When Buck Martinez goes into the new Toronto Blue Jays Hall of Excellence at Rogers Centre on Saturday, it will be a celebration of over 40 years with the organization.
Thanks to his time with the Blue Jays as a player, manager and broadcaster, few people are more synonymous with the franchise than Martinez.
Although Martinez’s career will be properly recognized when Toronto hosts the Seattle Mariners on Saturday (3:07 p.m. ET / 12:07 p.m. PT on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+), the franchise icon had an opportunity to reflect on his journey Tuesday during an appearance on Blair and Barker.
"A group of us got together a couple weeks ago for lunch in Dunedin," Martinez said when asked to reflect on the highlights of his career. "And we did just that. We were talking about some of the times we played against one another. Garth Iorg and I have a lot of great memories of the '85 season and Bobby Cox and that whole generation."
Martinez played for the Blue Jays from 1981 to 1986, helping the club win its first division title in 1985 before going on to lose to the Kansas City Royals in the American League Championship Series.
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Despite being known for his time in Toronto, the now 77-year-old Martinez also spent eight seasons with the Kansas City Royals and three with the Milwaukee Brewers. But he pointed out a period of time with the Royals as one of the favourite seasons of his career.
"I go back to 1976 and the ALCS against the Yankees, when I was with Kansas City," he said. "Obviously, your first major-league team is very special to you, and we had been chasing down the Oakland A's for several years. (We) finally won it and then played the Yankees.
"That was a great moment and a heartbreaking moment at the same time because Chris Chambliss hit a home run in the bottom of the ninth to cut our path to the World Series down."
As for his post-playing days, Martinez pointed to being around some other Blue Jays greats as another highlight of his career.
"Watching Dave Stieb pitch so well, being involved with Roy Halladay while he was there, Carlos Delgado's four-home-run game. So many great moments that I was involved with. And certainly one of the best was during the World Series last year."
In his six seasons as a Blue Jay, Martinez appeared in 454 games, hitting 35 homers and driving in 154 runs.
Once he hung up the cleats for good, Martinez made the immediate jump into the broadcasting booth in 1987, becoming a fixture in the Blue Jays booth for years.
He made the shift into the dugout in 2001, though, when he was hired as Toronto's manager. Martinez manned the top step through 53 games in 2002 and finished with a managerial record of 100-115.
"I always thought I was going to be a ballplayer," Martinez said when asked if he expected to be involved with baseball for as long as he was. "Unfortunately, for most of us former players, you're a former player a lot longer than you were an active player, that's for sure."
"Quite honestly, I didn't expect to be in baseball through 2025. I didn't know what I was going to do, but I certainly didn't realize the good fortune that I was looking forward to once I quit playing in 1986."
While he might not have expected it, becoming a baseball-lifer helped Martinez establish a career that turned him into one of the most significant figures in Canadian baseball history.
And Saturday's celebration will only be further proof of how important Martinez is to the Blue Jays organization.
