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
They are a little bit of a mystery because of the uncertainty of who they are going to bring. We hear that the roster that they have submitted has an average age of 24. That's a pretty young roster. It's kind of surprising, but everybody expects that they will have a very representative team.
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.
I have no hesitations to say that ... we know what the expectations are.
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.
The World Baseball Classic is going to have an extraordinary impact on the sport. The magnitude of the Classic is enormous. It's designed to further expand the international appeal of baseball, and I think its mission is very similar to XM, which has done an amazing job of adding to the growth and popularity of baseball by giving fans greater access to the game.
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.
The starters are just going to go three innings at the beginning of the tournament. But we think the strength of our team is the relievers.
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.
Obviously they got a wakeup call. One thing we have learned in the international format is that anything can happen.
Obviously, they got a wakeup call last night.
It's a very quiet locker room right now. I think everybody is feeling like they got kicked in the stomach.
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.
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.
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.