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Crafting the Call: The iconic Game 6 calls of Jack and Joe Buck, plus all the other broadcasters from Game 6 of the 2011 World Series
No other sport ties together fathers and sons like baseball.
Cecil Fielder hit 319 home runs in his major league career. His son Prince Fielder also hit exactly 319 home runs in his major league career.
Ray Boone played in the majors. So did his son Bob. So did his grandsons Aaron and Bret. All four played in an All-Star Game. Bob and Aaron both managed in the majors.
Harry Wendelstedt was an umpire from 1966 to 1998. His son, Hunter Wendelstedt, has been an umpire in MLB since 1998. They worked several series together in 1998.
The father-son connections also extend to the broadcasting booth.
Jack Buck is most known for his 47 years broadcasting the St. Louis Cardinals baseball game. He also called the World Series for CBS in 1990 and 1991.
Five years later, his son Joe became the lead broadcaster for Fox’s national baseball contract.
For this week’s “Crafting the Call” episode, Jesse Goldberg-Strassler and I looked back on Game Six of the 2011 World Series. I consider it the greatest baseball game ever played.
The game ended with a David Freese walkoff home run in the 11th inning. Joe Buck was on the call. His words were the exact same as his father Jack’s words for the ending of Game Six of the 1991 World Series.
Here’s a short clip from the episode:
For this week’s episode, we didn’t just tie the generations of the Broadcasting Bucks. We also compared and contrasted the following calls of Freese’s dramatic home run.
Dan Shulman on ESPN Radio
Eric Nadel on Rangers Radio
Mike Shannon on Cardinals Radio
Simon Brotherton on BBC Radio
Ernesto Jerez on Spanish Radio
Gary Thorne on ESPN International
Here’s a link to the full episode:
Crafting the Call is a YouTube series that I developed along with Jesse Goldberg-Strassler. Each week, we examine different aspects of baseball play-by-play announcing, offering our perspective as working professionals for fans and advice for fellow broadcasters. To help support our work, subscribe, like, comment, or send us a suggestion for a future episode.
Previous episodes can be broken into the following categories:
Specific plays (inside-the-park homer, how to finish a no-hitter, describing an amazing catch).
One play, multiple calls (Gibby’s homer off Eck in 1988, Joe Carter’s homer off the Wild Thing in 1993, and the “little roller up the line” from 1986.
Appreciating a legendary announcer (Marty Brennaman, guest Chris Caray on his grandfather Skip Caray, guest Joe Block on Ernie Harwell, guest Ken Levine on Dave Niehaus).
Here’s a link to all the episodes and a screenshot of the home page.