Joe Buck treating MLB Opening Day broadcast on ESPN like ‘World Series Game 7’

Joe Buck is preparing to call a Major League Baseball Opening Day game for ESPN, but he’s treating it like something much bigger.

This week, Buck is working his first MLB game for ESPN since joining the network, after agreeing to call their Opening Day broadcast of the New York Yankees and Milwaukee Brewers. And while joining Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo’s SiriusXM Radio show to discuss preparing for the broadcast, Buck made it clear that he’s not treating this like some casual cameo.

“It would be a nightmare to go in and do a game after having not done a game since 2021 and just kinda wing it when fans that are watching want to know about the Yankees 2025 prospects, who’s there, who wasn’t there a year ago and vice versa, and the same for the Brewers,” Buck told Russo. “The worst thing I could do is go in and act like this is no big deal. I’m treating this as if I’m doing World Series Game 7 on Thursday, you have to.”

While Buck has gone full throttle in preparing for the broadcast this week, he’s been reading about the teams for the last month.

“I’m the network guy come Thursday,” Buck continued. “And I feel like it’s always the same for me. Whether I’m doing a baseball game a football game a U.S. Open, I’ve got to prepare to give myself the best chance, so that if I royally screw something up, at least I know I gave it an effort…if you go in and you know that you’re prepared, you’re probably going to perform better. And that’s the way I look at doing this game on Thursday, or really any game I do.”

It’s Buck’s first MLB broadcast on the national level since 2021, but he did join Chip Caray for one game in the St. Louis Cardinals booth last season. Joe Buck said he initially went all-in on preparing to call a Cardinals-Chicago Cubs game with Caray, but that was rained out. And when he ultimately joined the Cardinals booth for a game against the Texas Rangers, Buck admits he took that “a little more lightly.”

But a local broadcast is different than calling Yankees-Brewers nationally for ESPN. That Cardinals game was more of a celebratory moment, marking the first time in more than a half-century that a Buck and Caray were on the same call, with Joe’s father, Jack and Chip’s grandfather, Harry previously former an iconic broadcast duo.

For all the unfair ribbing Joe Buck took during his time calling MLB games nationally on Fox, baseball fans are excited to see him back in the booth this week. And ESPN is undoubtedly excited as well. Even if it is just for one game.