Buck Martinez
Buck Martinez
John Albert "Buck" Martinez, nicknamed "The Grey Jay", is an American former professional baseball catcher and manager, and is currently the television play-by-play announcer for the Toronto Blue Jays. He played 17 seasons in Major League Baseballwith the Kansas City Royals, the Milwaukee Brewers, and the Toronto Blue Jays. Since the end of his playing career, he has been a broadcaster, working on The Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles radio and television broadcasts, and nationally for TBS...
ProfessionSportscaster
Date of Birth7 November 1948
CityRedding, CA
It's not that much different than what the White Sox have done, what the Angels did in 2002. It's execution, it's fundamentals. They do not make any mistakes.
He's had a lot of success pitching in international competition, and that gives him an edge. I met him in Baltimore during their first series, and sitting on the bench with him before the game, I was impressed with his composure.
Obviously they got a wakeup call. One thing we have learned in the international format is that anything can happen.
Luis Gonzalez has the respect of everybody in baseball, and his opinion is very valued. He's always been a character guy that we respect a lot. We felt that he brings everything we want on this team.
That's one of the things I'm most proud of is the character of the guys on this roster. They're anxious to step up and play for their country.
The players have been aware that they were going to be involved with this for a while now. But we're taking three catchers for a reason. You can't expect to catch this much this early without getting sore. Fourteen pitchers is another obvious thing. As for the players, we'll take things on an individual basis. For example, Ken Griffey told me he'd be ready to go.
I think Barry Bonds was in a unique situation given his injuries from a year ago, the fact that he played in just 14 games. Even though I spoke to Barry in December and he was enthusiastic and excited about the possibility, I think the closer he got to the reality of spring training, and as he got himself in shape for the regular season and the San Francisco Giants, he felt like it may be too much of a challenge to try to push his body at this point in his career.
When they got a good pitch to hit, they didn't miss it. They pitched very effectively to the heart of our order. We hit some balls hard. They made quality pitches when they had to.
With the number of closers on our roster, we have a chance for some pretty short innings. They have a tendency to get ready early, throw a lot of strikes, and they are used to pitching in the heat of battle.