Michael “Duke” McGuire

Duke McGuire was a three-sport star at Amherst High School, earning ten varsity letters and seven first team all-star selections. While he excelled in soccer and basketball, his true legacy has been built in and around the sport of baseball.

McGuire continued his baseball career at Cornell University. He was drafted three times and turned pro when he was selected in the first round by the Detroit Tigers. He played three seasons professionally, including one year for Hall of Fame manager Jim Leyland, before injuring his back in spring training.

In 1978, he was a player-manager and team MVP in the New York Penn League for the Niagara Falls Pirates. He joined the legendary Voyageurs MUNY AAA team that won 14 straight league titles. That team, with ex-big leaguers Joe Charboneau and Joe Hesketh, barnstormed the country in the ’70s and ’80s and won the National Baseball Federation Championship in 1979.

When professional baseball returned to Buffalo in 1979, McGuire became a fixture with the Bisons organization. He joined the broadcast team, served as the director of Public Relations and Marketing, and then as the team’s public address announcer from 1981-95. In 1996, he became the team’s broadcast color commentator, a role he has held for more than 30 seasons. He also served as the Bisons youth baseball coordinator, and ran the team’s camps and clinics at Sahlen Field, and in local parks.

McGuire also played a key role securing “The Natural” in Buffalo by providing the first tour of War Memorial Stadium to the individuals scouting for a location to shoot the film. He made his silver screen debut, playing alongside Robert Redford in the classic film.

McGuire served as an assistant to the Dean of Students at Amherst High School for 40 years. He has also been a fixture in high school sports and has coached baseball, girls basketball, and football at Amherst and Williamsville South high schools. He remains involved in high school athletics as an announcer, timekeeper, and supervisor at a variety of athletic contests.

Each year Amherst High School presents The Duke McGuire Award to a student athlete who displays compassion and acceptance to those less fortunate. He is an inductee of the Western New York Amateur Baseball Hall (1988) and the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame (2010). In 2025 the Bisons marked his service to the organization by naming the “Duke McGuire Home Broadcast Booth” in his honor.