With the Fall Classic going the full seven games the past two seasons, Joe Buck is preparing for Boston and Los Angeles to go the distance as well.
Im asking for John Smoltz to get a raise, because all we get are seven-game series, Buck said Monday as he prepares for his 21st World Series call for Fox. The series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox begins on Tuesday at Fenway Park.
Of the five postseason series that Buck and Smoltz have called since 2016, only one has not gone seven games. The 2016 NL Championship Series between the Dodgers and Cubs went six games.
Smoltz, who became Foxs lead analyst in 2016, can also be credited with Bucks renewed enthusiasm for calling baseball. Buck said a couple years ago that he only wanted to do a few more years of baseball, but a contract extension with Fox will keep him in that role through at least 2021, when the networks current deal with Major League Baseball expires.
By that time, Buck will have tied Tim McCarver for most World Series television appearances with 24. All but eight of McCarvers Fall Classic calls were as Bucks partner.
Fox has had the rights to baseball since 1996 and is expected to renew its deal once it comes up for negotiation.
For a seven-game series I couldnt look more forward to working with someone like John, Buck said. When hes doing a game, he prepares just like he was pitching, analyzing different guys and what they look for. He is so dialed in that its fun and hes a good teammate.
Smoltz said the pairing has worked so well because they have similar personalities.
Hes been doing it so long but hes looser and enjoying it and it shows, Smoltz said. We feel comfortable that if we never look at each other I know when to go. Thats when you know you have a good thing going. It is not guesswork and that came quick. Its not always that easy.
The World Series also comes in the midst of the busiest month of Bucks 25-year career at Fox. He normally does only baseball once the league championship series begin, but he has added Thursday Night Football to his schedule.
If the World Series does go the distance, Buck will be doing 18 games over a 22-day stretch. Buck said its a grind he is used to from his years doing St. Louis Cardinals baseball games on radio and television.
So far it has been going great. Most of the games have been exciting, Buck said. As far as getting ready it is getting updated on the stories and then calling it. I prefer doing a game compared to the other way of gathering so much information that you are drowning in numbers and can miss the forest for the trees because you are worried about all the prep that you did.
One game a day should also be an easy challenge for Buck. In 2012 in San Francisco, he did a Giants-49ers game and less than an hour later was in the booth for Game 1 of the NCLS between the Cardinals and Giants.
There were rumblings that Buck was going to repeat that Sunday with the Rams hosting the Packers at the LA Memorial Coliseum and then a possible Game 5 at Dodger Stadium. But Buck said he would stick to just baseball due to Los Angeles traffic and an already heavy schedule.
Even though the Thursday night games can be a challenge, Buck said the football broadcasts have re-energized the networks top crew. The travel has also not been as bad as it could. After doing Games 1 and 2 in Boston, Buck is scheduled to call the Dolphins-Texans game in Houston before traveling to Los Angeles for the weekend.
