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
Nathan is a guy that has been in pennant races, and we have a lot of confidence in him. He's a hard thrower, throws lots of strikes and has the ability to close out games, so we think he will fit in well with this bullpen.
It's unfortunate that we can't take more than 30 because there are a bunch of guys that were committed, just like Eric Chavez.
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.
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.
He has been through this before and he understands the importance of representing your country. I think Jason is one of the best players who's ever strapped on the catching mask. He understands the game, he loves to represent his team, whether it's the Red Sox or Team USA. I'll be very anxious to work with a guy like that.
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.
I think the spirit of the Mexican team will be dramatic. We saw a little bit of it in Tucson the other day.
That's the way it is -- we created it ourselves. That's the unique aspect of this. Now, it's up to Korea and Japan.
That's the perils of pool play. You have to be conscious of not falling too far behind and having big run differentials. You have to continue to grind.
It's a very quiet locker room right now. I think everybody is feeling like they got kicked in the stomach.
I'm sure there are some disappointed people (in Tampa). . . . But at the same time, this might just be a little bit of a higher calling every four years to come and represent your country.
This is big stuff for our team. There's no doubt about it. I have no hesitations to say that our team is really enthusiastic and that we know what the expectations are. We can't wait to get going.
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.
I sensed it was a kind of a bitter moment for them both. I've known them both for a long time, and we really thought they would bring a lot to our team. Then we got down into the numbers of the things and it just didn't work out.