When a 27-year-old Joe Buck walked into the 1996 World Series booth at the old Yankee Stadium, he was viewed as the ultimate nepo baby before the term was even born.
The son of the legendary play-by-player, Jack Buck, Joe grew up in ballparks and made his full-time major league debut at 21, calling his dad’s team, the St. Louis Cardinals. Starting on the calls of the Derek Jeter New York Yankees’ dynasty teams, Joe would become the voice of October and sometimes November on Fox for nearly a quarter century, all under the strain of the social media age.
And then, after 24 World Series, he just stopped.
The lure of ESPN’s “Monday Night Football,” a $15-million-a-year payday and more time at home with his young twin sons and his second wife, fellow ESPN sportscaster Michelle Beisner-Buck, were too much to refuse.
Since he closed his scorebook after his 24th Fall Classic in November 2021, Buck had not worked a national baseball game.
On Thursday’s Opening Day at Yankee Stadium, Buck was back. With the March air having that familiar Bronx October bite, Buck’s voice made it feel even larger and more familiar.
Buck, still just 55, ended the game with a simple call as the Yankees closer, Devin Williams, escaped trouble against the Brewers’ former NL MVP Christian…
