The Los Angeles Dodgers are going to start their march toward a potential third straight World Series championship on ESPN, and someone connected to the sport will be calling the action.
Joe Buck, who called many MLB games when he was working with Fox Sports, will be calling the play-by-play action when the Dodgers go up against the New York Mets on April 15, 2026. This will be the first time since coming over to ESPN in 2022.
Buck, these days, is better known for being the play-by-play voice on “Monday Night Football” alongside his longtime broadcast partner, ESPN NFL analyst, Super Bowl-winning quarterback, and Pro Football Hall of Fame member Troy Aikman.
Buck was recently named the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s Ford C. Frick Award winner. Buck now joins his famed father, the late Jack Buck, who called St. Louis Cardinals games. Jack Buck also has a connection with “Monday Night Football” too. He called games for Westwood One Radio with former Kansas City Chiefs and Super Bowl-winning head coach Hank Stram.
This honor also puts Joe Buck alongside his father in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.
“My best memory of my father as a broadcaster was in 1987 in Cooperstown, N.Y., and what that meant to him, meant to our family and to see the joy and pride he had,” Joe Buck said, according to an article announcing this honor for him on MLB.com.
“I come in [to broadcasting] as the luckiest guy in the world,” Joe Buck said. “I was lucky to call Jack Buck my dad and my best friend. I’m lucky I’m Carol Buck’s son.
“It’s hard for me — and this is why I have a therapist — to accept this kind of stuff, because I downplay awards because of the feeling I had a leg-up at the start of my career, and I did,” he said. “But I’m happy I paid attention as a kid, because I wanted to be with [Jack]. He and I were best friends.”
The Dodgers will take the field with some additional help in the bullpen. Los Angeles, of course, signed free agent reliever Edwin DÃaz to a three-year, $69 million contract. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts will be making sure his team is ready to go at Spring Training.
As for the Mets, they’ve been seeing a player like Pete Alonso leave as well as trading outfielder Brandon Nimmo away to the Texas Rangers for Marcus Semien.
But when the teams open their 2026 MLB seasons, they’ll be on the field with Joe Buck calling the action from the broadcast booth.
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