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
average bit everybody expects hear mystery submitted
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.
aware catch early expect fourteen individual involved ken obvious pitchers players ready taking three
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.
format learned obviously
Obviously they got a wakeup call. One thing we have learned in the international format is that anything can happen.
call last
Obviously, they got a wakeup call last night.
brings character everybody felt guy opinion respect
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.
aspect created korea unique
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.
behind conscious continue falling far perils pool run
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.
bit mexican saw spirit team
I think the spirit of the Mexican team will be dramatic. We saw a little bit of it in Tucson the other day.
ability close confidence fit guy hard lots pennant strikes throws
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.
beautiful expect faces fans fuel mexican painted understanding usa
I expect them to be very supportive, and I think that will fuel the USA fans once they get into this atmosphere. From my understanding in Tucson, they had sombreros and their faces painted and a lot of Mexican flags. It was a bullfight-kind-of-atmosphere, so that will be beautiful in this tournament.
baltimore bench gives impressed met pitching sitting success
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.
decision fact games given history injuries played respect year
He made his decision and we respect that, given his history of injuries from a year ago and the fact that he only played in 14 games (in 2005).
aware coming everybody fact represent states sure talent talked understood united whatever
We talked about the talent in the room, the fact that we represent the United States of America, and just making sure they understood how everybody is coming after us. . . . They're all aware of (doing) whatever it takes.
balls good heart hit miss pitch pitches quality
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.