Tim McKernan: "We're about 82 games into the season. What are your impressions of the club so far?"

Jack Buck: "Well, I'm like everybody else. I'm disappointed that they're not in first place. I thought this spring there was a little too much talk about how good the ball club was going to be and how easily we were going to win the division. You were down there in spring training, and you heard everybody say that. And it's just not that easy. When you look back at it we lost Ankiel, he won 12 games and we lost Garrett Stephenson, he won 15 games. We thought that Hermanson would win more. We thought that Kline would win more. We thought that Alan Benes was ready to pitch. We thought that Chad Hutchinson was ready to pitch up here. So, it always gets around to pitching, and it's compounded now by the problems that Mark McGwire has and Jim Edmonds. I shudder to think where we'd be without Pujols. But, there's probably only three guys you can't criticize to some degree for the season, and that's Vina, Polanco, and Pujols, with regards to just our position players."

Mckernan: "A lot of fans want to put the blame on Tony LaRussa. What are your thoughts on that?"

Buck: "Well, the things we just reiterated. You can't blame LaRussa for Stephenson getting a sore arm, or for Ankiel having the problems that he had. People want to lay everything at the feet of the manager, but it's not that way. And the question you always, I always ask, is whom would you rather have as a manager than Tony LaRussa? I have enough faith and confidence in him that if we had the players, we'd get the job done. Now you look at the season, and we're going to have to play about 20 games over .500 in order to win the division. That's why I'm very happy that we still have a chance at the wild card even if we don't win the division. And, I admire the Cubs with their pitching and defense. You know, a lot of people in the past have asked me how long I'm going to do this, and frequently I have said, 'When the Cubs play the Red Sox in the World Series.' "

McKernan: "Oh no, (laughing) we've got a problem."

Buck: "(laughing) Man, I hope that doesn't happen because then it's automatic. Or, they'd make me out a liar. But, you know, Houston is disappointed in what they've done. We're disappointed. And, Milwaukee is disappointed. And, the surprise team is the Cubs. And, it points out what you can do with defense and pitching. They've improved their pitching. They have a good starter everyday. Gordon in their bullpen has been the closer that they didn't have. And they got Guitierrez at shortstop, and that solidified things for them. And Girardi's catching for them everyday, and he's a very smart catcher, getting a lot of mileage out of that pitching staff. The Cubs are going to be tough to catch."

McKernan: "What do you think, if anything, Walt Jocketty needs to do before July 31st?"

Buck: "I don't think he can do anything. I think you just sit and wait for people like Edmonds and McGwire to do their thing. We need McGwire, and if Mark doesn't do it, we're not going to win. You know, there's no sense in fooling yourself and say that somebody's going to come in and do what McGwire should've done. It doesn't happen that way. So, you're at the mercy of the baseball gods. If they do it we will, if they don't, we won't."

McKernan: "You were around during the Whitey Herzog era. Now we've had about six seasons of Tony LaRussa. Could you compare the styles of those two managers?"

Buck: "Well, that's like saying I was around during the Bob Gibson era---let's get him back here. Well, we're not going to do that. Whitey Herzog's not coming back. I've always said about Herzog, and I've said it in front of one of my best friends, Red Schoendienst who managed here longer than any other Cardinal manager, that Herzog's the smartest manager I've ever met. I've said that in front of Tony LaRussa. He knows what I think about Herzog. But I think LaRussa's a wonderful manager. He's got a terrific track record. He's won two out of the five years that he's been here. I don't know what the heck else it is that people want."

McKernan: "Why do you think it is that St. Louisans haven't warmed up to Tony LaRussa, maybe his style of managing or maybe it is him as a person?"

Buck: "I think they see him in the dugout and they compare him to Joe Torre. They think he doesn't apply himself to the job, when he does. What he doesn't do is criticize his players in public. But, he has a grip on this ball club. It's just that he's not demonstrative, and I guess he doesn't show the people enough fire outwardly. He has an inward fire. And, I can see his eyes burning and sparkling when he says certain things about certain people on the ball club. I don't think that's the answer. The answer to this ball club is two-fold. It's pitching and it's Mark McGwire. If we don't get pitching, and McGwire doesn't perform, wait for the football season. (laughing)"

McKernan: "When you see Rick Ankiel and you saw what happened to him, could you compare that to anything you've seen in your career?"

Buck: "No. It was like the McGwire 70 home runs. When I saw Ankiel throwing the ball up on the screen, I thought he was doing the impossible. And, it's a real problem that he's trying to sort out, and apparently he's making progress. And, I suggest that he'll be back here before the year is out."

McKernan: "Do you think that's a good thing to bring him back here?"

Buck: "Yeah. I mean why should we all have to be psychiatrists or psychologists. He either can pitch up here or he can't. Someone living in South St. Louis is not going to cure the ailments, whatever they happen to be of Rick Ankiel. Yes, I think he ought to come up here and pitch some more, because he either can pitch up here or he cannot. And, I would hate to sit around here all next winter, and wonder if Rick Ankiel is going to pitch in 2002."

McKernan: "You said on the day the governor and Bud Selig came to town that the downtown ballpark, and the plans being approved, was 'one of the greatest days in the history of downtown St. Louis.' Please tell me if I am misquoting you."

Buck: "No, that's right. I think it should be. The way I look at it is a city, or any entity is either going forward or it's going back. I don't think that St. Louis downtown right now is any great shakes. I think there are many other cities that are more attractive downtown than St. Louis. And, many of those cities have come from the bottom. And they've been reborn---like Pittsburgh, and Cleveland, and Milwaukee and some others."

McKernan: "Denver…?"

Buck: "Yeah, but Denver is not a bad city to start with. Neither is San Francisco. San Francisco didn't need the ballpark downtown. St. Louis needs a ballpark downtown, either this one or a new one. And, some day there will be a new ballpark downtown. Now, I don't know anything about bonds. I don't know anything about debt, except that I've had my own. I know this, the ballpark and the ball club are supported by the people that live out of the city and out of the state. The people that work in the city live in the county. They pay the city ordinance taxes. They go to the ballgames, and they pay the tax. People at home don't worry about the national debt. Do they? If they lay awake at night, worried about the billions of dollars that we owe, they'd never sleep. This city needs a new ballpark. Someday, they will get one. Even if they started now, it wouldn't be until 2005 or 2006. So, if they started in 2005, we'll have one in 2010. I think the current owners have done nothing but good for the Cardinals. I think a lot of people are jealous. I think a lot of people of ordinary income don't like rich people. I know that for a fact. And you do, too. And, I think the folks tuned in know that, too. They talk about the rich kids from Country Day. One of the owners, David Pratt, is a self-made man from Kirkwood. Never went to a university. And he's a brilliant person, and he's an interested Cardinal owner. Some of these attitudes have to change. But, it's not going to be the end of my life if they don't approve it. But, I will say this; it could be the end of St. Louis's downtown life if they lose that ball club."

McKernan: "I told people I was interviewing you, everybody wanted me to ask, and I know you've been asked a million times, but I feel obligated to ask, are you going to be back next year?"

Buck: "If the Red Sox play the Cubs in the World Series, I won't be back (laughing and winking at the camera)."

McKernan: "That's probably not going to happen (laughing). Hopefully that is not going to happen. So, is it safe to say you'll be back?"

Buck: "At the way I feel right now. And I have a few ailments here and there. That will dictate my future. When it becomes apparent that I shouldn't go to the ballpark anymore, shouldn't broadcast anymore---that'll be the answer. It'll be very apparent. Right now, I think I can do the job. I think I have most of my marbles. And my voice is still passable. So, at the moment, that's my intention---to be there."

McKernan: "It has been written, however, that your partners in the broadcast booth possibly may not be back next year."

Buck: "Who?"

McKernan: "Mike and Joe."

Buck: "I've never heard that (from Mike or Joe) and, I keep hearing that (from the public). And this is a story or a rumor that feeds on itself. I've never heard Mike Shannon say anything about not being there next year. I've never heard Joe Buck say anything about not being there next year. I've never said that. There are a couple of people in town who call my doctor every week to see how I'm feeling. They'd like to get that job, and I can't blame them. It'll happen soon enough."

McKernan: "I cite your book for this when you said USA Today's Sports Media Critic Rudy Martzke was harsh on your during your days at CBS in the early nineties. However, just a couple of weeks ago, he wrote quite a flattering column on your son. When you read something like that, and when you see Joe doing the World Series on FOX, as a father, what kind of pride does that make you feel?"

Buck: "Joe Buck had to overcome me when it came to some of these national writers. They like him. And I think he should be admired for what he has done. I think the best part about Joe Buck is that he's still a good kid---a nice person. And that's more important than being a good play-by-play man. At the same time, I think he's the best in the business. I think Bob Costas is the very very very best at most of the things he does. I think that Joe Buck is the best man play-by-play man on television."

McKernan: "What makes a play-by-play man successful? What makes a play-by-play man good?"

Buck: "Longevity. You know, if you stick around the city long enough, people finally say, 'I like him. I finally gotten used to him.' When anybody comes in to any new city, to any new venue, any new broadcaster for a team, half the people are going to like him, half the people aren't. It's always been that way."

McKernan: "What has been your most memorable call out of all the years?"

Buck: "I think the Ozzie thing. It was spontaneous. It was heartfelt. It was emotional. A lot of people like the Jack Clark call of the home run against the Dodgers more than the other or the Kirk Gibson call of that home run in Los Angeles, but Kirk Gibson didn't treat me as nicely as most athletes do, so I don't care about him. I think the Ozzie thing. It's a simple answer. But, to separate them, it's an injustice. To say that the Ozzie call is the best, and to ignore Gibson's no-hitter, or Lou Brock breaking of Maury Wills record when he stole 104 and 105. That was one of the most thrilling nights that we ever had at the ballpark. But, the simple answer to your question is the Ozzie Smith call."

McKernan: "So what would you say has been the most thrilling moment you've seen at the ballpark, not necessarily with you behind the microphone?"

Buck: "I think when you win a World Series, not when you get to the playoffs and get knocked out as the Cardinals were last year, people don't pay much attention to that. We beat Atlanta. We vanquished a very good ball club. But then we lost to the Mets, people didn't like that, and when the curtain comes down, people don't enjoy that. But, when you win it all, and we last won it all here in 1982, with Whitey Herzog and Darrell Porter and the others on the ball club, Keith Hernandez and the others, you live off that for years and years and years. So, we won in '64, '67, and '68---we didn't win the years in '68---but those years belonged to Harry Caray. So, I think 1982 with Herzog and the grand prize---the World Series winner---I think that might have been the big moment."

McKernan: "What was it like to work with Harry? I mean, I got to hear him on WGN, but I wasn't around to hear him in his earlier days."

Buck: "At the beginning, or at the end?"

McKernan: "Both of them?"

Buck: "Well, he didn't want me as his partner at the start. He wanted Chick Hearn, who worked in Peoria, and has been broadcasting Laker basketball for so many years, as his partner. And I think the first week that I was with Harry, I told a story that I thought was funny, and Harry said, that was funnier when I read it in the Sporting News. And, I said, 'Uh oh. This is gonna be fun.' (laughing) But, later, he and I became very good friends. And, at the end, we were the best of friends."

McKernan: "There've been comparisons that Mike Shannon is kind of like of that guy now. Are those comparisons completely off the wall? Maybe it's because you're kind of the straight man so to speak?"

Buck: "Oh, like the folk hero thing?"

McKernan: "Yeah."

Buck: "I think that's true. Mike is a big folk hero in St. Louis, out in Cardinal land, down in Arkansas, Oklahoma, in Louisiana, and Mississippi. They love Mike Shannon."

McKernan: "I can't imagine the day when I turn on the radio and I don't hear you or Mike or Joe. It would be like walking into my family's house and seeing strangers sitting there."

Buck: "Well, you know what? When Harry Caray was fired, they picketed the ballpark. They didn't want me as the broadcaster. The pickets were out in force. They didn't want Jack Buck on the broadcasts at all. I've lived here long enough---47 years. Even the people that don't like me, they put up with me. They're stuck with me, and they know that. But, not for too long. (Laughter) But, the truth is, there'll be somebody come along. Maybe they're here now. Maybe it's Dan McLaughlin. Or, maybe it's you, Tim. Or, maybe it's Bob Carpenter. Somebody's going to come along and be better than I ever was. And better than Joe Buck ever was. Life is like that. Somebody will come along and they'll say he's the greatest broadcaster that the Cardinals have ever had. I guarantee you that's going to happen."

McKernan: "But that's what they say about you right now."

Buck: "I say somebody's going to come along, and they're going to say, 'He's better than Buck ever thought he was.' "