Welcome to Cooperstown, Joe Buck.
Back in 1991, he joined his father Jack Buck in the St. Louis Cardinals radio booth broadcasting baseball heard throughout the Midwest. For 47 MLB seasons, Jack Buck was the trusted eyes and ears for Cardinals fans delivering World Series happenings and, during the regular season, introducing new and lasting baseball talent to one of the game’s most storied franchises.
In 1987, Buck, the elder, was selected by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York as the 11th recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award. The Hall of Fame annually recognizes during its Induction Weekend a broadcaster for their major contributions to baseball.
On July 25, Buck, the younger, has his reservation at “The Home of Baseball” to collect his honors as the 2026 Frick winner. Broadcasting 21 All-Star Games, 24 World Series, and 26 American and National League Championship Series lead the accomplishments accumulated over a lifetime of describing to television and radio audiences the game’s greatest moments.
Speaking into a microphone is easy for Buck. Looking out to a live audience at Cooperstown’s Alice Busch Opera Theater, while reviewing his career’s work and paying homage to those who participated in his career’s growth, has all the makings of an emotional moment.
Dave Van Horne, 2011’s Frick Award selection, offers an insider’s view on how Buck will likely feel upon stepping up to the podium in Cooperstown.
“He'll be thinking of his dad, for sure, and the wonderful career he’s had covering multiple sports,” Van Horne told The Epoch Times on Thursday. “To the general sports population, Joe’s probably known better as a football broadcaster, but he got his start with baseball.”
Van Horne, who retired at the start of the 2022 MLB season after calling Florida/Miami Marlins games from 2002–2021, and prior to that, from 1969–2000 being the voice of the Montreal Expos, recalls delivering his Frick Award acceptance speech as “unnerving.” Being on the stage alongside dozens of Hall of Fame managers and players was a thrill for Van Horne. After rehearsing his speech multiple times, when it came time to deliver it, Van Horne recalls not once looking at the 20 minutes of notes that he had in front of him at the podium.
“By then, I knew it by heart,” Van Horne tells of his speech. “Nerves can get to you. I paid tribute to veteran broadcasters that help me during my career, and I was proud at how quickly I got through the speech.”
Buck will be sharing the stage with Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer/Cleveland.com, who will be honored as a sportswriter with the Baseball Writers’ Career Excellence Award for “meritorious contributions to baseball writing.”
Buck predictably will have a crowded list of friends and mentors to thank during his speech. First, as part of the Cardinals broadcasts heard on KMOX Radio from 1991 to the 2007 season, Buck joined FOX Sports in 1994 as a play-by-play announcer for National Football League telecasts. In 1996 he was calling Major League Baseball games for the network. In 2022, Buck joined ESPN to be the play-by-play voice of Monday Night Football.
“Joe made the time to get to know all the broadcasters in visiting ballparks,” says Van Horne, 86. “Following in his dad’s footsteps couldn’t have been easy for him. But, he’s done alright for himself.”
Living the life of a baseball broadcaster is known to be taxing on family life. Being away from home for 81 road games shifts daily responsibilities in most instances to the other parent. As Van Horne describes his absence away from home during spring training and the regular season, he credits his wife for having taken charge of raising their five children, and creating a great support system while he was away so much. He sees a good chunk of Buck’s speech in Cooperstown acknowledging his wife Ann and the four children they have watched grow.
“When you’re away with the ball club, the problems that come up aren’t fun to deal with. Sometimes I wondered if they all would be there when I returned,” Van Horne said.
After Buck’s induction speech, a permanent plaque bearing his face and listing the accomplishments of his distinguished baseball career will be put on display at the Scribes and Mikemen exhibit, which opened in 1994, near the Hall of Fame’s library.
To be considered for the Ford C. Frick Award, named after MLB’s third commissioner, nominees are either active or retired broadcasters who must have a minimum of 10 years of continuous MLB service with a ball club, network, or a combination of the two. Voting is done by a 16-member electorate, and the winner is announced each December.
“It’s going to be a big thrill for him,” predicts Van Horne of Buck’s Cooperstown visit. “He knows so many of the people that he'd be around from as far back as when his dad was calling games for St. Louis. It’s going to be quite a day for him.”
