6 years, 10 months ago Mike Moyers
We lost Jack Buck fifteen years ago......
This time of the year most of us are thinking vacation, Father’s Day, summer’s here and baseball. And that most likely was the case 15 years ago until we learned the on June 18, 2002 that we had lost someone special. We lost Jack Buck.
The “dirty-necked kid from Holyoke, Massachusetts passed away fifteen years ago, leaving behind a legacy that was one of the most genuine ever.
Jack Buck had the ability to make whoever he was with, whoever he was talking to, feel like they were the most important person in the world. I’ve spoken to many who knew him and they all feel the same way.
I came away from the few conversations I had with Mr. Buck feeling as though he was a close friend. It was like you KNEW that HE heard every word you said. And you don’t get that much anymore.
Back in the early 80’s Jeff Dorsey and I used to take in a Cardinal game or two. And because (at the time) WTAD was a Cardinal affiliate, we were invited to sit in the booth with Mr. Buck and Mike Shannon. Buck always took the time during the game to come up and visit with us, which was always special. On one occasion as Mr. Buck was doing the ninth inning he turned to Jeff and me and said, “stick around, I want to talk to you.” Of course we both thought that Jack maybe had an inside line on a play-by-play job (Jeff more than me) so we watched him work the ninth flawlessly. Then, he did the morning wrap up for KMOX in one take-right at :59 seconds, which was impressive to two young broadcasters. By the way, there was no exotic job on the horizon; Mr. Buck just hadn’t said hello and wanted to do so before we left.
If everyone would be just a little like Jack Buck the world would be a better place. Hey, it’s not too late to start…….
