There are kids entering high school this fall that have never heard Jack Buck call a baseball game live.
One of the Cardinals greats, Mr. Buck passed away in 2002 (!), but that isn’t stopping new stories about the man to surface.
In today’s Riverfront Times, Emily Higginbotham profiled John O’Leary – author of the new book ‘On Fire: The 7 Choices to Ignite a Radically Inspired Life’.
In 1987 O’Leary started a fire in his garage and suffered 3rd degree burns on 100% of his body. He was given a 1% chance of survival. But he beat long odds and has now written a book about his life.
But you clicked for the Buck. So check this out…
“Now the broadcaster for the Cardinals, the voice I grew up listening to and loving, walks in to my room,” he recalls, “and encourages me with the words, ‘Kid, wake up! You are going to live. You are going to survive, keep fighting. When you get out of here we’re going to celebrate with John O’Leary Day at the ballpark.’” As O’Leary tells it, he lowers his voice, adding some Jack Buck grit in imitation.
“The following day, I’m lying in the hospital bed, dying and my door opens up: I hear footsteps, I hear a chair, and I hear Jack Buck’s voice say, ‘Hey, kid, I’m back. Wake up. You are going to live. You are going to survive, keep fighting,’” O’Leary recalls.
For the next five months, the visits from Buck continued. When Buck’s duties with the Cardinals took him away, he would send someone else in his place. “That man made a profound difference during the five months that I was in the hospital,” O’Leary says. And “he continues to serve me afterwards,” he adds.
Check out the link above for the rest of the story, because it only gets better.
Jack Buck, man.
Miss him.
Photo: CBS STL
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