10 things you might not know about Buck Martinez

February 18, 2026

By Kevin Glew

Cooperstowners in Canada 

The word legend is overused in sports. 

Buck Martinez, however, is a legend. 

As a player, manager and broadcaster, he served in the Toronto Blue Jays’ organization for more than four decades. So, when he announced his retirement on Feb. 6, to many in Canada, it felt like they lost part of their family. 

“Buck has been one of the most prominent figures in the history of the Toronto Blue Jays, dedicating decades to the game he loves and to this organization as a player, manager, and broadcaster,” said Mark Shapiro, Blue Jays’ president & CEO in a release on Feb. 6.  

“Buck has connected generations of fans with his passion, insight, and unparalleled storytelling. His legacy extends far beyond the microphone, and he will always hold a special place in the hearts of Canadian baseball fans.” 

Born in 1948 in Redding, Calif., Martinez made his major league debut with the Kansas City Royals in 1969. He was a durable catcher who played 1,049 games in parts of 17 big league seasons with the Royals, Milwaukee Brewers and Blue Jays.  

But even before his playing career was over, he began broadcasting when he covered the All-Star Game, the American League Championship Series and the World Series for the Telemedia Radio Network in 1982. 

His full-time broadcasting career began five years later when he was hired to be a colour commentator on TSN’s Blue Jays telecasts.    

After leaving the booth to serve as the Blue Jays manager for parts of two seasons in 2001 and 2002, he worked as a TV analyst for the Baltimore Orioles from 2003 to 2009 before returning to the Blue Jays TV broadcast crew in 2010. He was part of the Sportsnet TV broadcast team for the past 16 seasons.   

But in talking with many younger Blue Jays fans this month, it has become apparent to me that many of them think of Martinez almost exclusively as a broadcaster. Sure, they know he played for the Blue Jays in the 80s and most have seen the heroic footage of him completing a double play with a broken leg against the Seattle Mariners on July 9, 1985 (See video below). But that’s about it. 

So to shed more light on Martinez’s 17-season major league playing career, I have compiled a list of 10 things that the younger generation of Blue Jays fans – and perhaps you – might not know about Martinez: 

1. When I spoke to Martinez in June 2024 prior to him being presented with the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s Jack Graney Award in St. Marys, Ont., he credited both his father and his mother for getting him into baseball. “My father (John) had a lot to do with it. He actually moved the family from Redding, California to Sacramento, so we had a better chance at athletics and sports in general,” said Martinez. “But my mom (Shirley) had a lot to do with it, too, because she was from a family of 13 . . . She was Native American from Northern California and all her brothers were great athletes. So, she would throw me batting practice and she would play catch with me all the time as a four- or five-year-old. So, both my mother and my father were very instrumental in allowing me to play.” 

2. Martinez was selected in the second round of the MLB draft in January 1967. From 1965 to 1986, there were two MLB drafts in a year. The January draft was for collegiate and high school players who graduated in December. Though he never played a major league game for the Phillies, Martinez would go on to enjoy the second longest major league career of any catcher chosen in that draft. So which catcher played the most MLB games out of that draft? That would be Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk, who was taken in the first round (fourth overall) by the Boston Red Sox. 

3. In 1967, in his first pro season in the Phillies’ organization, Martinez was assigned to the Low-A Eugene Emeralds of the Northwest League, where he proceeded to bat .357 with 96 hits – including 16 doubles, four triples and two home runs – in 77 games. He also topped Northwest League catchers in assists (48). 

4. On December 16, 1968, Martinez was traded to the Royals where he’d split time behind the dish with various catchers for eight seasons. In 1976, he started all five games for the Royals in the American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees. He had three hits in the fifth-and-deciding contest and may have been that game’s first star if Chris Chambliss had not clubbed his dramatic, walk-off, series-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth to secure a 7-6 win for the Yankees. 

5. After being traded to the Blue Jays on May 10, 1981, Martinez became the right-handed hitting part of a catching platoon with Ernie Whitt. In 1982, Martinez’s first full season with the Blue Jays, he threw out 23 of 50 runners attempting to steal off him. That 46% caught stealing rate was the second-best among American League catchers that season. How good is that? Well, Alejandro Kirk threw out 12 of 69 baserunners (17%) in 2025 and the league average for a catcher in 2025 was 29%. 

6. Martinez clubbed 10 home runs in each of the 1982 and 1983 seasons. Whitt belted 11 and 17 round-trippers in those two campaigns. This made them the first two Blue Jays catchers to have back-to-back, double-digit home run seasons for the club. 

7. Martinez had a .225 batting average for his major league career, but he was a tremendous clutch hitter for the Blue Jays from 1982 to 1984. In those three seasons, with runners in scoring position and two outs, Martinez went 31-for-90 (.344 batting average) with four home runs, eight doubles and 39 RBIs. 

8. In 1984, Martinez had nine sacrifice flies for the Blue Jays. That set a franchise record that lasted until 1989 when George Bell had 14 and Tony Fernandez had 10. 

9. Martinez had 13 hits off Minnesota Twins ace and 1988 American League Cy Young Award winner Frank Viola. That’s the most he had off any MLB pitcher. In total against Viola, Martinez was 13-for-33 (.394 batting average). He had four doubles and an RBI.  

10. According to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, Martinez is the first major league player to record a hit in a regular season game using a bat made in Canada. On April 11, 1986, Martinez walked to the plate with a Cooper bat in the top of the fifth inning and singled off Royals reliever Alan Hargesheimer in a Blue Jays’ 6-2 win at Royals Stadium.