Jack Buck

From BR Bullpen

John Francis Buck

Biographical Information[edit]

Jack Buck was a beloved sportscaster in St. Louis, MO. He was on KMOX in St. Louis for 46 seasons between 1954 to 2001. Buck was not a singular talent, as he also was CBS Radio's lead football announcer for 16 years.

A graduate of Ohio State University, where he began his career, Buck soon arrived in St. Louis from Cleveland, OH. He was paired with Harry Caray to broadcast the games of the St. Louis Cardinals for the first fifteen seasons of his career. With the power of KMOX, much of the country, especially the intermountain west and the southeast, became familiar with Buck and Caray.

Buck left KMOX in 1960 to call American Football League games on ABC. He also left in 1976 for NBC, but his show flopped and he was back in St. Louis in 1977.

Buck continued to broadcast Cardinals games with Mike Shannon through the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1990s, Buck was joined by his son Joe in the Cardinals booth. It was one of his singular joys to work with his son. Buck continued to broadcast Cardinals home games even as Parkinson's Disease began to rob him of his physical strength.

Some of the most notable moments in baseball history were recorded by Buck calling the action. He was doing the live television broadcast when Kirk Gibson hit a game-winning home run off Dennis Eckersley in the 1988 World Series. He also called Ozzie Smith's home run in the 1985 NLCS that sent the Cardinals to the World Series. He also was in the radio both for Mark McGwire's 62nd home run of the 1998 season.

Jack Buck died after a five-month hospitalization for lung cancer in June 2002. He had every intention of broadcasting Cardinals games in 2002 even though his prognosis was bleak.

On Buck's career ledger are eight World Series broadcasts and 17 Super Bowls. He was honored with both the Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in baseball broadcasting in 1987 and the Rozelle Award for excellence in football broadcasting in 1996. In 1999, he was given a sports Emmy in the Life Achievement category.

Even though he has passed, Jack Buck's voice lives on.

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