Love him or hate him, everyone who watches sports knows Joe Buck.
The son of another Hall of Fame announcer, St. Louis Cardinals broadcaster Jack Buck, Joe will receive the Ford C. Frick Award on Saturday, July 25. The Bucks will become the first father-son duo to win the Frick, which is given by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum annually to signify greatness during a career in baseball announcing.
Jack Buck, who died in 2002, won the award in 1987.
“I’m the luckiest guy in the world,” Joe Buck said during his media conference Dec. 10, after being named the 2026 Frick winner. “I was lucky to call Jack Buck my dad and my best friend. I’m lucky that I’m Carol Buck’s son. And it’s hard for me. It’s why I have a therapist to accept this kind of stuff, because I tend to downplay awards and what have you, because of always feeling like I had a leg up at the start of my career, and I did. I’m the first to admit it. But I am happy that when I was a kid, I paid attention and I wanted to be with him.
“He and I were best friends,” Buck said, “and I think the greatest gift my dad gave me was allowing me to be in the room with him.”
Buck paid tribute to his father during the 2011 World Series.
After David Freeze hit a walk-off home run in Game 6 to set up a Game 7, Buck gave his father’s signature call, “And we’ll see you tomorrow night.”
Like his father, Buck has become a top announcer for more than one sport. With Troy Aikman on color commentary, Buck has become the voice of Monday Night Football on ESPN, a job that has kept him from calling much baseball this decade. However, with the Cardinals and, later, nationally with 2012 Frick winner Tim McCarver and Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz, Buck spent decades as one of the top voices in baseball. He made the call for 26 World Series and 22 All-Star Games.
Familiarity sometimes breeds contempt, and Buck and his partners have also drawn scorn for their efforts. The television show Brockmire parodied the situation in a storyline where Buck, playing himself, was the rival of Hank Azaria’s title character, announcer Jim Brockmire.
Buck said he hoped his fictional rival, or at least Azaria, would attend Saturday’s ceremony, which will take place at 3 p.m., at the Alice Busch Opera Theater at the Glimmerglass Festival in the town of Springfield.
“I’m blown away,” Buck said. “I did not expect this at all. It does feel like it dropped out of the sky.”