So you're gonna slam a guy because he's right? If Skip Bayless is presenting the case for the prosecution, there's no chance of conviction. I think Joe Buck is a pompous ass who seemingly grew tired of sports years ago, and he shouldn't have his job any more. But there are a lot of true baseball fans who feel the way he does. It's ridiculous for games to take as long as they do these days. Too many commerical breaks, too many slow workers on the mound, too much stepping out of the box, lack of quality pitching that drags out games. Baseball has become a bore past a certain point.

There is some truth to what Mr. Buck says. I am a baseball fan .. have been for 40-something years. Yes, the games are way too long. Fox (free and cable) is partly responsible. Yes, the strike zone is an amazing place in most games. The umps are to blame for that. The way the game is managed these days, the utter lack of pitching, seventh-inning pitchers, etc., etc. .. it all figures into the equation.
I also agree that Mr. Buck could put a better face on the issue than this. He could use his power to suggest ways to speed up the game (replay isn't the answer). He could wax poetic about the 2-hour games of yore. I don't know why he didn't.
Shoot the messenger for how he said it. But listen to what he said, too.

That's a completely different argument my man. The games are longer but they aren't that much different than they were in the 80s. If you get bored with it just change the channel and come back in an inning or two.

There's not any fundamental flaws in the game and the television stuff is going to be there for $.

The Bachelorette?... I think Joe Buck will have to forfeit some "man" cards for that.

The image of Skip Bayless yelling at his radio while driving to the First Take studios -- or driving in traffic at all, really -- is classic. Picture it.

Also, @anonymous: sure, there are a lot of people who find baseball slow. And maybe Buck is bringing up a good point. But there are also a lot of people who love the game, pace be damned. If you're Bud Selig, who would you rather have as the voice of your product: someone who lives and dies with the game or someone who's just there to collect a paycheck?

I don't see what the big deal is to TiVo a few games or get the MLB.tv package or something -- there's no need to cram, unless of course you're loath to watch the games and delaying it for as long as humanly possible.

Finally, for all the talk about how awesome football is, football apologists always gloss over the fact that football is five seconds of action at a time interspersed with at least 30 seconds of down time between every play. Say what you will about soccer, but they play more or less 45 minutes straight. And no commercials.

I'm with Joe. I love going to games, even if he's getting paid and i'm paying. But other than playoff baseball the only people i know that watch regular season games are old retired people. Unless it's some thing like the sox and yanks...

First of all, Skip Bayless is a tool. I could not agree more with Buck. Baseball games are taking way too long and that's why some fans are not tuning in. Second of all, Its not your freaking decision SKip who Fox puts on its #1 announcing team its Fox's Okay. Why don't you dig a hole and burry yourself there SKip.

Well I'm 30 and I don't consider myself old and I'm many years from retirement. Unless I'm out on a weekend booze fest I'm watching baseball during the summer. The games have always been 2.5-3 hours I don't see the big deal. If it bores you don't watch. It's that simple. I hate the NBA so I don't watch. Joe Buck has always been snarmy.

"But other than playoff baseball the only people i know that watch regular season games are old retired people."

I'm 24, and on average, I watch about six baseball games a week. It sounds to me like you have a rather limited realm of people that you know.

No one likes to trash the idiocy that is Skip Bayless more than I do, but I think he's absolutely right. If Buck has legitimate gripes about the game, fine. But he is a man who gets paid millions of dollars to call games. He has an obligation to the fans and the network to watch as much baseball as he can. The man works once a week calling baseball. He works nowhere near as hard as a lot of other broadcasters, and if he doesn't feel like committing himself to watching baseball, then have Thom Brennaman do the games. Hell I'd rather have Chip Carey, Hawk Harrelson, or Len Kasper do the games. They may not be good, but at least they care about the game.

It doesn't matter, anything that comes out of Skippy and Joey's mouths is wrong.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Skip Bayless = AA! If anything should tell you that your argument holds no merits, it should be this! Skip Bayless is wrong on every topic...except for the one time he agrees with aa. (Almost the very definition of megalomania!) I was wondering what bugged me about this site, and I've finally figured it out. You sound too much like Skip Bayless, spouting poorly thought out opinions.

Do we not know that Joe Buck has a dry sense of humor and is a very sarcastic person? That's part of his, for lack of a better word, charm. FOX executives love it. His father might have helped get him in to sports broadcasting but it was his on-air work that got him to the number one spot for football and it's what has kept him on top for baseball.

I also think that the subject matter was discussed and planned ahead for this interview and Buck probably did his due diligence and cleared it with his bosses.

And consider this... the ASG is just around the corner. This is the platform where Buck can back up his statements and where he and McCarver can banter back and forth about making the game more appealing for Joe Average. Doing it to the NYY/BOS game this weekend which won't be seen in every TV market doesn't make sense.

Anon2- there are those of us who actually love the game of baseball, and try to watch as many games as possible. So, as Steve Sweeney would say, "Go screw."

How dare Dana Jacobson ask these questions! She got drunk once and made fun of Notre Dame. AA's hypocrisy train keeps rolling along. All aboard!

Since AA Hates ESPN is going to continue rehashing old arguments, I might as well, myself.

Hahaha thanks Anon and I vote for "C".....all of the above.

If AA Hates ESPN really is Dana, can I marry you? And ditch the pants once in awhile, your legs are hot!

That's awesome, anon. I am not Dana. I believe she has a horse face. And an annoying voice, for that matter. But I also believe this site unfairly maligns her. (Misogyny? Nah. Because AA says it's not so. He loves women.) And I love the hypocrisy of this site (no, not hypocrisy, because AA says it's not so) of making fun of everything Dana and Skip do, and then using them to support your argument. I can only assume he's doing it with a straight face.

AAHE, have you graduated from Highschool yet? Good lord you're dumb. AA even said in the post that "hell froze over" because he was agreeing with Bayless. Bayless is and always will be an over-exaggerator and a firestarter. Just because someone agrees with him once doesn't make them a hypocrite.

Also, badgering someone constantly on a blog with no basis makes you even more of a loser. It's people like you that give blog commenters a bad name.

Nothing says 'misogynistic' like commenting on a woman's 'horse face' and 'annoying voice' rather than the absolutely crummy job Dana does on and off camera.

The rapture must be approaching - I agree with Skip Bayless AND Rob freaking Parker?!?!?

So how long til we hear the announcement that Thom Brennaman is FOX's new #1 baseball commentator?

Jacobsons face always reminded me of 1960s NBA player Tom Meschery.She has the wingout jawline that could cut mounds of coke while she was using a strapon on Bayless for being a punk.

Finally!! Something has confirmed my belief for the last 6 years or so that Joe Buck has been mailing it in every week!!! Thom Brennaman needs to be the main voice of FOX!! He is great with the BCS, great with Baseball, and could be great with the NFL, who knows. Fox needs to treat the GOTW like NBC did and not like another day at work "It's Saturday, we gotta go to work". Brennaman and Grace or Brenly needs to be the "A" team for Fox Saturday Baseball. As much as I hate ESPN I kinda wish that they would've outbid Fox two years ago and fed Saturday afternoon, All-Star Game, 1 LCS, and the World Series to ABC.

AAHE- Much like AA is with Bayless, I loathe the man that is Colin Cowherd(sorry, AA; I won't mention him anymore, promise). But, every once in a while he says something that I can't help but agree with. I don't like it, but it happens. Just remember, even the sun shines on a dog's ass every now and then.

For too long now when forced to listen to Joe Buck call games, I've asked myself, "does this guy even wanna be there?" Well, I guess I've got my answer.

What's as galling is that he goes on to say how much he loves football, so I just went back to listen to his call of Manning-to-Tyree:

"Pressure from Thomas off the edge...Eli Manning stays on his feet...airs it out down the field...it is caught by Tyree. Inside the 25 and a timeout taken."

That's it. One of the greatest plays in Super Bowl history and this smug little fella barely changes his inflection and if you heard it on radio you'd think it was just an ordinary play; just another first down.

It's time for this son of great advantage, who thinks the games that he is privileged to call are so far and well beneath him, to move on.

Please, do us that favor.

By the way, great site.

fox should get bob costas but he shouldnt leave nbc

I dislike Rob Parker more and more...between him and Jemele Hill, they have quite a pair of Detroit foolios.

I think the term 'watch' when it comes to games is what people are getting hung up on. Do people actually sit and watch from first pitch to last pitch without flipping channels? Most times, the Sox game is on in the background here but I'll sit and watch only certain parts. That's our culture now. I'm sure there are people who watch 162 games, but I ain't one of 'em...that's a LOT of hours.

However I can believe Bayless sits and watches sports all night long. He seems like he has a sad and lonely life. I feel bad for him sometimes...then I realize he probably makes good money and don't feel so bad.

I give Skip NO CREDIT whatsoever. Hey, its easy to beat up on the FOX announcer. What if Jon Miller had said the same thing. You would not have heard a peep out of Skip.

Hey... on the bright side - at least he's teamed up with McCarver to bring the energy level up in the booth.

Hey, Cardinals fan in Western Kentucky. Even we don't like Buck. McLaughlin is so much better.

Anyway, guess who showed up for damage control, I mean to enjoy a game at Busch Stadium? Of course it was the Mets, so that might have something to do with it.

I turned the volume to zero when he's on tv, for sanity preservation, but I did hear Dan say something about "now you're caught up" which I giggled at.

They actually had a great point. If it was ever contractually feasible, Costas would be a huge hire for FOX. I doubt that NBC will ever let Costas get out of his football/Olympics/whatever duties during the year, but Costas is a guy who LOVES the game, hell people have clamored for him to be the next commissioner. He may be a bit arrogant at times, but he's funny, insightful, and will always keep the game interesting. He replaced Marv Albert for a few years on NBA on NBC, and was able to do an admirable job of replacing a legend like Marv.

Too many people have forgotten how great Tim McCarver was when he did games with Al Michaels on ABC in the 80's. It's Joe Buck who screwed him up. Bring Michaels back. He and McCarver would be top of the line.

Buck had admitted a few years ago that he liked football more than baseball, so this is a rehashed comment. Regardless, I'm OK with it. Just because he's the son of a baseball legend doesn't mean he has to follow in his footsteps. However, he loses credibility because he sucks at football, too, as Peter mentioned.

HOWEVER--and there's a big however here--I have to give Buck credit for a great point. Society is VERY impatient today, and for no good reason. We get bored rather easily, so for some a baseball game results in an immediate visit to a shrink. Our inability to sit still for three hours may explain a lot of our ills, but since this isn't a sociology blog, I'll leave those thoughts to myself.

Anyway, tehwalrus compared lengths of time between plays in different sports. However, it's not the time or amount of play that matters to the occasional fan; it's the drama. (Yes, I see the irony in this statement since Buck is the driest announcer on TV.) Soccer and hockey have constant action, but the average viewer can't see the drama if all they see is nonstop turnovers without shots on goal. Football has constant drama by magnifying every play due to the relatively few games they play in a season. Baseball can have drama, when there's that same pressure on every play, but currently it happens only in October. It's just impossible for non purists to see the drama of a game in July when they know 90 more games need to be played.

As far as Buck's main argument that individual games take too long, I disagree. Playoff ratings, though down, are still decent, meaning people still think 3-hour games can be intriguing. Instead I think the problem with baseball today is the season takes too long. Any drama in a regular season game gets diluted because there are so many of them, and even hardcore fans can't remember the storylines of 162 different games.