Three broadcasters with St. Louis ties were among the 10 finalists named for the 2026 Ford C. Frick Award, the National Baseball Hall of Fame announced on Monday.
St. Louis native and former Cardinals broadcaster Joe Buck, current Cardinals radio voice John Rooney and Skip Caray, son of former Frick Award winner Harry and father of current Cardinals TV broadcaster, Chip, were named to the ballot for the broadcasting honor. The award is named for former MLB commissioner and occasional broadcaster Ford C. Frick and is presented annually by the Hall of Fame for “major contributions to baseball.”
Buck, 56, called games for Fox Sports for 26 seasons as the network’s lead baseball announcer while he also called Cardinals games for 17 seasons. Buck, who is now the play-by-play announcer for ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” broadcasts, has called 24 World Series in his career.
The son of former Cardinals broadcaster and former Frick Award winner Jack, Joe Buck was raised in the St. Louis area. He attended St. Louis Country Day School before beginning his broadcasting career in 1989.
The 2025 season marked Rooney’s 20th season broadcasting Cardinals games on KMOX (1120 AM), the flagship station of the Cardinals’ radio network. Rooney, 70, previously broadcast games for the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox before arriving in St. Louis from Chicago after the 2005 season. This year also marked Rooney’s 54th in broadcasting.
An inductee to the Missouri Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame in 2021, Rooney was named Missouri Sportscaster of the Year in 2021 by the National Sports Media Association, which marked his second such honor.
Caray broadcast Atlanta Braves games for 33 seasons for TBS from 1976 to 2008 before he died in August 2008 at the age of 68. Caray was named Georgia Sportscaster of the Year six times in his career. Caray, who also was born in St. Louis, attended the University of Missouri and began his career in St. Louis, calling St. Louis University and St. Louis Hawks basketball games.
Caray’s father, Harry, called Cardinals games from 1945 to 1969. His son, Chip, has served as the play-by-play broadcaster for Cardinals games on FanDuel Sports Network Midwest since the start of the 2023 season.
The 2026 Frick Award winner will be announced Dec. 10 in Orlando, Florida, during Major League Baseball’s winter meetings. Other finalists include Gary Cohen, Duane Kuiper, Dan Shulman, John Sterling, Brian Anderson, Rene Cardenas and Jacques Doucet.
The 2026 Frick Award winner will be honored on July 25 as a part of Hall of Fame weekend in Cooperstown, New York. Final voting for the award will be conducted by an electorate made up of 13 living Frick Award recipients and three broadcast historians and columnists that includes Bob Costas, who began his career with KMOX, Marty Brennaman, Joe Castiglione, Tom Hamilton, Ken Harrelson, Pat Hughes, Jaime Jarrin, Tony Kubek, Denny Matthews, Al Michaels, Jon Miller, Eric Nadel, Dave Van Horne, David J. Halberstam, Barry Horn and Curt Smith.
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Daniel Guerrero | Post-Dispatch
Baseball writer
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