Joe Buck may have put a bow on his Major League Baseball announcing career this week with his cameo alongside Chip Caray.
Buck returned to an MLB booth for the first time since 2021 Monday night to call a Cardinals game with Caray. It marked the first time in 55 years that a Buck and Caray shared a booth together, after Joe’s father Jack and Chip’s grandfather Harry were longtime broadcast partners.
But for those hoping Buck’s MLB comeback would lead to more baseball work for the Hall-of-Fame announcer, it doesn’t sound like that will be the case. Buck joined ESPN Radio’s Chris Carlin and Joe Fortenbaugh Thursday afternoon, and during the interview, he was asked about his brief return to baseball.
“It was fun and Chip Caray was amazing to welcome me in, and to be as open as he was and he just kept wanting me to do the play-by-play and I wanted him to do it,” Buck said. “But it was a blast to sit there with him and get back in there, and do it locally instead of the national stuff. It was fun. I’m glad I did it, I don’t know that I’ll do it again, but there was a little bit of closure there for me after walking away from Fox after 2021.”
Despite the level of unwarranted social media criticism Buck received during his quarter-century as MLB’s preeminent voice, fans relished seeing clips of his return to the booth this week. Too many baseball fans weren’t able to appreciate what they had with Buck until he was gone. For a sport that struggles to garner much national attention, Buck makes baseball feel big.
Buck has admitted he misses doing local baseball more than the national games he did for Fox. And while some hoped getting a taste with the Cardinals this week might reignite his desire to call MLB games again, it brought closure instead.
