Fully immersed in ESPN’s Monday Night Football coverage, Joe Buck hasn’t exactly shown a willingness to re-enter an MLB broadcast booth, even though his presence—depending on who you ask—has been greatly missed since the 2021 World Series.
Last season, Buck admitted ESPN asked him to call a baseball game, but he declined, saying, “I don’t have that itch.” More recently, Buck admitted that he anticipates getting the itch eventually. And since then, the renowned play-by-play voice admits he misses calling local MLB games.
Ahead of Monday’s San Francisco 49ers-Minnesota Vikings primetime matchup, Buck called into The Morning Roast on 95.7 The Game. The show hosts mentioned how Buck has been a part of some iconic calls during the MLB Playoffs, and how those in San Francisco have a vested interest in Game 7 of Monday’s American League Championship Series with two former Giants managers (Bruce Bochy and Dusty Baker) in the opposing dugout(s) for the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros, respectively.
There’s not the same vested interest from Buck, who admitted this summer that the sport has passed him by. That said, he’ll follow from a distance, but the events of the 2023 MLB Playoffs don’t seem to be must-watch TV for the 54-year-old Buck.
“I don’t get wrapped in it like I did,” he said. “I did baseball for 35 years of my life, and I did 24 World Series. I’m proud of all that. And I’m excited for Joe Davis, and I’m excited for John [Smoltz] to carry on. I’m happy for them…There’s just nothing like it. Yeah, I miss that a little bit, but you got to do a lot to get there. You got to do those regular-season games. You got to do a Saturday somewhere in the Midwest…These moments are awesome, and it’s where baseball just shines.”
That’s all in the past for Buck, who recently got to share pregame hosting duties with his wife, Michelle Beisner-Buck. The two seemingly had the time of their lives on that particular edition of Monday Night Countdown. Perhaps, the family affair at the Worldwide Leader has been able to put things in perspective for the father of two five-year-old twin boys.
“I’m happy to walk away from it and raise two more kids,” Buck said. “I’ve got daughters that are in their 20s, and it’s time to be a dad again, and just chasing every event just to say that I’m doing it is not something I’m interested in doing.”
[Barrett Sports Media]