'HAIR PLUGS left me speechless': Fox Sports broadcaster Joe Buck reveals his addiction to the transplants nearly cost him his voice and career

  • Buck, 47, suffered a paralyzed vocal chord in 2011; at the time, he told everyone a virus was responsible for his condition
  • In his new memoir, Lucky Bastard, Buck reveals that a botched hair replacement procedure damaged a nerve in his vocal chord 
  • The baseball announcer also reveals he become addicted to hair plugs at age 24 
  • Thanks to injection treatments, Buck's voice was restored in October 2011  

By Snejana Farberov For Dailymail.com

Published: 12:10 EST, 6 October 2016 | Updated: 16:15 EST, 6 October 2016

Fox Sports' lead baseball announcer Joe Buck revealed in 2011 that a virus has temporarily left him speechless, having paralyzed a nerve in his left vocal chord but he has now admitted he was lying.

Five years later, the veteran broadcaster admits that, in reality, it was a botched hair replacement procedure that nearly cost him his voice and career in television. He also reveals that for nearly two decades he was addicted to hair plugs.

Buck makes the stunning confessions in his new memoir, Lucky Bastard: My Life, My Dad and The Things I'm Not Allowed to Say on TV, out in bookstores next month.

Fox Sports announcer Joe Buck suffered a paralyzed vocal cord in 2011
At the time, he told everyone a virus caused his condition

Hair-raising scare: Fox Sports announcer Joe Buck suffered a paralyzed vocal chord in 2011. At the time, he told everyone a virus had caused his condition 

Confession: Buck, pictured here in 2013, has now revealed that a botched hair replacement procedure temporarily robbed him of his voice 

Confession: Buck, pictured here in 2013, has now revealed that a botched hair replacement procedure temporarily robbed him of his voice 

In the book, previewed by Sports Illustrated, the 47-year-old Buck reveals that as a young man, he was overcome with fear of going bald, and at age 24 he began regularly getting hair plugs.

Before long, he was hooked: he would sneak off to New York to undergo elective hair replacement producers every chance he got.

Just before the start of the 2011 baseball season, Buck went in to replenish his sandy-blonde mane for the eighth time when he suffered a paralyzed vocal chord.

When he woke up from the anesthesia, the TV announcer discovered that he had been rendered speechless.

Buck talks openly about his health scare in his new memoir, Lucky Bastard
Buck reveals that as a young man, he was overcome with fear of going bald

Mane concern: In his new memoir, Lucky Bastard (left), Buck reveals that as a young man, he was overcome with fear of going bald  

On-air talent: Buck, pictured in January 2014 with Erin Andrews, has been with Fox Sports since 1994 

On-air talent: Buck, pictured in January 2014 with Erin Andrews, has been with Fox Sports since 1994 

Buck writes in his autobiography that a doctor told him it was likely due to nerve damage, possibly caused by a cuff that had been placed on his neck during the six-hour procedure.

Embarrassed, Buck told everyone, including his bosses at Fox Sports, that he had contracted an unspecified virus. 

'I was lying,' he tells Sports Illustrated. 'It was really for self-preservation and ego for me. As I look back, I gave partial truths. Where I lied was when I said the reason why.'

He then adds, ‘I would tell myself I needed to look younger, I needed to have thicker hair, I don’t want to look older than I am. The truth of it is that it was an ego thing, whether I was on TV or not.’

Buck has been with Fox since 1994, becoming at age 25 the youngest person ever to announce NFL games on network television. 

Hooked on hair: Buck, seen here in June with US Open winner Dustin Johnson, says he had undergone eight elective hair replacement procedures over the past 20 years

Hooked on hair: Buck, seen here in June with US Open winner Dustin Johnson, says he had undergone eight elective hair replacement procedures over the past 20 years

Buck was told by a doctor that during the 2011 procedure, a cuff that had been placed on him may have damaged the laryngeal nerve in his vocal cord
Joe Buck, Fox Sports TV Anchor, is seen on set during rehearsal prior to the start of the 115th U.S. Open Championship at Chambers Bay on June 17, 2015 in University Place, Washington

What happened? Buck was told by a doctor that during the 2011 procedure, a cuff that had been placed on him may have damaged the laryngeal nerve in his vocal chord 

Buck says that at the time of the 2011 procedure, he was at a bad place in his life: his marriage to wife Ann was ending after nearly 20 years; he believes that the high stress levels he was experiencing might have made him more vulnerable to nerve damage.

The broadcaster sought treatment at Barnes-Joseph Hospital in St Louis, where he was told that there was no guarantee that his voice would ever fully recover.

Feeling scared and ashamed, Buck told reporters that the laryngeal nerve in his left vocal chord was struck by a virus, and that he was assured that his voice would bounce back within the year.

Family man: Joe Buck (2nd R), his second wife, ESPN reporter Michelle Beisner (R) and his two daughters attend the 5th annual NFL Honors on February 6, 2016 in San Francisco

Family man: Joe Buck (2nd R), his second wife, ESPN reporter Michelle Beisner (R) and his two daughters attend the 5th annual NFL Honors on February 6, 2016 in San Francisco

Seeking to restore his voice, Buck reached out to a renowned professor at Harvard Medical School, who proceeded to treat his paralyzed chord with injections. By October of 2011, his voice had been almost fully restored.

The sportscaster, who tied the knot with ESPN reporter Michelle Beisner in 2014, says he has not gone back for hair replacement treatments since his 2011 scare. 

He has not ruled out getting more hair plugs in the future, only this time without general anesthesia.

 

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