Joe Buck, who has called more World Series and All-Star Games on network television than any play-by-play announcer in history, has been selected as the 2026 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually for excellence in broadcasting by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
Buck will be honored during the Hall of Fame Awards Presentation as part of Hall of Fame Weekend, July 24-27, 2026. Buck becomes the 50th winner of the Frick Award, as he earned the highest point total in a vote conducted by the Hall of Fame’s 16-member Frick Award Committee.
The final ballot featured broadcasters whose main contributions came as local and national voices and whose careers began after, or extended into, the Wild Card Era. The 10 finalists were: Brian Anderson, Skip Caray, Rene Cardenas, Gary Cohen, Jacques Doucet, Duane Kuiper, John Rooney, Dan Shulman, John Sterling and Buck.
Buck joins his father, 1987 Frick Award winner Jack Buck, as the only father/son Frick Award winners. The 56-year-old Buck becomes the second-youngest Frick Award winner, trailing only Vin Scully, who was 54 when he was named the 1982 winner.
“Joe Buck authored his own historic legacy while following in the footsteps of his father on a path to Cooperstown,” said Josh Rawitch, President of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. “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.”
Born April 25, 1969, in St. Petersburg, Fla., Buck grew up in St. Louis as his father called Cardinals games on KMOX radio. He matriculated at Indiana University, and by 1989 was calling games for the Triple-A Louisville Redbirds. In 1991, Buck joined his father on Cardinals broadcasts and remained with the team through 2007.
In 1994, Buck joined FOX Sports as an NFL play-by-play announcer and soon added baseball to his national resume. In 1996, Buck called his first World Series at age 27, becoming the youngest World Series voice since 25-year-old Vin Scully in 1953. Buck would be behind the mic again for the 1998 World Series and then each year from 2000 through 2021. From 1996 through 2021, when he left FOX, Buck called 26 League Championship Series and 21 All-Star Games while voicing the network’s Saturday game of the week.
Working with partners at FOX that included 2012 Frick Award winner Tim McCarver and Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz, Buck set a record (with McCarver) for most All-Star Games as a broadcast duo with 15 Midsummer Classics.
In 2022, Buck joined ESPN to become the eighth play-by-play voice in Monday Night Football history. He transitioned to the new network with analyst Troy Aikman, continuing a partnership that began in 2002 on FOX and is the longest broadcasting tandem in NFL history.
Buck returned to the baseball booth in 2025 to call ESPN’s Opening Day broadcast. He becomes the sixth broadcaster to win both the Frick Award and the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award along with his father Jack Buck, Dick Enberg, Curt Gowdy, Al Michaels and Lindsey Nelson.
The 16-member Frick Award voting electorate, comprised of the 13 living recipients and three broadcast historians/columnists, includes Frick honorees Marty Brennaman, Joe Castiglione, Bob Costas, Tom Hamilton, Ken Harrelson, Pat Hughes, Jaime Jarrín, Tony Kubek, Denny Matthews, Al Michaels, Jon Miller, Eric Nadel and Dave Van Horne, and historians/columnists David J. Halberstam (historian), Barry Horn (formerly of the Dallas Morning News) and Curt Smith (historian).
As established by the Board of Directors, criteria for selection is as follows: “Commitment to excellence, quality of broadcasting abilities, reverence within the game, popularity with fans, and recognition by peers.” To be considered, an active or retired broadcaster must have a minimum of 10 years of continuous major league broadcast service with a ball club, network, or a combination of the two.
The Frick Award election cycle rotates between a composite ballot featuring local and national voices whose careers began after, or extended into, the Wild Card Era in four consecutive years, followed by a fifth year featuring a ballot of candidates whose broadcasting careers concluded prior to the advent of the Wild Card Era in 1994. The cycle began with the 2023 Frick Award, with composite ballots of local and national voices continuing with the Awards through 2026 before the pre-Wild Card Era ballot is considered for the 2027 Award. The cycle then repeats.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an independent not-for-profit educational institution, dedicated to fostering an appreciation of the historical development of baseball and its impact on our culture by collecting, preserving, exhibiting and interpreting its collections for a global audience as well as honoring those who have made outstanding contributions to our National Pastime. Opening its doors for the first time on June 12, 1939, the Hall of Fame has stood as the definitive repository of the game’s treasures and as a symbol of the most profound individual honor bestowed on an athlete. It is every fan’s "Field of Dreams," with its stories, legends and magic shared from generation to generation.