Joe Buck will be part of ESPN’s first game lineup to call the Los Angeles Dodgers vs. New York Mets game on April 15, as he announced on SI Media with Jimmy Traina. This marks Buck’s second consecutive year being part of ESPN’s first broadcast.
Despite ESPN and Major League Baseball reaching a deal to air 30 regular-season games, Buck is only scheduled to call the Dodgers-Mets game. Last season marked the first time Buck called a nationally broadcasted baseball game since 2021, after leaving Fox for ESPN.
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In 2022, Buck and Troy Aikman signed a multiyear deal with ESPN to become the voices of Monday Night Football. Despite shifting his focus mostly to the NFL, Buck returned for an MLB game alongside Chip Caray in the St. Louis Cardinals’ booth in 2024.
Buck and Caray also have fathers who were sports broadcasters. Joe Buck worked alongside his father, Jack, as a Cardinals radio and television broadcaster from 1991 to 2007.
He also called the PGA Tournament and hosted an alternate broadcast in 2022. The 56-year-old broadcaster prefers calling baseball games earlier in the season because he feels more prepared.
“For someone who hasn’t been involved in the game for four years, and I did Opening Day last year, I think it’s easier to launch off the beginning of the season because it’s not looking back,” Buck told Traina.
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Buck also believes calling a game featuring the back-to-back World Series champions will make his job easier.
“It’s a Dodger game, I think it’s Dodger-Mets so, there’s a lot to talk about. I mean, I could probably do it right now. The Dodgers, half their lineup’s going to end up in the Hall of Fame. They’re easy names.”
While Buck didn’t officially rule out calling a game later in the season or during the playoffs, he acknowledged it would be much more challenging.
“I’m not prepared to do that without putting myself in solitary confinement for a month and trying to catch up with everything that’s gone on,” Buck said.
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Before Buck’s four-year absence from baseball, he was one of the most recognizable voices in the sport. He served as Fox’s lead play-by-play announcer from 1996 to 2021. During that time, Buck called 23 World Series and 21 All-Star Games, the most by any play-by-play announcer on network television.
Buck will receive the 2026 Ford C. Frick Award, which is presented annually to a broadcaster for major contributions to baseball. Buck and his father will become the first father-son duo to receive the award.
