Joe Buck

or whatever. And then you start building a catalog of these people who are the best of the best, and you go, my god, they're just like everybody else. Hi. I'm Joe Buck and I've done twenty four World Series. I've done six Super Bowls, I've done five US Opens, I've done like one All Star Games. But you know what I've never done until right now, Off the Beat. This is going to be special. Hello everybody, and welcome back to Off the Beat. I am well one, I'm

excited and too. I'm your host. That makes me your excited host, Brian baum Gartner, and I gotta say thank you all for being here today because we're switching things up a bit with today's guest. We're going even further off the beat if you will, as you probably know by now. I am a big sports fan, and yes I root for certain teams, and I play a lot of golf. But what I truly love about sports is the camaraderie, the energy, the competition, getting lost in great games.

And that is why I am so excited for today's guest, who might just no sports better than anyone, the legendary sportscaster Joe Buck. Now, Joe is going to be the first of several sports guests on the podcast. Don't worry, this is still an entertainment podcast at the end of the day. And by the way, Joe is an entertainer because yes he's in sports, and yes he's called some of the most iconic games of all time. But don't

get it twisted. Joe's a TV guy, and he has to draw in an audience, and because currently his programming happens to be live, he actually gets the biggest audiences on television today. And if you've ever heard this man talk, you you know exactly what I mean. His voice is iconic and he has had an insane career from becoming Fox's youngest regular NFL announcer, to hosting his own shows to signing on too broadcast now for Monday Night Football

on ESPN. Plus he's a podcaster too, hosting the Crazy, Funny and Interesting Dad the Issues podcast with Oliver Hudson. And yes that is actually the title. I won't keep you waiting. I can't wait for you to hear this man's voice and this man's stories here. He is the amazing Joe Buck Bubble and Squeak. I love it, Bubble and Squeak on Bubble and Squeaker, cooking it every month, left over from the nut before. What's up, Joe, Hi, Brian, I'm good. I'm really good. Yeah. Well, I mean, you

look professional as you should. You do, you know, I don't know about that. I don't know about that, but I'm happy to be here. Thank you for doing the thing on ESPN the other day. That was fun. I hope you had fun. I had a great time. Michael Collins is uh, he's a hood right, He's awesome. Yeah.

I I had never really been around him much except when when he was doing a radio show with Pat Perez, and Perez was here in St. Louis playing in the p g A a few years ago, and they they all came over to my house and I ended up hanging with him most of the night, and so when that whole thing came up, I was like, I gotta do it with Michael because he can carry it. I mean,

I don't have to really do much. That's awesome. Well, I want to talk about your new big move and some of your your notable accomplishments, but I really want to start back your By the way, it seems like everyone I've talked to is from Kansas, Missouri. I mean, I don't know what is in the water down there, Joe, but like stone Street and Riggle and Keckner all Rudd, Rudd, Zubakis. Yeah, I don't I don't know. It's like you think New York, Chicago, comedy scene at Chico and now everyone is is from

the middle of the country. So I don't know. I don't know what that says. I I don't know what that says either. I uh. I first met Paul Rudd when we were in college. His roommate was my best friend from high school. So we all kind of congregated at Indiana University, which is where I was. They came to visit me and then I returned the favor the next year, and so I've known Paul since I was guys since I was eighteen, and then prior to that, Jon Hamm. Jon Hamm is another one who was dating

the sister of the previously mentioned best friends. So I've known this little group of people. And then it becomes six degrees of My friend's name is Preston Clark, but it's really six to reaves of Rudd and Ham for me getting to know Adam Scott and different guys that that they all interacted with when we were in our

early twenties. So I was the sports guy, they were the cool guys, and uh, you know, all I was good for was getting them tickets to different events, different events, which actually makes you the most popular guy in the whole group. Yeah, and for a while and until you know, Rudd was doing uh you know, god knows what clueless object of my affection and uh, and Ham was mad Men.

He was Mr Madman. So my cool factor dwindled. Yeah, well, I just I just had Mr ham on the podcast, so we uh we talked a lot about St. Louis. And now you're originally you're originally from Florida, is that right? Or you were born in Florida? Yeah, I was basically born in like uh in uh cardboard box in Florida during spring training because my dad was down in St. Pete Uh and my mom couldn't travel after spring training was over, so end of April I popped into the world.

But I'm I'm a Floridian by birth only. And then I came to St. Louis six minutes later and I've been here ever since. Right, your family For those of you who don't know Jack Buck, the other legendary sportscaster, your dad, but you I understand it wasn't necessarily he that brought you into your current profession, even though you literally followed in his footsteps. Is that right? Yeah? No, definitely, I know where you're going with that. My dad, for sure is the main reason why I am who I am,

I do what I do. I fell in love with broadcasting and sports because of him, because you know, he and I were best friends. He traveled constantly, but always took me with him. I think I was in every now League city by the time I was twelve. Um, I was in Vegas and on my own while he rolled crabs all night and I was playing Donkey Kong on whatever. Twenty dollar Billy handed me and checking myself back into the room and eating room service while he was up all night trying to trying to make a

little money. But my mom was the one that that kind of pushed it forward when Fox dropped out of the sky and they got the rights to cover the NFC and bought those rights, uh for an exorbitant price back they took CBS out of the game. And I remember at the time, I was hosting a radio show in St. Louis, and I was in my early twenties, and I thought, this is a travesty. I mean, my god, we're gonna have you know, Joan Rivers and Bart Simpson doing the games and uh. And I was, you know,

just apoplectic about it. And then shortly thereafter, my mom said, well, I gave your video tape to Patty Goren, her husband. It is running Fox Sports, and they want to fly you out for an audition. So that that is something my dad would have never done. He would have never been the one to push me on anyone anybody, but my mom, you know, was that person. Thank god. So I got flown out there during the spring of and I was twenty four at that time. And I was

doing a game. I'd never done football in my life, and I was practicing for my audition with my dad doing color for me while we sat in his living room, and then I flew out to l A did the game off a TV in a studio and they basically like slug Worth and Willy Wonka came walking into me after the audition was over and said, you better get an agent because we're gonna be hiring you. Uh and uh, you did well. So it was often running after that. So I yeah, without my mom pushing that, I would

have never even known about the auditions. And my dad, chrisec wasn't going to do that, right, you know. I read your your mom. She was an actress and a singer and an entertainer as well. Do you feel like there is any part of your style that is different from your dad because of your mom's influence early on? Yeah, I think so. I think my mom was actually a

really good influence on my dad. But my mom was my dad's second wife, and by the time my mom came into his life, his career, unbeknownst to either one of them, was about to take off. Because Harry Carey the long you know, everybody now knows him as a longtime voice of the Cubs, but prior to that, he was the Cardinals announcer. He got fired at the end of the sixties. And I was born in sixty nine, and that's kind of when my dad ascended to the

number one spot with the Cardinals. And my mom, you know, being somebody that was comfortable walking out on a stage and singing and dancing. I mean she auditioned for a Burrows back in the day on Broadway. And that's Jim Burrow's dad for those of you who don't know. And Jim Burrow is one of the most you know, accomplished producers in the history of television. Uh so, yeah, I

think she was. She was very aware of how to entertain a crowd, and I think she she helped my dad with a lot of the speaking engagements he did and as you guys would say in your business, punching up a script or a speech that he would put together and make it more fun and more funnier. And and so I saw that, and I think I pull as much from my mom as I do my dad. I I you know, the style is a bit different, you know, I didn't smoke for sixty years. So I

don't sound like this. How my dad got me up for school in the morning, Get up, buck come on, get get your ass out of bed. And uh I I didn't. I don't have that, but but I think there's some similarities in the style. I try to have fun as much as you can in today's world. Um, and he was all about that. My dad was was kind of an off the cuff, funny, good grounded dude that just treated everybody nicely. So I I get I

get plenty from both, trust me. I was very lucky. Yeah, So I I mean, I'm going a little bit out of order here, but I've never told you this, you know. So I'm a little bit young for al Michael's right, And and do you believe in miracles? And like I I was, I was alive at that time in nineteen eighty, but that wasn't for me. The most iconic and heartbreaking call that I remember a sportscaster delivering and specifically to me into my heart and ripping it out, was your dad,

Jack buck In. I grew up in Atlanta, and I would say today the greatest world series is in the history of world series that I've ever seen, or read or know about as a huge baseball fan, the Atlanta Braves against the Minnesota Twins, and that home run in Game six, and your dad's gravelly voice filled with the emotion that that gravelly voice could give him saying and

will see you tomorrow night. And I had it on VHS tape because I was as sure the Braves were gonna win that game, you know, it was like that was that was gonna be my VHS tape and I have watched that and and the director whoever, I don't know if it was going I don't know who it was.

But cutting to Charlie lee Brand's face and him walking off as stoically as possible, and then halfway to the dugout wiping and the silence that your dad gave amazing, I mean truly, like even as even though it ripped my heart out, I knew that that was like something special that I saw. And so cutting way ahead, we're skipping way ahead, But Inven you gave a nod to your dad in in the World Series in Texas and St.

Louis giving that same call. Um this was planned obviously or was this just in the back of the recesses of your mind. It was in the back of my mind because prior to the game, it was almost twenty years from that that night that my dad said it and you were crying on your couch and and somebody had said, uh, because my dad did that game with

Tim McCarver. And now I'm sitting next to Tim McCarver twenty years later, almost to the day, and somebody said, you know, twenty years ago, was that uh, that Kirby Pucket home run that that forced game seven? And here we are about to start Game six. And I was like, oh, yeah, okay, and you know, getting ready and whatever. So I think

that landed the seed. But you don't know what's That's the beauty and the fun of what I do is you don't know what's coming down the street at you at any time, and inning starts or they kick off or whatever it is, so you're ready for really anything that comes your way. And that game was so I mean, I know, this is way down into the weeds. But the Cardinals were down three games to two, They were down in the game, they were down to the last strike twice. They tied it twice, and then in the

eleventh inning. David Freeze, who's a kid from St. Louis, hits the home run to center to force Game seven. And then that popped out of the back of my mind, out of my mouth, which is we'll see you tomorrow night, which was I don't know. On one hand, it was appropriate because there was gonna be a Game seven the

next night. On the other hand, maybe itself serving. I think I was thinking to him, who would have been sitting one booth over to me watching the Cardinals, the team he loved, and this kid, David Freeze become the hero uh to force that Game seven. And so you know, I I retired being a Jackbuck cover band after that night. I was like, that's it. I've I've done some other things, I've said some things that he said in the past. It's time for me to branch out into my own, uh,

into my own territory. So I'm not playing I'm not playing his hits. I'm gonna start making my own uh in these moments. But for for that one time, yeah, And and it was at the end of a crazy year, Brian I. I I had been through a vocal cord paralysis. I got hair plugs at the beginning, and I talked about all this in my book, which I'm not promoting because you can't find it anywhere. Uh. I got hair plugs,

got intubated. The tube that they put down my throat sat on the nerve that fired my left vocal cord, and the whole year I sounded like this. I had one one vocal cord that was working in one that was laying there paralyzed. And that was about the time my voice started to kind of come back. And that World series, each game it got a little bit better. And so by the time Game six rolled around, you know I've been through. I was going through a divorce,

I was on antidepressants. I thought my career was over because I wasn't gonna be able to broadcast or even order a coffee and allowed Starbucks, and and that that moment happened, and it forced a Game seven. Uh. It allowed me to win an Emmy that year in the worst year, not of my career, in the worst year of anybody's career. I sounded like I was dying every time I was doing a game. But yeah, that that

was a year that was a complete Uh. I don't know what we can or can't say on this, but it was a ship show, so you can you can block that out, but I it was. It was crazy. So I'm proud of that moment at the end of a really hard year. Yeah, you know, it's I think this is fun. Maybe it's maybe it's just fun for me, but I'm you know, sitting here talking to you and thinking about you and and your experience and you being

there in the booth that night watching that game. And I'll tell you, we have a number of people who worked on the Office who are from St. Louis and we're a big Cardinals fans. Phillis Smith, Jenna Fisher. I think I'm forgetting somebody right now. And so we were shooting at that moment, my least favorite episode to shoot

in the history of the Office. We were in a pool for twelve to fourteen hours a day, and I was I was explained after complaining after like six hours that you could get hypothermia if you're in just a regular temperature pool for that many hours. So they had heated it to like degrees. Being in a pool for nine degrees is not that much fun for like fifteen minutes, and it was like all day long, and we're shooting late, we're running late. Everybody's wed and angry. But we had

the radio, so I didn't hear your call. But we are following that game and crazy, and we'd be on set and here people yelling in the background, and we were fully following that game. Now, as someone not from St. Louis, I was rooting for Texas, but I just transparently I was not rooting for St. Louis. But so there was some back and forth and I don't know, maybe some money changed hands at the end of that night. I don't remember exactly, but it was It's funny just to

hear that. And of course I had, you know, as a big sports fan and baseball fan, I had taken it at home and then heard that call, and then it brought back everything from the nineties, and well, it's funny you're making me think of Uh. First of all, Ellie Kemper is the Ellie Kemper. Thank you, Yes, there you go. And so I was with a friend. I mean not to name drop, but I why not. I

haven't stopped yet. Uh, Billy Bob Thornton, I was. I was with him at the filming of a movie did with a friend of mine another friend of mine as a reason why I was there. Jason Patrick's called the Alamo and uh, he's inside. They're like Billy Bob or whatever his character's name was, I don't know who he played.

We need down the top of the walk here at the album and he's like, okay, but he's talking to me inside because you can't see they're shooting all from the outside, and he's talking to me about the Cardinals bullpen. He's a die hard Cardinals fan, and he's like, I mean, god, we need a left hander. The Cardinals do not have a left hander. And like hole, He's like, hold on a second. He walks up, walks up and down. They're

like cut. He walks back down. I mean, if they can just get a left hander, they're gonna It's like there's like nothing even happened, and they're shooting this multibillion dollar movie and all he's caring about is talking about the Cardinals bullpen with me on the inside of the Alumo. It's funny how life goes on in and around these productions and and all people see is you know, post edit, when when everything's all tightened up right, you became the

youngest person to announce regular NFL games on TV? Did that bring any stress for you? Was that? Was that a part of it? But it did? I mean you had so much experience just being around your dad, as you said, yeah, but it did you know, I don't know that that would have happened. And the answer to your question, if it happened in it would be harrowing. It would be, you know, blindfolded on the roller coaster

in the dark at Disney World. Because it's in today's world with social media, especially when you're doing sports and everybody is so emotionally invested in it, it's a tough go and for anybody to start at that time, I was. I just turned twenty five. I'd never done an NFL game in my life. I had done a couple of practice games. And I'm standing at Soldier Field on opening Day.

They're playing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and I'm standing next to Tim Green, who the year prior was playing and and not only had he never broadcast football, he never broadcast anything at least that broadcasts some stuff. And he and I are looking at each other like, what in the hell are we doing here? They're about to kick off the Chicago Bears at home and and we're the

guys standing here about to call this thing. And you know this is so if if you were to roll the clock forward with social media and all that, I don't know that that we would have been able to survive what would have been I think baptism by fire. I think it's changed that part of my business has changed a lot. Like if if somebody's gonna follow you on Instagram or Twitter or whatever, generally they're gonna be a fan of yours and all your great work that

you've done for me. I'm sitting there as Switzerland, and so when people hear me do a baseball game in October, they're comparing me to their hometown announcer that all year long has been freaking out for when their team hits a home run and almost sad on the air when the other team hits a home run home run. Well, now I show up. The stakes are at their highest, and I'm screaming in Yellen for that guy's team, but

I'm also screaming in Yellen for the other team. And all year long, you know, it's just it's weird to the to the senses for fans because they're like, why is he yelling and screaming for that other team? I hate this guy. He hates my team. And so it's it's a long winded way of saying on Twitter, if if I want to go there, I have to bring a snorkel to go in there and wade through all that stuff. And and for you know, the twenty five

year old may Thank god social media wasn't around. I was established for the most part by the time social media popped up, and I was a little bit more mature and more equipped to handle all that stuff. So was I scared, yes, But was it like today's world. No. So I figured I would get through the game and and go from there. And that's kind of how it went, right. I want to talk about football a little bit more.

But you also start working with Tim McCarver, as you mentioned before, who worked with your dad to call Major League Baseball as well. Now your father and Tim, as I understand how a tumultuous relationship you start working with him. How how is your relationship working with Tim? It was a ten out of ten and I'm I'm proud of of a lot of things. That first year of doing the World Series at seven and being at Yankee Stadium and sorry, they beat the Braves that year and my

one of my closest friends now John Smaltz. Sorry to rub that in, but they did. That's history. I had nothing to do with it. Brian. I'm sorry, um, but I so I I get through that year and at the end of this World series in the Bronx, I'm staring into the camera. Tim was off to the side. It was a single shot and I'm recapping the World Series and all that, and it was such a big exhale.

I was literally picturing my dad in the lens of the camera like I was talking to him because I was kind of and I don't want to say scared, but but the nerves were jumping around pretty good. And at the beginning of that year, as you said, my dad and Tim, when my dad and Tim were paired together in my dad, they pushed him up to the number one team. He was initially hired to be on the number two team with Jim Cott, but Brent Musburger got fired and so they pushed my dad up to

work with Tim. And Tim at that time was he was the king. I mean, he ended up hosting Olympics and stuff, so he was the eighth pound gorilla and my dad wasn't used to that and really wasn't a TV guy, so it was it was hard on my dad, and it was hard consequently on his family like me and my mom and my sister, and we were all kind of freaking out with the criticism he was getting or whatever. And a couple of times Tim hung my dad out to dry with a comment that he made

and I was not happy about it. And when they paired us together, the happiest person in the world when my dad found out that Tim and I were gonna be working together was my dad, And the second happiest was me because my dad knew that whatever was going to happen on the field, I'd be covered by a guy sitting next to me that had seen and done at all. It wasn't gonna be some young guy that had never broadcast or whatever. He knew I was with

a veteran and they ended on good terms. I think the hard part was they they just didn't see eye to eye on what the role of the play by play guy was and the role of the analysts. So when that season began, I brought him into a room and I we were at a dinner at Fox, and I said, can I just talk to you for a minute. And I was twenty, I was a kid, and he was I don't know what he was then fifty something, and and I said, look, you know how I feel

about my dad. You know we're very close. I know you and he did not have a great time broadcasting for those two years together. I'm I'm hopeful that we can just hit the reset button and start fresh. Like I, I need to build a relationship with you. And the only way this is gonna work is if you and I are good together. And he said, I really appreciate you. Saying that gave me a hug. Off. We went and and and we were together for eighteen years and did

I guess sixteen World Series together. We never had one argument, and I I just I love the man. So it started rough, but it ended great. That's awesome. Joe lead play by play announcer, taking over for Pat Summer all in two thousand two through also twenty three World Series, twenty one All Star games for Fox Baseball or Football Baseball.

Game seven there's nothing like a Game seven. But the game needs some tweaking, and I'm not going to be the guy that gets out of it because I'm not doing baseball this year for the first time since I was eighteen, and I'm not going to be critical of it other than to say I think all parties know that they need to get back to some more action. Once a gatting starts. It's not the overall time of game.

It's a lack of action because these guys are actually really good, and the pitching is can be so dominant, and all they're worried about his home runs and launching the ball and blah blah blah. But I think a game seven, there's just nothing like it. You know, when you consider these guys go to spring training pictures and catchers in mid February, and now here you are at the end of October, sometimes the beginning of November. They've been going at it that long and now it's you know,

this team against that team. It's that guy on the mound against that guy at the plate with a bat and made the better team win. It's just it's awesome and and it's it's exciting, and I don't have to do much when I'm sitting there. It's like the game kind of carries itself and you're there to accent it.

But football is so big and and these games, the ratings are so crazy compared to everything else that's on TV that when you do a Super Bowl and you're opening your mouth and thinking of something to say and words are coming out and it's going on the televisions of a hundred and twelve million people, that that's stunning. And and it's one of those like you know, the server puts a plate down and says, the plate's really hot, don't touch it, Like the first thing I do is

touch it. Or if you're on a high ladder, don't look down. You look down. It's like, hey, don't think about a hundred and twelve million people being on the other side of that camera. And then you start thinking about a hundred and twelve million people being on the other side of that camera. So it's just it's it's a different world. But for my sensibilities and what I like to talk about and talk about strategy, a baseball game seven is just the best thing on the planet.

Do you consider yourself an entertainer? Um? Yeah, maybe not compared to you. Um, But I think the game has changed like the job has changed. If you go back and listen to the broadcasts from people that are considered the all time grades, and they are, I mean, they were pioneers. But it's like, you know, so hanging in the groundball to short short stop, picks it up, throws the first he got them two out like that. That doesn't fly today. Like you you have to be up

on you know, what's going on in the world. You have to. You have to, you know, the job of a television play by play guys, you're bringing a replay in, you're talking about a graphic, you're explaining spin rate, whatever it is that and and through all that you have to entertain some and you have to have some moments of levity. So yeah, I think it's more than just cut and dried. I'm a stiff baseball announcer or football announcer.

I don't think that works anymore. And you know, so you try to find that balance, try not to overdo, you know, being entertaining, But I think you have to sprinkle that in. Well, it's interesting, you know, being a part of network television for so long, and I mean what you say is obviously exactly true. I mean the

biggest entertainment programs, The biggest numbers are for football. Now you know, it's not scripted television anymore, because that element of the live means if you could watch it what it's happening, that's what you want to watch it. Because it's really hard now, as you say, with your phone and notifications and you know, the days of like not being able to find out what happens until it's over if you're a big fan becomes almost impossible. But yeah,

I mean I think very much. So you're I mean, you are entertaining, but also you truly are the conduit with which we all who watch sports watch. The most popular show that people consume live. Yeah, and and it's you know, I don't I don't know if the TiVo is a thing anymore. It's it's recording proof. As you said, I mean, nobody's ever in the history of time said, hey, don't tell me who wins the Super Bowl. I'm gonna

watch it next week. Right, you can't do it, So you know that that's that's what leads to, uh, these big numbers. If if people care, and football is just so different because of fantasy football and because of office

pools and as of whatever it is. It's just easier to wrap your head around now a seventeen game season as opposed to a hundred and sixty two you know, the I I tip my cap to all fantasy baseball players because that's like a job, you know, every day of you know, reading who's heard and who may or may not be in the lineup, And I mean it's just overwhelming. So I yeah, it's different than anything else that's out there. It can bring extreme joy, it can

bring extreme heartache. I think most of the time when Hollywood tries to recreate it, certainly in film, it falls a little short for whatever reason. And then there are things that happen in these games that if you wrote it, they'd throw out because it would be unbelievable and people would say, oh, that will never happen. But stuff does happen that that you can never imagine when the day starts. So I take all that, you know, I I come

from kind of the old world being around. My dad adds the leg as a kid hanging onto it when we're walking out of the stadium every night, to what we're doing in calling the game has not changed, but all of the other stuff has changed from from the social media and the outside stuff to the inside stuff with how crazy these replays are and cameras and pylons and microphones in the outfield wall and on the second base bag, and you know, you're trying to make it

an immersive, live experience and that that carries with it a lot of risk and and you know, a lot of intensity from the chair I sit in. Yeah, you know, you said a moment ago. It brings joy, it brings heartache, it brings But that to me is why I love sports and why I think it is to a large degree, pure entertainment, because it brings something. It's it's going to elicit an emotion into anyone who you know, who cares

about it. That's what I love about sports. And your voice has become synonymous with some of the biggest moments that I have I've witnessed in sports. Uh favorite favorite

baseball call or something else? Yeah, I I yeah, I think so, you know, not just because we talked about it and went through it, but I think because of what it the game that had ended that game itself, and I went down and talked to Tony LaRussa, the Cardinals manager, right after and I was like, oh my god, Tony that and he was he was a great friend of the family, and so that was crazy that. I

mean that that's unbelievable and typical. Tony's like, well, if we don't win tomorrow doesn't mean you know, Jack and Tony, can you can you enjoy something for one second? Every time I'd walk into his office before the game, I'm like, hey, Tony, what's up are you doing? I'll let you know at ten o'clock. Like I really, I'm not really asking how you're doing. It's just a way of saying hello. I mean,

that's just how intense he was. But I you know, there's been so many great games between the Yankees and the Red Sox that I got to do, um the oh four World Series. You know, when when you get to be the one to call the Boston Red Sox being World champions for the first time at eighty six years, when you get to call the Chicago Cubs being the world champions for the first time in a hundred and

eight years, you know, you're sitting at Wrigley Field. There hadn't even been a World Series in that stadium since nine, and they hadn't one since before the Titanic sunk, you know, let alone World War One and World War two and you know all that other stuff. So baseball has always been kind of you know, I'm not going to go into a field of dreams monologue, but but it has kind of mirrored society and it's always it's always been there, and you can mark where you were in your life

depending on who won the World Series that year. That that's kind of how I go about my life. So I you know, they're they're all so different it's hard to pick one. But I think as far as a game, that Game six ofven was just perserk. It was crazy. And two thousand one is another year that gets overlooked for baseball because of everything that was going on in

the country after nine eleven. But there we are in the beginning of October and Mariano Rivera like for one of only two times I think in the postseason, blew a save chance in Game seven of the World Series, and the Arizona Diamondbacks won the World Series um in one of the great series of all times. So I you know, you can go year by year by year, and it's just it's it's fun to do and it's also exhausting because they're also darned good. Your favorite football

call for me is is easy. The Packers beating the Steelers in even end of the season. I mean, I think I know what you're gonna say, but football the greatest game you ever called. Well, I mean, you know, not to just piggyback off what you said, but when you can call the green Bay Packers the world champs and the Lombardi Trophy is going to Green Bay, that's pretty good. But uh, I don't know. I mean, I think the Stefon Diggs call was that moment when he

had a walk off touchdown. Rarely do you get a walk off moment in football that doesn't involve a kicker.

Nothing against him, But when Stefon Diggs makes the catch on the sideline against the Saints, a game that went back and forth, and then you just expect out of out of almost uh kind of a muscle trigger memory kind of thing that if he makes a catch, he's got to hop out of bounds so they have a chance to win the game with a field goal, and he spins around and nobody's there and he just takes it into the end zone for a touchdown and the place felt like it was going to collapse. It was

so crazy. So, uh, that's one that just stands out to me. But you know, I don't know, what, what did you think I was gonna say? Well, No, I know you've talked a lot about the Patriots undefeated season and the helmet catch and that game against the Giants with them coming back to win. Yeah, that's one where I get criticized for the for the helmet catch, and I just going back to what we talked about earlier.

When you know a hundred and twelve million people are on the other end, you have to make sure that the catch has made before you're standing on your head. And I didn't really know that the catch was made until we had a second to digest it. And then if you go back and you start screaming and yell, and you kind of feel like you're making it about you instead of the moment that David Tyree catch. But

but that was a great game. I mean, when you're you know, that was the second Super Bowl that that I had done, and so I was still pretty out of my head, nervous and New York. You know, anything involving New York just takes on a bigger feel, and it's against the Patriots, who are going for a perfect season.

The games back and forth, and the Giants take the lead on a Plexico Burris touchdown, and now it's Brady and you know they're they're trying to become the second team to go undefeated in a season and win it all. Uh man, it was one of those where I felt my heart beating. I almost could look down and see my shirt moving, just not because I was nervous, but because it was just so intense and your your concentration

goes to a different level. Like I'm not a drug guy, but I I don't know what drug that would be, but I was just so laser focused on not screwing it up that it I was like almost beside myself. But yeah, that that was an incredible, incredible game. Yeah. Uh well, I know, you know I'm I'm a Packers fan,

and I will just mention this last one. I just had a conversation with Randall Cobb and we talked about I mean, for me, truly, one of them just like blew my mind sports moments that I've seen ever was that catch about a fifty yard catch against Chicago in Soldier Field for Green Bay to go to the playoffs that year. You called that. I mean that was just personally,

that was that was awesome, crazy game. It's funny because you know, for whatever reason, it's out there Packer fans like, why do you hate the Packers and everybody else, every other fan is like if Buck and Aikman don't shut up about how great Aaron Rodgers and before him, Brett Farvar. I mean that was that was Frank Caliendo's stick with Madden talking. You know, Bret far Bred far Bret far Like everything that Bret Farve does is magical and uh and the same. You know, we carried that forward from

Brett Farve to Aaron Rodgers. I just if I could pick somebody to watch every game broadcast or not just watch, it would be Aaron Rodgers. And and just because of the way he plays the game and his kind of higher level thinking, catching defenses with too many men and quick snap counts and you know, stuff around the line of scrimmage and then the you know, if you need

a hail Mary, he's your guy too. So you know that, Yeah, we're we're we're huge fans of of Aaron Rodgers and everybody in Green Bay's like, good, you hate the Packer And I'm like, I just I don't see how that's possible. Like, go back to that Randall cob call he just talked about and tell me that you know somehow and and deepen my soul. I hate the Packers. That was unreal. I They've provided us with more great moments on TV

than really any team we've covered. Yeah. I was gonna ask you that question because you and I have talked about that a little bit in the path. What fan base do you think? How do I say this? You can say, hey, okay, all right, I'll say it like that, what fan base hates you the most because they think you don't like them? Who would it be there's a tie at the top, or it could be a team that because you're they're convinced that you love somebody else

more or whatever. Well that's Chicago because I'm from St. Louis, so you know, doing the Cubs in the World Series to a large portion of their fan base Like, oh, of course the St. Louis guy whose dad's pictures on the outfield wall in St. Louis is doing this and we know he hates the Cubs, and I'm like, this was the greatest highlight of my life. It's a hundred and eight years Are you kidding me? But uh, that's

one thing. The other side of it is, it doesn't matter who If I show up, you know, Boston, they'll they'll give you trouble. New York definitely. I did a thing on Funnier Die about that, which I'm really proud of about. You know, different people around the city, the people you would never expect to scream at me about why why do you hate the Yankees? Why do you hate the Giants? Why do you hate them? Ments? Uh? But the one fan base that seems a little more

biting than the others is San Francisco. For whatever reason, San Francisco fans, I'll never forget doing a Giants World Series game. And the game's over and I think they had one, and I'm packing all my stuff up in the booth of stadiums empty. I think it was a blowout.

Wind stadiums empty, and I hear this little kid yelling Mr Buck, Mr Buck, And I'm like packing stuff, and I'm hold on one second, I'm getting stuff, Mr Buck, And hold on one second And I'm packing stuff into my backpack and I stand up and I looked down and it's a father and son and they both give me the finger. And I was like, man, that that was special, and uh, I'd love to take a picture of this and show this and show and tell at your school. But yeah, that was That was the next level. One.

I got chased into a bar in Boston, the Beantown Pub one time when the Yankees were playing the Mets. I got chased into the hotel with two guys coming out of the bean Town Pub. But for the most part, people will say something and then they come up and pat you on the back and buy a drink. You know, it's it's never really personal. It's just kind of a thing. So you just you just have to embrace it. Almost yeah,

for what it's worth. You know, people talk about Philly and they talk about Boston, and I'm not trying to antagonize those fan bases to behave worse than they are. I've had the opportunity to go there. This specifically is football. I've never been more scared then I was at a game at Old Candlestick arc Never, never, never, I thought I'm not getting out of this place alive. These people are insane, I know, and they're definitely if you're not one of them, you're dead to them, not literally, but

they don't have any time for you. And now if you're not one of them and you're calling their games on television, good luck anything different for you from your time doing other shows besides calling the game. You know, you also did Joe Buck Live for a while, the Already Lang show that was That was the Already Lang episode of Joe Buck Live HBO, which to some people will never live down, even though Artie and I became friends the next day and I wrote the foreword to

his book. But yeah, I think you bring a little more calm to the broadcast for whatever reason, when you do interview shows or you know, I've been on brock Meyer, I've been on Stern a couple of times, and I think that it gives an opportunity for people to see the other side of you. And that's really why I do any of that stuff. It's people have an impression of who they think you are based on calling ball strikes, home runs, touchdowns, whatever, and that's the smallest fraction of

who I am. I feel like I've got a decent sense of humor. I feel like I'm a I'm a good dad on the dad's scale. I feel like I've I've done well with my four kids so far. I haven't raised an ax murderer to my knowledge, uh, And I feel like I've I've got a lot more sides than what I get to show during the course of

a baseball, football game, golf, whatever it is. So that's why I do that stuff, and it gives me a little extra, you know something when I walk back into the play by play booth to to call the next game. So yeah, I think it really helps me well and for what it's worth in a large degree, that's why

I'm doing this too. I mean I have I have very much been defined as one very specific type of person through my work as well, but more for me doing this, you know, especially with sports and guys like you, you know, I feel that it truly is one of

the great blessings of my life. And what I ended up doing in my life is the ability to meet guys like you at the American Century Championship there in Lake Tahoe and Michael Jordan's event or Derek Jeter's event, or you know, various golf events around the world because I am such a huge sports fan and it's so much fun for me to hear the stories and also get to know guys like you who are exactly very

different than just calling balls and strikes. Yeah, And I think what it does is it it gets you behind the rope to learn the big secret that they're just people. They're they're people who are incredibly gifted, but who work extremely hard at their craft, whether it's throwing a football, catching one, shooting a hockey puck, shooting a basketball, whatever it is, that is no different than me trying to show you know, I'm not I don't go to bed like calling play by play of me putting my toothpaste

on my toothbrush and my wife doing the same. And you're not, you know, walking around the house reciting lines from the office. You've got you know, other stuff that makes you tick and go and get you excited. And the point is you think know somebody based on a SoundBite or what you see with them in a helmet or you know, a basketball uniform, whatever it is. And and they've all had moments of terror, They've all been completely insecure, They've had moments where they were tested. They've

had sure great moments of triumph, but terrible defeats. They all come from parents. Some are parents that are around, some are not. Some are a rough dad, a nice dad, or whatever. And then you start building a catalog of these people who are the best of the best, and

you go, my god, they're just like everybody else. When I talked to Michael Phelps on that show and we showed the picture of him on the Sports Illustrated cover with twenty plus metals around his neck, I said, what what do you think of when you see that picture? And he said, I see a guy with big ears and an awkward smile who got picked on on the playground. And I said, well, for the rest of the world,

all we see are the medals. And you know, it was the same thing like when he went to rehab and what that was like and being just shaken, and you just realized that everybody's trying their best, and everybody's trying to get through the world. And yes, they have these moments on the court, the ice, whatever, but god, they they're also flawed human beings, just like you and me. That's right. Do you have a podcast with my good friend as well Oliver Hudson daddy issues. You're talking about

family on the podcast. How is that for you? It's great if I could ever get Oliver to return text and actually set up time when we're gonna record our stupid thing. We've had great guests. I mean, I've had Eddie Vetter and Mark Cuban, and I mean it's a long list of people that mainly I know for some reason, I don't know anybody that could be Goldie hans Son and Kurt Russell's steps on and Kate Hudson's brother and Whyatt Russell's brother, and he knows nobody. Nobody will return

his call, and that's why he's got daddy issues. His dad, Bill Hudson, walked out of the family when he was around ten years old and he's been going to therapy ever since. Now he's a dad, and he's got a boy that's about to start high school, and he's got two younger kids, and uh, you know, I've got girls that are in their mid twenties, ones acting, one just finished film school at usc and then I've got four year old twin boys. So we've got kids up and

down the line. And it's more about being you know, Uh, he's forty five. I'm fifty three, married in my case, divorced, remarried, more kids, you know, all the stuff he deals with, a feeling like the black sheep of the family. Uh. And yet I'm close with the rest of his siblings and his parents, and they all think he's the most talented, but he's never tapped into all that. So that's kind of the through line of the podcast. And then there's

just a bunch of junk that that follows. Well. I have to tell you, I think this is the greatest compliment anyone could give you, because it's it's what I observe, and it's what I've heard from my own bizarrely unique spot in the locker room being the golf course. I cannot imagine athletes could speak any higher of you than

they do. You have their respect, and that is not universally true, by the way, without mentioning anybody else's name, that people respect the job that you do, the amount of work and research you put into it, and how respectful you are in calling the games, and for me, by the way, you and Troy, I I mean, the best in the business, best in the business. I appreciate you saying that that from somebody like you, that that

means a lot. And I think sometimes everybody is so quick to absorb all the negative, and then when somebody says something nice, you just kind of gloss over it because I'm not I'm not good at compliments. But I will tell you this. When my dad dropped me off at Triple A my first year, we drove up from spring training from Florida and he dropped me in Louisville, and then he went on to St. Louis On the way up, he told me a couple of things. He said, One,

you've been watching Big league baseball your whole life. Unless you think, as the play by play guy of these minor league guys that you could make that play ten times out of ten, realize that they're trying their best, and don't criticize that way. The game is way harder than we all realize, especially when you're sitting up in the broadcast booth too. Same deal with the umpires, you know, like layoff, it's it's easy to get, you know, our

pictures not getting anything. They're not getting any called just layoff, call the game. Shut up. Three Nobody cares that the announcers hot. Nobody cares. If you're in the booth and you're cold, Nobody cares. If you're tired, Just call the game. And most importantly, if you get hit by a bus going into the game, realize that they're still gonna play the game. They're not going to stop the game. It's still gonna be on the radio and people are still

gonna listen to it. It doesn't So don't act like anybody has ever gone up and down the dial going where's the Joe Buck game? No, this is where's the Cardinal game? Where's the Packer game, Where's the Cubs game? Where's the Braves game? It's not you, So don't act

like they're they're listening for you. So I I think with regard to the players, hopefully nobody feels like I've been unfair when when I'm calling games, And hopefully they know that the person up there that's calling what they do for a living, cares to do a good job and puts work into it, and and that's that's kind of how I go about it. Big move this spring, you're moving to ESPN, And as you said, no baseball. Now, okay,

with no baseball I am. I had told Fox that this was gonna be my last year doing it, you know, after you do. It would have been my twenty five world series. I feel like that's enough. I I it's for those keeping track. It's the most anybody has ever called played by play I walk Away now tied with Tim McCarver foremost ever by anybody. And I like that. And none of that stuff really matters to anybody, including me. But I think it's just time for a new voice.

And then for ESPN. I never thought I would work at ESPN. I it just was like, that's over there. I'm at Fox. I've been here since I was in my mid twenties. I'm now almost you know, mid fifties. I've lived my whole life over here. And then their situation with Troy unraveled, Troy ends up at ESPN. I was like, well, I mean, I'm only signed one more year. I love working with Troy. I want to keep working with Troy. Let's see if we can make this happen.

And in other layer that nobody you know puts together is my wife does the Monday Night Countdown interview. So she does the the Profile personality interview with a player in that Monday night game. So now she and I are going to work on the same nights, and we've got these four year old twin boys at home. So it was just like everything was lining up, like if we can make this happen somehow, and ESPN wanted it

to happen. It was only up to Fox to let me out of the last year of my deal, that this would be a good time to kind of force some change. And I think change is good. You know. I talked to the guy that hired me at Fox when I was in my mid twenties, David Hill, who built that network. I called him and I let him kind of have the final say in my brain because I was going back and forth on it, and Fox offered me an extension, and it wasn't like they were

sick of me yet. But David Hill said, the ten years I've been gone from Fox have been the most rewarding years of my life. And for you, you've done the same thing over and over and over again at the same place with the same people. You're gonna be nervous before your first Monday night football game. That's good. You're gonna grow. And he said, if if you're asking me I think you should leave. And once he said that, then I put the full court press on and now

here we are, so I can't wait. I'm I just wish I was working. Yeah, that's awesome. Um, thank you, so am I am. I seeing you in a couple of weeks. I will see you, my friend. Hopefully they can put us together that first day. That'd be a blast. Are are you there to like hold Aaron Rodgers hand? You probably have your group. Yeah, I'm not going to crash your party. No, that's why I see. That's the thing is, that's why I asked if you're an entertainer, because then now that you said yes, ish or I

made you say yes, then that means we can. You know, they like the first day. They like to put like like people together, you know, like they'll put him with quarterbacks and me with entertainers. Maybe maybe me you and Larry the cable guy, something like that. I'm watching that. I'm not although he's gotten better, right, he's a better of golfer now that he has gotten better. Yeah, all right, good, I would like Yeah, thank you, thank you so much.

Best of luck to you at ESPN. I'll start reaching out to get tickets now once we hit the fall any and we'll do it. Thanks so much, Joe. I'll see in Green Bay all right, Brian, see you, buddy, Joe. What more is there to say? Thank you so much for joining me. I appreciate you taking the time. I cannot wait to listen to you on well Monday Night football next season. And I'm gonna take some notes next time I listened to your podcast listeners, you should definitely

do the same. And of course we will see you next week for another episode of the podcast. How far off the Beat will we go? Will we even be able to see the beat? I'm gonna see yes, but only time will tell. See you next week. Off the Beat is hosted an executive produced by me Brian Baumgartner, alongside our executive producer Langley. Our producers are Diego Tapia, Liz Hayes, Emily Carr, and Hannah Harris. Our talent producer

is Ryan Papa Zachary. Our theme song Bubble and Squeak performed by my great friend Creed Bratton, and the episode was mixed by seth Olandski