Joe Buck is set to make his return to calling Major League Baseball games, as he discussed during a recent appearance on the Major League Baseball Network. It was announced on Tuesday that he will be part of ESPN’s MLB Opening Day coverage, calling the matchup between the Milwaukee Brewers and New York Yankees. Buck will collaborate with experienced analysts Bill Schroeder and Joe Girardi from the Brewers and YES Network, respectively. After serving as Fox’s lead baseball commentator from 1996 to 2021, Buck transitioned to ESPN following the 2021-22 NFL season. Aside from one St. Louis Cardinals game in 2024, he hasn’t called an MLB game since 2021.
During the discussion, Harold Reynolds inquired about Buck’s preparations for calling a national baseball game. Buck candidly acknowledged the effort required to get back up to speed, stating, “It’s the one piece of this puzzle that I’ve thought a lot about, Harold. I’ve been a fan, obviously, for the last four years. Haven’t done a game, really — I did one game last year with the Cardinals — but I haven’t done a national game since the 2021 World Series. And I can’t act like I’ve been up on every transaction the Yankees and Brewers have made, let alone the rest of the league. I’ve never done a game, really, where I’ve been in charge of it, with the pitch clock. So there’s a lot of catching up to do.”
Joe @Buck will be back in the ⚾️ booth to call Yankees vs Brewers on Opening Day! 🎙️
He joined us on #MLBNHotStove to preview his return to baseball and the intricacies of calling an early-season MLB game. pic.twitter.com/vEm0qI1GDL
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) February 19, 2025
Despite the need for some catching up, Buck expressed that calling an Opening Day game is advantageous for him. “The easiest game to do is the first game of the season,” he said. “You’ve got all the spring training stories, what happened last year, and the hopes for this year. You simply enjoy the first game and leave the coverage of the next 161 games to everyone else. But this is an aspect I’m really going to work hard to prepare for Opening Day.”
