Buck Martinez just grateful to be back in Blue Jays booth as fans call to honour broadcasting great
After months away from the mic, the beloved Blue Jays voice is back — and soaking in every moment.
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Another crack at kicking cancer’s rear end may have kept Buck Martinez from the broadcast booth for more than two months, but it hasn’t stopped him from intently following the Blue Jays rise to the team with the American League’s best record.
And there are plenty of thoughts ready to spill from the mouth of the 76-year-old Sportsnet legend when those familiar tones hit the airwaves on Friday night in Los Angeles.
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Martinez, whose most recent game was on May 29 before a diagnosis of lung cancer sidelined him, always has been fond of the little guy. That’s why he’s particularly enamoured by the efforts of players like Ernie Clement, Davis Schneider, Nathan Lukes and Myles Straw.
“These guys, they value every single opportunity they have and that’s what (manager John Schneider) wanted to get across to them in spring training,” Martinez said in an interview with the Toronto Sun. “And he’s done that. And these guys, the way they are playing, this is how you play winning baseball. This is how you win championships.
“This is the perfect team for this era of baseball because they have five or six stars. But the rest of the team is guys who have had it taken away from them. There’s so many guys who care about winning and care about each other that it’s a wonderful group of talent.”
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What a welcome late Friday from L.A. it will be to have Martinez back talking baseball with such passion, alongside his long-time play-by-play partner, Dan Shulman.
Expect many more of his views over the three-game weekend series and beyond. Martinez will also call the Jays six-game homestand beginning on Tuesday. He’ll then head to Houston for a final cancer chemo treatment and return for the duration of the Jays run.
Judging by the reaction to our Thursday column in which Martinez candidly shared details of his latest cancer fight and his yearning to return to the job that he loves so much, there will be joy on the other end of the screen as well.
Besides a steady stream of well wishes from fans who have missed the soundtrack of their summer, many are calling for Martinez’s immediate addition to the Blue Jays Level of Excellence, an honour that surely will come his way.
Others have suggested a Buck Appreciation Day during the final homestand and that the team find a way to honour him some time during what has the potential to be one of the more exciting final two months of a season in his terrific broadcasting career.
Of course, Martinez wants none of that. In fact, the less fuss made the better for the former catcher.
“I take a lot of pride in doing every game the best I can, so I don’t think it’s going to be any different,” Martinez said of the adrenaline attached to calling games for a first-place team as opposed to the alternative. “It’ll be exciting, sure. There’s no question about that. Everybody loves it when they play well and win games and the place is packed and everybody’s excited.
“But, you know, I don’t want to make a big deal out of my coming back. I mean, they did that last time. That was great. It was wonderful, and I appreciate that. But now it’s just, ‘Hey, I was away, I’m back. Let’s go to work.'”
SUPERMAN CENTRAL
It may be a hard act to follow, but the Jays weekend series will have another familiar face to the team’s fans returning to the Sportsnet broadcasts.
Former centre fielder and long-time fan favourite Kevin Pillar will join regular host Jamie Campbell in Sportsnet’s Baseball Central studios for all three games at famed Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
Pillar, who played parts of seven seasons with the Jays and has recently retired, also played one year with the Dodgers.
Sportsnet has had interest in bringing the man that fans called Superman aboard after a cameo appearance last season.
SPORTSNET ACES
How much did the incredible run to a National Bank Open title by Canadian teenage sensation Victoria Mboko captivate audiences in this country? To record levels, apparently.
In ratings released on Friday, the network said that Thursday’s title match in Montreal averaged 638,000 viewers — the most ever for a Sportsnet tennis broadcast. As well, the network said that, from start to finish, the NBO had a total reach of 5.5 million Canadians.
The final week was a nice rebound for the network, especially on the production side. After a brutal opening week in which the rights holder bizarrely aired the ATP world feed — missing the entirety of Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime — the network rallied in a big way.
Production of Mboko’s semifinal and final wins by the regular crew was outstanding with sharp graphics, great camera and direction work. The commentary matched the moment as well, with Caroline Cameron and Tracy Austin capturing the emotion and the action and Danielle Michaud nailing the courtside interviews.
From the Toronto studio, recently retired Canadian tennis pro Eugenie Bouchard brought terrific insight.
Top notch, all around.
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