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Joe Buck Pays Sweet Tribute to Michael Kay on Yankees’ First Homer on Opening Day

Kristen Wong

Screengrab on Twitter/ @awfulannouncing
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Joe Buck was back in the baseball booth for Thursday’s Opening Day game between the New York Yankees and Milwaukee Brewers, marking his first time calling a national baseball game in four years.

Buck, who joined the ESPN crew on a one-off assignment Thursday afternoon, didn’t have to wait long for a big moment as Yankees’ Austin Wells homered as the leadoff batter, becoming the first catcher with a leadoff home run on Opening Day.

Buck paid Yankees broadcasting stalwart Michael Kay a sweet nod on Wells’s homer, lending his voice to Kay’s signature call:

“Here’s a 2-0… That is ripped into right, back at the wall… See ya! Home run!” Buck said. “What a start. Yankees on top 1-0.”

Kay mentioned on the YES Network pregame that Buck was going to say that for him if the Yankees hit a homer, so it doesn’t come as a huge surprise. Still, it was nice to see Buck tip his hat to the longtime broadcaster.

The Yankees have gained an early lead over the Brewers and are currently up 2-1 in the third.

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Kristen Wong
KRISTEN WONG

Kristen Wong is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. She has been a sports journalist since 2020. Before joining SI in November 2023, Wong covered four NFL teams as an associate editor with the FanSided NFL Network and worked as a staff writer for the brand’s flagship site. Outside of work, she has dreams of running her own sporty dive bar.

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