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.
Buck was recognizable by his deep, gravelly voice (acquired through years of heavy smoking), and his distinctive play-by-play calls. Among these were Buck's descriptions of Kirk Gibson's dramatic game-winning pinch hit home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series ("I don't believe what I just saw!"), Ozzie Smith's game-winning home run in Game 5 of the 1985 NLCS ("Go crazy, folks!"), Kirby Puckett's game-winning home run in Game 6 of the 1991 World Series ("And we'll see you tomorrow night!"), and Mark McGwire's single season record-breaking home run in 1998 ("Excuse me while I stand and applaud."). On Cardinals broadcasts, he routinely punctuated St. Louis victories with the expression, "That's a winner!"
Buck's two longtime partners on Cardinals games were fellow Hall of Fame broadcaster Harry Caray and former Cardinal Mike Shannon . Buck started broadcasting Cardinals games for KMOX radio in 1954 but he wasn't the team's lead announcer until 1969 when Caray was fired. Incidentally, Buck beat out legendary Los Angeles Lakers announcer Chick Hearn for the job.
As a teenager, Buck worked as a deck hand on the iron ore boats of the Great Lakes. He was soon drafted into the Army where he served in World War II. While serving in World War II, Buck was wounded in his left leg and forearm by shrapnel in Germany. Buck was ultimately awarded a Purple Heart after spending time in a Paris hospital.
Prior to his broadcasting career, Buck attended Ohio State University where he majored in radio speech and minored in Spanish. Buck crafted his play-by-play skills broadcasting Ohio State basketball games.
Buck was also a legendary football broadcaster, serving as the CBS radio voice of Monday Night Football (teaming with Hank Stram) for nearly two decades. Buck also called the famous Ice Bowl and Super Bowl IV for CBS television, and numerous regular-season and postseason baseball contests on CBS radio and television. On August 16th, 1976, Buck called the first ever pro football game outside of the United States. The game was played in Japan between the St. Louis Cardinals & San Diego Chargers.
An intresting 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.
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.
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 obviously showing the signs of Parkinson's Disease, Buck stirred emotions with a patrotic themed poem that he read during the pre-game ceremonies.
Jack Buck died on June 18, 2002 at the age of 77 in Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Buck died just four days before Cardinal pitcher Darryl Kile, who passed away at the age of 33.
Buck's youngest son, Joe Buck, 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 post-season telecasts, Joe often pays homage to his late father by signing off with "We'll see you tomorrow night!"
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Last updated: 05-20-2005 03:31:23
