Editing Jack Buck (section)

==Broadcasting career==
{{more citations needed section|date=April 2018}}

===St. Louis Cardinals===
{{MLBBioHon
|Image = CardsRetiredMic.png
|Name  = Jack Buck
|Team  = St. Louis Cardinals
|Year  = 2002
|}}
Buck started broadcasting Cardinals games for [[KMOX]] radio in [[1954 St. Louis Cardinals season|1954]], teaming with [[Harry Caray]], [[Milo Hamilton]] (1954), and [[Joe Garagiola, Sr.|Joe Garagiola]] (from [[1955 St. Louis Cardinals season|1955]]). Buck was dropped from the Cardinals booth in [[1959 St. Louis Cardinals season|1959]] to make room for [[Buddy Blattner]]; the following [[1960 St. Louis Cardinals season|year]], he called Saturday ''[[Major League Baseball Game of the Week|Game of the Week]]'' telecasts for [[Major League Baseball on ABC|ABC]]. Buck was re-hired by the Cardinals in [[1961 St. Louis Cardinals season|1961]] after Blattner departed; Garagiola left after [[1962 St. Louis Cardinals season|1962]], leaving Caray and Buck as the team's broadcast voices from [[1963 St. Louis Cardinals season|1963]] through [[1969 St. Louis Cardinals season|1969]].
[[File:Kmox radio baseball.jpg|thumb|right|Buck and Shannon announcing a [[1992 St. Louis Cardinals season|Cardinals]] game at Busch, 1992]]
After Caray was fired by the Cardinals following the 1969 season, Buck ascended to the team's lead play-by-play role (1969 was also the year that Jack Buck divorced his first wife Alyce Larson&mdash;whom he had married in 1948 and had six children with&mdash;and married his second wife, Carole Lintzenich, who gave birth to their son [[Joe Buck]] in the same year).

{{quote box
|width=30%
|align=right
|quote=[[Ozzie Smith|Smith]] corks one into right, down the line! It may go!! ... Go crazy, folks! Go crazy! It's a home run, and the Cardinals have won the game, by the score of 3 to 2, on a home run by the Wizard! Go crazy!
|source= —Jack Buck calling [[Ozzie Smith]]'s game winning home run off [[Tom Niedenfuer]] in game 5 of the [[1985 National League Championship Series|1985 NLCS]]<ref name="Garner 2000: 98">[[#Gar00|Garner 2000]]: pg. 98</ref>}}

Buck teamed with ex-[[New York Yankees|Yankees]] and [[Pittsburgh Pirates|Pirates]] announcer [[Jim Woods]] in [[1970 St. Louis Cardinals season|1970]]–[[1971 St. Louis Cardinals season|71]]. In [[1972 St. Louis Cardinals season|1972]], retired Cardinals third baseman [[Mike Shannon]] joined Buck in the broadcast booth, beginning a 28-year partnership. On Cardinals broadcasts, Buck routinely punctuated St. Louis victories with the expression, ''"That's a winner!"''

In addition to Joe, Buck has three daughters who worked in broadcasting. Two are from his first marriage - Bonnie Buck, who currently works in television in Los Angeles, and Christine Buck, who started her career at [[KPLR-TV]] in St. Louis. From his second marriage is Julie Buck on [[KYKY]] 98.1 in St. Louis (she now works at [[KTRS (AM)|KTRS-AM 550]], also in St. Louis). In addition, Buck's younger brother, [[Bob Buck (sportscaster)|Bob Buck]] was a sportscaster and sports director at KMOX/[[KMOV]]-TV in St. Louis.

Buck was well-respected in the St. Louis community, where he lived and regularly volunteered time to host charity events. In addition to his sportscasting work, Buck served as the original host of the KMOX interview/call-in program ''At Your Service'' beginning in 1960. His guests on the program included [[Eleanor Roosevelt]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2012/06/13/jack-buck-introduces-first-at-your-service-program-on-kmox/|title=LISTEN: Jack Buck Introduces First "At Your Service" Program On KMOX|publisher=CBS St. Louis|date=June 13, 2012}}</ref>

Buck can be heard calling a (fictional) [[1964 St. Louis Cardinals season|1964 Cardinals]] broadcast in the [[1988 in film|1988]] film ''[[Mississippi Burning]]'',<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/27/sports/sports-world-specials-the-ring-of-truth.html|title=Sports World Specials; The Ring of Truth|last=Thomas|first=Robert McG. Jr|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 27, 1989}}</ref> and makes a cameo appearance in a 1998 episode of the television series ''[[Arliss (TV series)|Arliss]]''. He also lent his voice to ''[[R.B.I. Baseball '95]]''.

===Football===
Jack Buck was also a renowned [[American football|football]] broadcaster. In [[1964 NFL season|1964]], he began calling [[National Football League]] games for [[NFL on CBS|CBS]] television, following a four-year stint doing telecasts of the rival [[American Football League]] for [[American Football League on ABC|ABC]], which included the 1962 AFL Championship game between the Houston Oilers and the Dallas Texans&mdash;at that point the longest game ever played. Buck called [[Chicago Bears]] games in his first two CBS seasons, then switched to [[Dallas Cowboys]] games, including the famous "[[Ice Bowl (NFL)|Ice Bowl]]" championship game in [[1967 Dallas Cowboys season|1967]]. After the network moved away from dedicated team announcers, Buck continued to call regional NFL action through [[1974 NFL season|1974]], as well as several [[NFC Championship Game]]s and [[Super Bowl IV]]. He also called the [[1965 Cotton Bowl Classic]] for CBS television and several later Cotton Bowl games for CBS Radio.

In [[1975 NFL season|1975]], Buck temporarily left his [[1975 St. Louis Cardinals season|Cardinals]] baseball duties in order to host the [[NFL on NBC|NBC]] pregame show, ''[[The NFL on NBC Pregame Show#GrandStand (1975–1976)|GrandStand]]'', alongside [[Bryant Gumbel]]. In the [[1976 NFL season|1976]] and [[1977 NFL season|1977]] seasons, he called regional NFL play-by-play for NBC. On August 16, 1976, Buck called the first-ever NFL game played outside of the United States, a preseason exhibition between the [[1976 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season|St. Louis Cardinals]] and [[1976 San Diego Chargers season|San Diego Chargers]] held at [[Korakuen Stadium]] in Tokyo, Japan. (Buck also worked NBC's backup ''[[Major League Baseball Game of the Week|Game of the Week]]'' during the [[1976 Major League Baseball season|1976]] baseball season before returning to the Cardinals full-time in [[1977 St. Louis Cardinals season|1977]].)

Buck served as the [[NFL on Westwood One Sports|CBS Radio]] voice of ''[[Monday Night Football]]'' (teaming with [[Hank Stram]]) for nearly two decades ([[1978 NFL season|1978]]–[[1984 NFL season|1984]] and again from [[1987 NFL season|1987]]–[[1995 NFL season|1995]] after CBS regained the radio rights from [[NFL on NBC Radio|NBC]]). Ironically, in 1970 ABC's [[Roone Arledge]] had asked via telephone about Buck's interests in becoming the first television play-by-play announcer for ''Monday Night Football'', but because of personal animosity surrounding his previous stint with the network, Buck would not return their phone call. (The television play-by-play role would go to [[Keith Jackson]] instead, and later to Buck's CBS colleague, [[Frank Gifford]].)

In addition to ''MNF'', Buck called numerous playoff games for CBS Radio, including 17 [[Super Bowl]]s (the most of any announcer). Buck also served as a local radio broadcaster for the football Cardinals in [[1980 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season|1980]] and [[1981 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season|1981]], and returned to calling Sunday NFL games for CBS television from [[1982 NFL season|1982]] to [[1987 NFL season|1987]].

Late in the [[1990 NFL season]], Buck's onetime CBS broadcasting partner, [[Pat Summerall]], was hospitalized with a [[bleeding ulcer]] after vomiting on a plane during a flight after a game, and was out for a considerable amount of time. While [[Verne Lundquist]] replaced Summerall on games with lead analyst [[John Madden]], Buck (who was at the time the network's lead [[Major League Baseball on CBS#1990–1993 version|Major League Baseball]] announcer) filled in for Lundquist, teaming with [[Dan Fouts]] to call two games (both of which coincidentally featured the Cardinals, who had moved from St. Louis to [[1990 Phoenix Cardinals season|Arizona]] by that time).

===Other sports===
While much better known for his baseball and football commentary, Jack Buck was also the original voice of the [[St. Louis Blues]] of the [[National Hockey League]]. Buck was paired with [[Jay Randolph]] and [[Gus Kyle]] on Blues broadcasts and covered the [[1968 Stanley Cup Finals]] for KMOX radio.

He was succeeded after [[1967–68 St. Louis Blues season|one season]] by broadcaster [[Dan Kelly (sportscaster)|Dan Kelly]]. Buck also broadcast for the [[St. Louis Hawks]] and [[Rochester Royals]] of the [[National Basketball Association]], and called [[professional wrestling]], [[boxing]], and [[bowling]] at various times in his career.

Showing his versatility, Buck also hosted the syndicated Top Star Bowling during the early 1960s.

===ABC and CBS baseball===
[[File:JackBuck.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Jack Buck (left) with [[Ralph Kiner]] at the [[1987 in baseball|1987]] [[Baseball Hall of Fame|Hall of Fame]] induction ceremony.]]
In {{baseball year|1960}}, Buck along with [[Carl Erskine]] broadcast a series of late-afternoon Saturday games on [[Major League Baseball season|ABC]].<ref>{{cite news|date=April 12, 1960|title=ABC Signs Erskine as TV Color Man|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|agency=Associated Press|page=C7}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Can't Hide No-Hitter From Fans&mdash;Erskine|date=June 5, 1960|agency=Associated Press|newspaper=The Miami News|page=2C}}</ref> They were the lead announcing crew for this series, which lasted one season.<ref>{{cite news|date=January 1, 1961|agency=Associated Press|newspaper=Hartford Courant|title=No Major Changes Loom in TV Sports During 1961}}</ref>

Despite temporarily losing the ''Game of the Week'' package in [[1961 in baseball|1961]], ABC still televised several games in prime time (with Buck returning to call the action). This occurred as [[Roger Maris]]<ref>{{cite news|title=NETWORKS PLAN WIDE U.N. REPORT|date=September 19, 1961|first=Val|last=Adams|newspaper=The New York Times|page=71}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=ABC-TV to Film Tilt 154|date=September 19, 1961|newspaper=Daytona Beach Morning Journal|agency=Associated Press}}</ref> was poised to tie and subsequently break [[Babe Ruth]]'s regular season home run record of 60.

For a number of years Buck called baseball events nationally for the [[Major League Baseball on CBS Radio|CBS Radio]] network, teaming with [[Brent Musburger]] to call the [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star Game]] in [[1976 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1976]] and with [[Jerry Coleman]] to call the [[National League Championship Series|NLCS]] from [[1979 National League Championship Series|1979]]–[[1982 National League Championship Series|1982]]. From [[1983 World Series|1983]]–[[1989 World Series|1989]], Buck variously teamed with [[Sparky Anderson]], [[Bill White (first baseman)|Bill White]], and [[Johnny Bench]] to call [[World Series]] radio broadcasts on [[Major League Baseball on CBS Radio|CBS Radio]], including appearances by the Cardinals in [[1985 World Series|1985]] and [[1987 World Series|1987]]. (As a Cardinals announcer, Buck had previously called the World Series in [[1968 World Series|1968]] (on [[Major League Baseball on NBC Radio|NBC Radio]]) and [[1982 World Series|1982]] (locally on KMOX).) Buck, along with his CBS Radio colleagues Johnny Bench and [[John Rooney (sportscaster)|John Rooney]], was on hand at San Francisco's [[Candlestick Park]] on October 17, 1989, when the [[1989 Loma Prieta earthquake|Loma Prieta earthquake]] hit. After the 6.9 magnitude quake rocked the [[San Francisco Bay Area|Bay Area]], Buck told the listening audience:

{{blockquote|I must say about Johnny Bench, folks, if he moved that fast when he played, he would have never hit into a double play. I never saw anybody move that fast in my life.}}

He is most famous for his coast-to-coast radio call of [[Kirk Gibson]]'s [[Kirk Gibson 1988 World Series home run|game-winning home run]] in the bottom of the 9th inning of Game 1 of the [[1988 World Series]] and his disbelief at Gibson knocking it out while hobbled by injuries to his right hamstring and left knee. His call of the play is so famous that it is sometimes played over the television footage of the play. The television call was handled by long-time Dodgers announcer [[Vin Scully]] on [[Major League Baseball on NBC|NBC]].

This was Buck's call. It begins here with Buck speculating on what might happen if Gibson manages to reach base:

{{blockquote|... then you would run for Gibson and have [[Steve Sax|Sax]] batting. But, we have a big 3&ndash;2 pitch coming here from [[Dennis Eckersley|Eckersley]]. Gibson ''swings'', and a fly ball to deep right field! ''This is gonna be a home run!'' Unbelievable! A home run for Gibson! And the [[1988 Los Angeles Dodgers season|Dodgers]] have won the game, five to four; I don't believe what I just saw!}}

The last sentence is often remembered and quoted by fans. Buck followed it with,

{{blockquote|I don't ''believe'' what I just saw! Is this really happening, Bill?}}

Buck concluded his comments on Gibson's amazing feat with this thought:

{{blockquote|One of the most remarkable finishes to any World Series Game ... a one-handed home run by Kirk Gibson! And the Dodgers have won it ... five to four; and I'm stunned, Bill. I have seen a lot of dramatic finishes in a lot of sports, but this one might top almost every other one.}}

Buck was not intended to be the main play-by-play announcer for [[Major League Baseball on CBS#1990–1993 version|CBS]] baseball telecasts when the network acquired the sport from NBC and [[Major League Baseball on ABC|ABC]]. Originally assigned to the network's #2 crew (and therefore, work with [[Jim Kaat]]), he was promoted at practically the last minute after [[Brent Musburger]]<ref>{{cite news|last=Rusnak|first=Jeff|date=April 6, 1990|title=Buck In Brent At Cbs|url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1990-04-06/sports/9001010646_1_ted-shaker-two-cbs-executives-brent-musburger|newspaper=Sun Sentinel|access-date=2017-01-26|archive-date=2017-02-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202025751/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1990-04-06/sports/9001010646_1_ted-shaker-two-cbs-executives-brent-musburger}}</ref>  was fired on [[April Fools' Day]] of [[1990 in baseball|1990]].

After two years of calling baseball telecasts (including the Saturday afternoon ''[[Major League Baseball Game of the Week|Game of the Week]]'', [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star Game]], [[National League Championship Series]], and [[World Series]]), Buck was dismissed by CBS. The official reasoning behind Buck's ouster was that he simply had poor chemistry with lead analyst [[Tim McCarver]].<ref>[http://www.freeinfosociety.com/site.php?postnum=781 Buck never could come to terms with emphasis on analysts in televised sports. He always believed that a good play-by-play broadcast is what the people wanted.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060721095439/http://freeinfosociety.com/site.php?postnum=781 |date=2006-07-21 }}, freeinfosociety.com; accessed April 3, 2018.</ref><ref>[https://archive.today/20120713034136/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/bostonherald/access/68809378.html?dids=68809378:68809378&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+22,+1992&author=Jim+Baker&pub=Boston+Herald&desc=On+the+Air+Buck+out+but+not+down+at+CBS&pqatl=google I did get a nice note from Neal Pilson (CBS Sports head). And we did have a helluva World Series last year, didn't we?" One stated reason for the McDonough- for-Buck move was Buck and Tim McCarver didn't mix well on-air, that Buck's radio style didn't allow McCarver enough room. ...], pqarchiver.com/bostonheral, October 22, 1992.</ref><ref>[http://docs.newsbank.com/g/GooglePM/DN/lib00185,0EB2A381065E8597.html The network that three years ago didn't even have a sports department is televising its first World Series. ... When McCarver was paired with Jack during CBS's World Series broadcasts in 1990-91, they weren't great together, primarily because Jack had been trained in radio. ...], newsbank.com, October 18, 1996.</ref>

Buck was soon replaced by [[Boston Red Sox]] announcer [[Sean McDonough]]. Buck later noted that "CBS never got that baseball play-by-play draws word-pictures. All they knew was that football stars analysts. So they said, 'Let McCarver run the show ... In television, all they want you to do is shut up. I'm not very good at shutting up." Buck was criticized by some for his alleged habit of predicting plays on air.<ref>[http://www.freeinfosociety.com/site.php?postnum=781 Buck took a lot of criticism from national audiences, as well. Numerous critics pointed out his tendency of predicting plays on the air. This sometimes led to him making the wrong call, and confusing the listeners] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060721095439/http://freeinfosociety.com/site.php?postnum=781 |date=2006-07-21 }}, freeinfosociety.com; accessed April 3, 2018.</ref>

Buck made controversial statements about singer [[Bobby Vinton]] prior to Game 4 of the [[1990 National League Championship Series]]. After Vinton muffed the lyrics of "[[The Star-Spangled Banner]]" in his home town of [[Pittsburgh]], Buck lightly referenced Vinton's [[Polish culture|Polish]] heritage ("Well, when you're Polish & live in Pittsburgh, you can do anything you want with the words!").<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-10-11-sp-3218-story.html Vinton, Buck apologize for Wayward Words]</ref> Buck soon got death threats from [[1990 Pittsburgh Pirates season|Pittsburgh Pirates]] fans, who even went as far as leaving a footprint on Buck's hotel pillow.

The next day, [[CBS Sports]] executive producer Ted Shaker spotted Buck in the hotel lobby and told Buck that he was in trouble. The final baseball play that Jack Buck narrated for CBS television was [[Gene Larkin]]'s game winning bloop single in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series.

{{blockquote|The [[1991 Minnesota Twins season|Twins]] are going to win the World Series! The Twins have won it! It's a base hit! It's a 1–0 10th inning victory!}}