Joe Buck ribs Ron Darling for sounding ‘bitter’ during Mets-Dodgers broadcast

Joe Buck spent years being accused of biased coverage as a Major League Baseball announcer, and now he’s turning the tables on Ron Darling.

Buck briefly returned to baseball Wednesday night for ESPN’s broadcast of the New York Mets and the Los Angeles Dodgers on Jackie Robinson Day. Joining Buck in the booth was longtime Mets analyst Ron Darling and veteran Dodgers broadcaster Orel Hershiser. And Buck introduced himself to Darling in a bit of a strange way during the first inning of the broadcast.

With Kyle Tucker leading off for Los Angeles, Darling aptly noted that he was one of their big free-agent acquisitions from the offseason, during an era when it can be hard for fans to keep track of all the Dodgers’ prized acquisitions. Apologies if I sound bitter.

Ron Darling and John Buck have an interesting exchange on air.

Gotta love Ronny backing up the orange and blue 🙌🏽 pic.twitter.com/E29eEnf8Gw

— Master Flip 🇩🇴 (@Masterflip_) April 16, 2026

“Kyle Tucker, the Dodgers had a couple of needs in the offseason, they needed some relief help, they went out and got the best reliever in the free agent market,” Darling said. “And they needed some outfield help, and they got the best outfielder in the free agent market.”

Well, that relief help came in the form of now former Mets closer Edwin Díaz. And the outfield help came in the form of Tucker, who the Mets similarly made a strong push for during the offseason.

“You sound bitter!” Buck interjected. “I’m not gonna lie, you sound bitter.”

Darling quickly chuckled and brushed the accusation off, stating the Mets have made a habit of getting the players they want in recent years. Buck proceeded to reaffirm that the Mets were eyeing Tucker and that they had lost their closer to the Dodgers.

Maybe they were talking about Tucker and Díaz prior to the broadcast, and Darling seemed a little more bitter off-air. Or maybe Buck was just trying to keep things light in the booth, having never worked with Darling before. But essentially accusing Darling of some homerism to begin the broadcast was slightly awkward. Although if there’s one announcer who knows about being unfairly accused of bias in the booth, it’s Buck.