Joe Buck will get another crack at calling a St. Louis Cardinals game this season.
The voice of ESPN’s Monday Night Football was supposed to return to the booth for a special, one-time broadcast that saw him and Chip Cary reminiscing about their families’ broadcasting legacy during a Cardinals-Chicago Cubs game on May 24.
Unfortunately for Buck and viewers across the country, the game was rained out and will be made up as part of a doubleheader on July 13 in St. Louis. Buck couldn’t make another appearance alongside Caray that weekend, as Saturday’s game was on Fox and Sunday’s on ESPN.
While Buck and Caray shared some stories and reminisced about their families and the game during the rain delay, the downpour ultimately washed away the much-anticipated broadcast. Instead of a full game with their commentary, viewers were left with mostly pre-recorded content.
Joe Buck was supposed to call tonight’s Cubs-Cardinals game with Chip Caray on Bally Sports Midwest.
It was rained out & will be made up as part of a doubleheader on July 13 in St. Louis.
Saturday’s game is on Fox & Sunday’s game is on ESPN. ⚾️🎙️🌧️https://t.co/u95uzh9EMX
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 25, 2024
Buck’s itch to call local baseball games seemingly remained unscratched after the May rainout.
Life (and weather) is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans. What a fun night at the old ballpark anyway. Thanks to Chip Caray and the crew at Ballys for the wonderful welcome back. Maybe we find another date. Either way it felt special.
— Joe Buck (@Buck) May 25, 2024
Recognizing this, the Cardinals have arranged for him to join Caray in the booth for another game this season. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Dan Caesar, Buck will call the July 29th game against the Texas Rangers.
Here’s more from Caesar:
That July 29th game would be just before Buck’s NFL schedule kicks in — ESPN/ABC has the exhibition season opener, Houston vs. Chicago, in the Hall of Fame game on Aug. 1. That contest has aired on NBC in recent years but was on ABC from 1971-2005.
Ironically enough, the Monday night matchup will serve as a trip down memory lane for fans of both teams and Buck. It’ll be a rematch of the 2011 World Series, and while the Rangers have since avenged the loss with last year’s World Series title, they still fell victim to David Freese’s legendary heroics.
But time marches on.
Things will be different when Buck steps back into the Busch Stadium booth. His longtime partner, Tim McCarver, is sadly no longer with us, and the Cardinals’ championship core, including Freese, is long gone. And while Buck’s regular baseball announcing duties seem like a distant memory, this late July game will be a delightful trip down memory lane for Caray, Buck and the Cardinals faithful.
So, on Sunday, July 28, you can say, “We’ll see you tomorrow night.”
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.