Pat SummerallGeorge Allen "Pat" Summerall is a former American football player and television sportscaster, having worked at CBS, FOX, and ESPN....
), teaming with
Cris CollinsworthAnthony Cris Collinsworth is a former American football player and a television sportscaster.-College career:...
and
Troy AikmanTroy Kenneth Aikman is a former American football quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League, and currently a television sportscaster for the Fox network. He is formerly a joint owner of the NASCAR Sprint Cup racing team, Hall of Fame Racing, along with fellow former...
as
color commentatorA color commentator is a sports commentator who assists the play-by-play announcer by filling in any time when play is not in progress. The term is of North American origin. The color commentator provides expert analysis and background information, such as statistics, strategy and injury reports...
s and
Pam OliverPamela Donielle Oliver is an American sportscaster known for her work on the sidelines for various NBA and NFL games.-Early life:...
as the
sideline reporterA sideline reporter, also known as a field reporter/analyst, courtside reporter , clubhouse reporter , third-member of a broadcast team, or inside-the-glass reporter , is a member of the broadcasting team for a sporting event who assists with additional coverage away from the broadcasting booth or...
. Buck is only the third announcer to handle a television network's lead MLB and NFL coverage in the same year (following
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
's
Curt GowdyCurtis Edward "Curt" Gowdy was an American sportscaster, well-known as the longtime "voice" of the Boston Red Sox and for his coverage of many nationally-televised sporting events, primarily for NBC Sports in the 1960s and 1970s.-Early years:The son of a manager for the Union Pacific railroad,...
and
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
's
Al MichaelsAlan Richard "Al" Michaels is an American television sportscaster. Now employed by NBC Sports after nearly three decades with ABC Sports, Michaels is one of the most prominent members of his profession...
). By , Buck's FOX duties forced him to cut his local Cardinal schedule to 25 games. Whenever Joe Buck has been on a postseason Major League Baseball assignment,
Dick StocktonDick Stockton is an American sportscaster. He is currently employed by FOX Sports and Turner Sports as a football, baseball, and basketball play-by-play man.-Early life and career:...
(and
Kenny AlbertKenny Albert , is an American sportscaster and the son of sportscaster Marv Albert.-Early life:His dad gave him a tape recorder for his fifth birthday to practice his broadcasting....
beginning in
2007The 2007 season of the National Football League was the 88th season played by the major professional American football league in the United States. Regular-season play was held from September 6 to December 30....
), who coincidentally was the back-up announcer behind Jack Buck for CBS' baseball telecasts in the early 1990s, would fill-in for him.
On February 6, 2005, Buck called his first
Super BowlSuper Bowl XXXIX was an American football game played on 6 February 2005, at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, to decide the National Football League champion following the 2004 regular season...
, as the
New England PatriotsThe New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the...
defeated the
Philadelphia EaglesThe Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
for their third championship in four years, just three months after he called the end of the Curse of the Bambino. His father called 17 Super Bowls for CBS television and radio in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.
FOX NFL Sunday
On August 14, 2006, Buck was named the host of FOX's pregame NFL show,
Fox NFL SundayFord Drive One Fox NFL Sunday is the pregame show for the TV show The NFL on Fox. The program is broadcast on Fox television affiliates nationwide. The audio portion of the show is broadcast over the Fox Sports Radio network, distributed by Premiere Radio Networks...
and postgame doubleheader show. According to the
Nielsen ratingsNielsen ratings are audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
system, viewership was down for the entire season. FOX announced in March 2007 that Buck would no longer host
FOX NFL Sunday in
2007The 2007 season of the National Football League was the 88th season played by the major professional American football league in the United States. Regular-season play was held from September 6 to December 30....
, concentrating on play-by-play for the week's marquee game.
HBO Sports
On February 5, 2009, Buck signed with HBO to host a sports-based talk show for the network called
Joe Buck LiveJoe Buck Live is a talk show hosted by sportscaster Joe Buck. The show premiered on HBO on June 15, 2009. It replaces Costas Now, which Bob Costas hosted for HBO until February 2009, when he left for the MLB Network.-First episode:...
. The debut of this show, on June 15, 2009, made national headlines solely because of the tension-filled banter between Buck and guest
Artie LangeArthur Steven "Artie" Lange, Jr. is an American stand-up comedian, radio personality author and actor. Lange is most notable for replacing Jackie Martling on The Howard Stern Show, and as a member of the original cast of the sketch comedy series MADtv...
, a comedian from The Howard Stern Show who made several outrageous jokes at Buck's expense.
Joe Buck Live is planned to air four times a year and have a format similar to that of
Costas NowCostas Now was an American monthly sports television show hosted by Bob Costas on HBO.-History:In 2001, Costas was hired by HBO to host a 12-week talk and interview series called On the Record with Bob Costas. In 2005, the program was revamped to become Costas Now, with more of a focus on sports...
, the monthly program previously hosted on HBO by
Bob CostasRobert Quinlan "Bob" Costas is an American sportscaster, on the air for the NBC network since the early 1980s.-Early life:...
. Buck will continue his play-by-play duties for FOX.
Other notable appearances
In the late 1990s, Buck hosted a weekly sports-news show,
Goin' Deep, for
Fox Sports NetThe Fox Sports Regional Networks, or simply Fox Sports Net , are a collection of cable TV regional sports networks in the United States owned and operated by News Corporation.-Beginnings:...
cable. He also called
horse racingHorse racing is an equestrian sport that has been practiced over the centuries; the chariot races of Roman times are an early example, as is the contest of the steeds of the god Odin and the giant Hrungnir in Norse mythology. It is inextricably associated with gambling...
and professional
bass fishingBass fishing is the activity of angling for the North American gamefish known colloquially as the black bass. There are numerous black bass species considered as gamefish in North America, including largemouth bass , smallmouth bass , Spotted bass or Kentucky bass , Guadalupe bass Bass fishing is...
events early in his FOX career, as well as the network's first
Cotton BowlThe Cotton Bowl Classic, commonly known as the Cotton Bowl, is a United States college football bowl game that was played annually since 1937 at its namesake stadium in Dallas, Texas. On February 27, 2007, it was announced that the game will move to Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, beginning...
telecast in
1999The 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season was the first of the Bowl Championship Series, which saw Tennessee win the national championship, one year after star quarterback Peyton Manning left for the NFL...
.
Part of Buck's broadcast (with McCarver and
Bob BrenlyRobert Earl Brenly is a former catcher and manager in Major League Baseball and a current broadcaster for the Chicago Cubs alongside Len Kasper. Brenly is the color commentator for Cubs baseball on WGN and Comcast SportsNet.-Early life:Bob Brenly attended Ohio University in Athens, Ohio and was a...
) of Game 5 of the
1997 American League Championship SeriesThe 1997 American League Championship Series pitted the Cleveland Indians, who won coming back against the defending World Series champion New York Yankees in the AL Division Series, and the Baltimore Orioles, who went wire-to-wire and beat the Seattle Mariners in the Division Series...
could be heard in the background of one of the recordings
Linda TrippLinda Tripp was a central figure in the Lewinsky scandal of 1998 and 1999 that led to the impeachment and subsequent acquittal of U.S...
made of a conversation between herself and
Monica LewinskyMonica Samille Lewinsky is an American woman with whom then-United States President Bill Clinton admitted to having had an "improper relationship" while Lewinsky worked at the White House in 1995 and 1996...
, regarding the latter's affair with then-
PresidentThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
Bill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton was the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He was the third-youngest president; only Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy were younger when entering office...
.
Buck once guest-hosted an episode of the
E!E!: Entertainment Television is an American cable television and direct broadcast satellite network. From November 2006 onwards, it became wholly owned by Comcast.- History :...
network's
Talk SoupTalk Soup was a television show produced for cable network E! that debuted on January 7, 1991, as a midseason replacement, and aired until August 2002...
program.
Since 2001, Buck has hosted the "Joe Buck Classic", a celebrity pro-am golf tournament that is played each May to raise money for
St. Louis Children's HospitalSt. Louis Children's Hospital is a pediatric hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. SLCH is the pediatric teaching hospital for Washington University School of Medicine, ranked the 3rd best medical school in the United States by U.S. News & World Report....
.
On a Season 3 episode of
LostLost is an American serial drama television series. It follows the lives of plane crash survivors on a mysterious tropical island, after a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney, Australia, and Los Angeles, United States, crashes somewhere in the South Pacific...
, Ben shows
JackDr. Jack Shephard is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Matthew Fox. Jack is the leader of the crash survivors and the main character of the series. He is the antithesis of John Locke and the love interest of both Kate Austen and Juliet Burke...
a clip of the last play of the
2004 World SeriesThe 2004 World Series was the Major League Baseball championship series for the 2004 season. It was the 100th World Series and featured the American League champions, the Boston Red Sox, against the National League champions, the St. Louis Cardinals...
, and Buck can be heard speaking his famous line,
Buck appeared numerous times on
Late Night with Conan O'BrienLate Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC from 1993 to 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and stand-up comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 a.m....
as a guest. During an appearance prior to the
2006 World SeriesThe 2006 World Series, the 102nd edition of Major League Baseball's championship series, began on October 21 and ended on October 27, and matched the American League champion Detroit Tigers against the National League champion, St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals won the Series in five games, taking...
, Buck was handed a garish necktie that had previously been worn by O'Brien and bandleader Richie "LaBamba" Rosenberg and agreed to wear it for Game 1, a promise that he honored. On an appearance prior to the
2007 World SeriesThe 2007 World Series, the 103rd edition of Major League Baseball's championship series, began on Wednesday, October 24 and ended on Sunday, October 28....
, Buck explained to O'Brien that sometimes his friends text message him during games and dare him to work words or phrases into the broadcast. O'Brien asked him to say "Jub-Jub" during a World Series broadcast, and if he did, he would donate $1,000 to a charity of Buck's choice. During the third inning of Game 1, Buck duly obliged:
"Our own little Jub Jub, Chris MyersChristopher Patrick Myers is an American sportscaster. He currently lives in Southern California.-Biography:...
, playing the role of weather person..."
In 2007, Buck filmed a pilot episode for a prospective late-night talk and comedy program with former
Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live is a weekly late-night sketch comedy and variety show filmed in New York City. It made its debut on October 11, 1975, under a slightly different title. The show features a regular cast of comedy actors, joined by a guest host and musical act...
writer and director
Matt PiedmontMatt Piedmont is an American Emmy winning writer, producer and director.After hopping freight trains and hitchhiking to New York City after college in 1992, Piedmont began his career as an NBC page. At age 25 he secured a job as a writer for Saturday Night Live, a position he held for six years,...
. Piedmont and Buck wrote and produced the pilot with Piedmont directing, filming in New York City and Los Angeles and featuring
Molly ShannonMolly Helen Shannon is an American actress, comedian and writer. She is best known for her work as a cast member of Saturday Night Live from 1995-2001, and starred on the NBC sitcom Kath & Kim. She is also well known for appearing in movies with Will Ferrell.-Early life:Shannon was born in Shaker...
,
David SpadeDavid Wayne Spade is an American actor, comedian and television personality who first became famous in the 1990s as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, and from 1997 until 2003 starred as Dennis Finch on Just Shoot Me!. He also starred as C.J. Barnes, along with Katey Sagal and James Garner on 8...
and
Paul RuddPaul Stephen Rudd is an American actor and screenwriter.-Early life:Rudd was born in Passaic, New Jersey, the son of Jewish immigrants from England; his family's original surname was "Rudnitzky"...
. Buck is the host of the show with Abebe Adusmussui, an actual New York City taxi driver, as his co-host. The pilot is currently in consideration for a series on Fox.
Buck has also appeared in various national television commercials for such clients as
Holiday InnHoliday Inn is a brand of hotels within the InterContinental Hotels Group .-History:The original Holiday Inn chain of hotels was created in 1952 in Memphis, Tennessee, by homebuilder Kemmons Wilson to provide inexpensive family accommodation for travelers within the United States...
and
BudweiserBudweiser is an American-style lager and is one of the most popular beers in the United States. Budweiser is made with a large proportion of rice in addition to hops and barley malt. Budweiser is produced in various breweries located around the United States and the rest of the world. It is a...
beer. One of the more memorable spots for the latter had Buck goaded into using the catchphrase,
Slamma-lamma-ding-dong! (He also does local commercials in the St. Louis market for the Suntrup chain of automobile dealerships.)
Buck also contributes occasional opinion pieces to
The Sporting NewsSporting News is an American-based sports magazine. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball — so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball"...
, and is a key contributor on Team 1380 on the
ITD Morning After program in St. Louis.
Buck was the commencement speaker at
Saint Louis UniversitySaint Louis University is a private, co-educational Jesuit university located in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1818 by the Most Reverend Louis Guillaume Valentin Dubourg SLU is the oldest university west of the Mississippi River. It is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit...
's 2008 commencement ceremony. His late father, Jack Buck, delivered SLU's commencement address in 1995.
Controversy
During the
2002 World SeriesThe World Series was the 98th edition of the Fall Classic, held from October 19–27, 2002. The series featured the American League champion Anaheim Angels defeating the National League champion San Francisco Giants, 4–3, to win the franchise's first ever World Series.The series was notable as being...
, Joe Buck was introduced to single season home run record holder
Barry BondsBarry Lamar Bonds is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. He is the son of former major league All-Star Bobby Bonds. He debuted in the Major Leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1986 and joined the San Francisco Giants in 1993, where he stayed through 2007.Bonds has led a controversial...
:
In January 2005, Buck drew fire from
Red McCombsBilly Joe "Red" McCombs is the founder of the Red McCombs Automotive Group, a co-founder of Clear Channel Communications, a former owner of the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, and the Minnesota Vikings, and the namesake of the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin...
, then the owner of the
Minnesota VikingsThe Minnesota Vikings are a professional football team based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings compete in the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . Prior to divisional realignment in 2002, they had been a member of the Central Division, also...
, for his on-air comments during
an NFL playoff gameThe NFL playoffs following the 2004 NFL season led up to Super Bowl XXXIX.-NFC: St. Louis Rams 27, Seattle Seahawks 20:at Qwest Field, Seattle, Washington*Game time: 4:30 p.m. EST/1:30 p.m...
between the
Minnesota Vikings2004 was the 44th year of season play for the Minnesota Vikings and the 85th regular season of the National Football League.The Vikings finished the 2004 season going 3-7 over the final 10 weeks just like they did in 2003. However, they made the playoffs with an 8-8 record...
and
Green Bay PackersThe 2004 Green Bay Packers season started with the Packers losing four of their first five games, then winning their next six games, and finally ending in a Wild Card playoff loss to the Minnesota Vikings. They finished with an overall record of 10-7....
. After Vikings wide receiver
Randy MossRandall Gene Moss is an American football wide receiver for the New England Patriots of the National Football League. He was originally drafted by the Minnesota Vikings 21st overall in the 1998 NFL Draft...
simulated mooning the Green Bay crowd in the end zone, Buck called it a
"disgusting act." The moon was allegedly an attempt to respond to Packer fans, who traditionally moon the Vikings players aboard the team bus, which Buck did not mention.
In
2007The 2007 Major League Baseball season was the 107th since the initial co-existence of the American and National Leagues. It began on April 1 with a rematch of the 2006 National League Championship Series; the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets played the first game of the season at Busch Stadium...
, Buck was only scheduled to call eight regular season MLB games out of a 26-game schedule for FOX (along with a handful of regional Cardinals telecasts on FSN Midwest). In an interview with Richard Sandomir of the
New York Times, Buck defended his reduced baseball commitment:
On July 2, 2008, while speaking with
Colin CowherdColin Cowherd is an American sports radio personality. He is currently the host of The Herd with Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio and ESPNU...
on
ESPN RadioESPN Radio is an American sports radio network. It was launched on January 1, 1992 under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN." ESPN Radio is located at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut...
, Buck said (jokingly) that he is tired of baseball and doesn't enjoy calling the games like he used to. Two days later, Buck stated that he'd been "joking" to Cowherd but added that he still believes the games take too long to play.