TORONTO — It felt all right at this particular time, of course: a sprint around the field to fist bump the fans who wouldn’t go home; the first bottle of champagne consumed or, in his case, worn. All the aches and bruises effectively washed away.
But Kevin Pillar wanted no mistakes made. After a game won on a play involving three of manager John Gibbons’ everyday players – Russ Martin legging it out to first, Josh Donaldson scoring from third and Edwin Encarnacion going in hard at second – it was timely to think about how three beaten-up bodies helped the Toronto Blue Jays steal the American League Division Series from the Texas Rangers.
"I don’t think people understand how beaten up guys are right now – casual or intense fans," said Pillar. "I mean, I hear all the time how baseball’s not a contact sport. But, you know, most of us are out here at 1:00 p.m. to get ready for a game. And this turf … it’s not bad, but it’s unforgiving. You know, most of us are going in one direction all the time and doing things that’s not supposed to be the way the body works.
"One thing, though," Pillar added. "Coming back here and doing this? Makes it hurt a little less."
You can find redemption if you want from Sunday night’s walk-off win; find it in how Rougned Odor was charged with the throwing error that sent the Rangers back to Arlington, surely now with a reputation of being among the game’s pre-eminent chokers going back to last year’s meltdown and back-to-back World Series losses in 2010 and especially 2011. The bat flip, that brawl in Texas in May … yeah, you can take that away from this if you want. Mostly, though, this win was about the baseball grind: I homer, you homer. I make pitches, you make pitches. You give me an inch, I take it and, sometimes, win a series along with it.
You play every day like these Jays do – and remember, this is a team with few platoons; an older team that has been ridden hard by its manager because in most positions there is such a huge drop-off between starters and bench players – and it really does come out like sausage at times: tastes good but, wow, the ingredients that went into it.
And for the 2016 Blue Jays, one of those prime ingredients is toughness.
"I’ve said many times … I think Josh and Russ were the first two newcomers here of the group that’s here, and they brought some toughness to us," said Gibbons. "The previous couple of years, I didn’t think we had enough of that."
Martin has been ridden harder than just about any other Blue Jays player. With R.A. Dickey off the roster, there is no need for Josh Thole. And remember how Marco Estrada couldn’t win unless it was Dioner Navarro behind the plate? Not anymore. It was Martin who slammed his first homer of the post-season Sunday on the heels of Encarnacion’s two-run shot to give the Blue Jays a 3-1 first-inning lead, becoming the fourth major-leaguer to hit post-season home runs with four different teams, joining Ron Gant, John Olerud and Reggie Sanders. It was Martin who spoke to Joe Biagini in the dugout after he served up a two-run double in the top of the sixth – and Biagini went out to work a 1-2-3 seventh after the Blue Jays had tied it up in the bottom of the inning.
"I don’t think Russ really gets enough credit for what he does with our pitchers," said pitching coach Pete Walker. "He has a good handle on each of our guys, and has a knack for making a good call in the toughest situations.
"Mostly, though, I think he just makes everybody on our staff – and our relievers – comfortable. There’s no panic; he talks to everybody … it’s like whatever the situation he has a way of bringing guys back down to earth."
Added Aaron Sanchez: "Without leadership behind the dish, you’re in trouble. Russ is the guy that makes this team go." As for Gibbons’ thoughts? "Russ is the backbone of our team."
Look: this is a market in which much of the analysis that helps form opinion is presented by former catchers. Nothing wrong with that, believe me. But it has led, I think, to a lot of people believing they have some sort of intrinsic understanding of the catcher’s job. Criticizing Martin has become something of a cottage industry among this city’s baseball cognoscenti – much of it off the record, and much of it because Martin is, frankly, nobody’s fool when it comes to interpersonal relations – but the guy’s track record has to speak for itself. And what it says is that Russ Martin’s team makes the playoffs and I’m sorry, folks, that has to count for something.
Martin finished this series with a .083 batting average and at some point before the start of the American League Championship Series I’m sure somebody will ask Gibbons if he’ll drop Martin in the order and maybe move up Troy Tulowitzki. Gibbons chuckled slightly Sunday when it was suggested he might have done it for Game 3 and gave the typical Gibbons’ response: don’t screw around with what’s working and – as many a manager has said before – don’t be afraid to get out of your own way.
At any rate, ol’ Russ Martin’s got at least one more playoff series ahead of him, because of course he does. He’s Russ Martin, the guy playing everyday with stitches in the pinky of his catching hand from a high-five gone awry. Russ Martin: indefatigable. Trustworthy. And looking forward, now, to three or four days off.
"You can spin it however you want," said Martin. "Some people like to say a couple of days off might throw our timing off. I really don’t believe in that. At this point in the year, a couple of days off can do wonders."
Indeed, even the toughest need a break every now and then. Now, especially.