Joe Buck is the 2026 winner of the Ford C. Frick Award, joining his late dad as the only father-son duo to be celebrated for broadcasting excellence by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y.
The younger Buck has transitioned away from baseball and is the voice of ESPN’s “Monday Night Football.” Still, he has been on the call of more World Series and All-Star Games on network television than any play-by-play announcer, according to the Hall of Fame.
He is the 50th winner of the award and earned the highest point total ever in voting by the 16 members of the Frick Award Committee. Other finalists on the ballot: Brian Anderson, Skip Caray, Rene Cardenas, Gary Cohen, Jacques Doucet, Duane Kuiper, John Rooney, Dan Shulman and John Sterling.
“Joe Buck authored his own historic legacy while following in the footsteps of his father on a path to Cooperstown,” said Josh Rawitch, Hall of Fame president. “During an era of unprecedented audience growth throughout the game, Joe was the voice of the World Series and the All-Star Game, calling the biggest moments in baseball for more than a quarter of a century. He was a Saturday staple in homes across America while still serving as the voice of his hometown St. Louis Cardinals.”
Buck will be honored during Hall of Fame Weekend, set for July 24-27.
At 56, Buck is the second-youngest winner of the award. Only the legendary Vin Scully, the longtime voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers, was younger, named in 1982 at age 54.
Jack Buck, his father, won the Frick Award in 1987. He was best known for his work with the Cardinals, and his son joined him with the team in 1991.
In the baseball offseason, Joe Buck called football and joined Fox Sports in 1994. Two years, later, he was behind the microphone for his first World Series game at age 27, the youngest to do so since Scully in 1953.
In all, Buck provided play-by-play coverage for 26 League Championship Series and 21 All-Star Games. He has won eight Sports Emmy Awards.
He is in his 24th season calling football with partner Troy Aikman, making them the broadcast duo with the most longevity in NFL history.
Buck also is one of six broadcasters to with both the Frick Award and the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award, joining his father, Dick Enberg, Curt Gowdy, Al Michaels and Lindsey Nelson.
–Field Level Media
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