Russell Martin wanted to help his country in any way he could at the World Baseball Classic, so when insurance issues prevented him from competing for Team Canada the Toronto Blue Jays catcher got permission to serve as dugout support.
But even if Martin was able to help on the field or at the plate, Canada wouldn’t have been expected to emerge from a stacked Pool C. Regardless of the results, however, it was still a memorable experience for him.
“I’m not fond of losing. Ever. So the losing part was tough,” Martin told Sportsnet’s Starting Lineup Tuesday. “But it was fun to be with the guys and even having guys come out of retirement to represent their country and put on the colours was a fun aspect of it.”
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Canada was outclassed 9-2 by the Dominican Republic in their tournament opener, lost 4-1 to Colombia Saturday then blanked 8-0 by the United States Sunday.
“The quality of the lineups that we faced–Team Dominican and Team USA–those are pretty potent and impressive lineups and I guess Colombia wasn’t too shabby either,” Martin said. “They put on a good battle against two of the best teams in the world.
“When you’re facing those kind of lineups, as a catcher, for me I’m seeing these lineups and I’m like, ‘Okay that’s a guy I’d pitch around, that’s a guy I’d pitch around, oh that’s another guy I’d pitch around.’ But when the whole lineup is a bunch of guys you’d pitch around you’ve got to pitch to somebody. It’s definitely really tough. It doesn’t mean they’re impossible to beat, it’s just you have to be on you’re A-game.”
Disappointing results aside, there were some positive story lines to come out of Canada’s tournament. Namely the veteran players Martin alluded to.
Martin’s former Los Angeles Dodgers teammate Eric Gagne, for example, performed admirably. The 41-year-old is even reportedly receiving the attention of some MLB teams despite not pitching in the majors since 2008. Ryan Dempster also pitched. The 39-year-old retired in 2014.
“All the work that [Dempster] put in to get ready to pitch at that level is impressive but when you take that amount of time off,” Martin added. “The stress that it puts on your body, getting your mind back in shape to compete at the highest level, when that adrenaline’s pumping it’s a different ball game. My hat goes off to Ryan and the guys that came out of retirement.”