Commentary
Buck was embodiment of Cardinals’ franchise The late Jack Buck was more than a Hall of Fame broadcaster for the St. Louis Cardinals. Like any great announcer, he was the embodiment of that franchise for several generations.
Logic says baseball teams ought to choose their main announcer more carefully than they choose their general manager, manager, No. 1 starter or cleanup hitter.
The announcer should outlast them all – and many of their successors.
Buck, who died last week at 77, began calling Cardinals games in 1954. He was on duty for some prime years of Stan Musial’s Hall of fame career.
Buck stayed through Mark McGwire and Albert Pujols. Think about that timeline. Musial is 81, Pujols is 22.
While players from Luis Arroyo to Todd Zeile passed through St. Louis, Buck’s crisp play-by-play was a constant. Despite his frequent network assignments, Buck’s voice instantly meant Cardinals baseball to the team’s huge regional fan base.
The Pirates had a similar advantage with Bob Prince. They foolishly trashed that by endorsing KDKA’s spiteful firing of Prince and Nellie King in 1975 and they paid a steep price.
The argument is always that people don’t buy tickets to see announcers, they’re attracted by the players. Yet who helps create the interest in the ever-changing cast of players?
A broadcaster who connects in a special way with his audience is an asset in any sport. Look at the popularity of Myron Cope and Lange.
But the bond is especially strong in baseball because of the sheer number of games, the relaxed listening environment and a slow pace that can’t help but reveal the announcer’s personality.
Buck’s spectacular career reminds how fortunate the fans in St. Louis were.
And how badly the Pirates miss that kind of special connection.
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Cam Bonifay was fired a year ago this month, triggering major changes in the Pirates’ baseball operations staff.
Look for a similar overhaul to soon unfold on the business side. At least two executives with significant responsibilities are on the way out. It’s to be expected after a sharp decline in attendance and the blockheaded decision to raise ticket prices after a 100-loss season.
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The latest word on the talk show scene is that Stan Savran will take over the 3 to 6 p.m. daily show on WBGG while KDKA continues to lean toward having TV guys Paul Alexander and Bob Pompeani moonlight on the radio station’s weeknight evening talk show.
WBGG needs a recognizable name to build an audience. KD wants to economize by using people already on staff with the parent company.
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A few memories of Jack Buck from his regular visits to Pittsburgh with the Cardinals:
At the start of every series, he’d slap a $100 bill on the bar and muster up fake gruffness to tell press room boss Willard “Diz” Bellows, “Now don’t you say anything bad about me for the next three days.”
It was just his way of giving an old friend a tip 10 times larger than anyone else’s without getting mushy about it.
Buck almost always carried a book with him. Not a baseball book but the kind of hardcover stuff real people read. That’s rare in baseball, where the ample idle time is usually occupied much less productivity.
Buck had an appreciation for language and even wrote poetry. His style was economical, the words delivered in a rasp that seemed to rumble through the speaker with smoke rings.
He was a contemporary of Prince and Harry Caray but not a clone. They were brass bands who demanded attention; Buck was more like a fluid jazzman, playing something just as interesting but not nearly as noisy.
He had a droll sense of humor, which helped him cope with the major medical problems that plagued his last years. The quintessential Jack Buck line came when he called the 1967 “Ice Bowl” NFL Championship game in Green Bay from CBS-TV’s open booth in minus-13 degree conditions.
He turned to partner Frank Gifford and said, “Excuse me while I have a bite of my coffee.”
John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehno@lycos.com.