SIMMONS SAYS: Power of TV and his remarkable talents made Buck Martinez a legend

Published Aug 30, 2026  •  Last updated 17 minutes ago  •  7 minute read

Guess whose idea it was to bring Buck Martinez (left) and Dan Shulman back to the Jays broadcast booth back in 2005?   Photo by SUN FILES

I had only one conversation of any length with the late Ted Rogers and some of it centred around Buck Martinez.

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The year was 2005: The event, if you want to call it that, was a press conference to announce the signing of a rather insignificant relief pitcher named Scott Schoeneweis. Somehow, I wound up at the same table as the Blue Jays owner.

We talked about baseball — not a speciality of his — and we talked about attendance, where his Blue Jays were among the worst in the American League. That was more his interest. Schoeneweis signed for just more than $2 million that day.

“How many tickets do you think Schoeneweis will sell for you over the course of a season?” I asked Mr. Rogers, who then looked to his CEO, Tony Viner, for an answer. Viner did not supply one.

I then answered my own question. He won’t sell any.

“But do you know who can sell tickets for you? Your broadcasts,” I said. “If you spend the same money on your Blue Jays broadcasts that you’re spending for Schoeneweis, that’s three hours of free advertising for your team every night of the baseball season.

“If I were you, I’d go out and pick up Dan Shulman and Buck Martinez, reunite them in Toronto, and watch your attendance grow.”

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“Is that so?” Rogers said, intrigued by the notion, turning to Viner, who said he’d look into it.

Eventually, Shulman and Martinez came back together in Toronto to form the best play-by-play/colour man combination in baseball.

The Blue Jays have the largest television audience in the game and sell the second most tickets in the American League.

The beloved Martinez was honoured on Saturday at the Rogers Centre. His place with Blue Jays fans is not the result of the six seasons he caught in Toronto or the parts of two seasons he managed here. It’s mostly the result of his years behind the microphone, the connection that builds, the power of broadcasting at its best.

THIS AND THAT

Every time a Cale Makar, or someone like him, signs the next gigantic contract in hockey, I can hear Lou Lamoriello in my ear saying: “Too much money, too much term.” He would say that about every free-agent signing, even though Makar isn’t changing teams. But still, there is a certain shock value because hockey is hockey and $20 million seems like the latest mountain no one saw coming … And to think, players lost a year of hockey to fight the salary cap … I was in the Calgary Flames dressing room the day after goalie Don Edwards signed for $400,000 a season. The players couldn’t believe anyone was worth that kind of money and were excited that a new hockey threshold was in place. One year it’s $400,000 and, before you know it, it’s $20 million. As Lamoriello says, too much money, too much term. And what should be said more often but isn’t: Ticket prices are way too expensive today for just about everything that isn’t the CFL … Ray Petkau, who never returns calls, happens to be Connor Hellebuyck’s agent. He is also Stuart Skinner’s agent. So, you’d think Petkau might have known all about Hellebuyck wanting out of Winnipeg when he had his guy Skinner sign with the Jets?  … Hellebuyck is just the latest pro hockey player to ignore his own no-trade arrangement while asking to be dealt. Truth: Nobody’s word is worth anything any more … Maybe Hellebuyck and Detroit’s Dylan Larkin can go form their own team somewhere … If I’m the daring Bill Zito in Florida, I’m trying to find a way to acquire Hellebuyck. Could Zito trade Anton Lundell and Jacob Markstrom to Winnipeg for Hellebuyck and something else from the Jets?  … Other teams that could really use Hellebuyck: New Jersey, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Chicago, San Jose and Edmonton … Poor Sheldon Keefe. The plan in New Jersey is to start Nico Daws in goal, which means the plan in New Jersey is to likely to say goodbye to Keefe this season … You know PTI is having a slow day when two guys who wouldn’t know that Hellebuyck rhymes with hockey puck are arguing about him going public with his trade request.

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HEAR AND THERE

As a sports and entertainment lawyer Gord Kirke’s long list of clients included Eric Lindros, Pat Gillick, Bret Hart, Bob McCown and the band The Eagles. The one he doesn’t mention all that often: The late Dolly Parton. But he does tell this story. One night, at Maple Leaf Gardens, Dolly and Kenny Rogers were in concert, singing on stage when Parton spotted Kirke sitting in the crowd. While in the middle of the song, Dolly got a security person to walk her in high heels off the stage and towards her lawyer, where she planted a big kiss on his cheek, then got the same security person to walk her back to the stage. “Nobody could figure out what was going on, including Kenny,” said the now-retired Kirke. “Everybody was trying to figure out who Dolly was kissing. The who was me.” … Before the Rogers Centre doors opened Saturday, the Buck Martinez bobbleheads — yet to be given out — were already on sale online for $200 apiece … Also, in honour of Buck being inducted in the Hall of Excellence, the media meal at the Rogers Centre was all of his favourite foods. And a was drink available: The Buck Martini … The only reason I can come up to not like Caitlin Clark: She doesn’t care for ketchup chips. Lately, she’s been on fire, scoring 34 and 37 points with 12 and 10 assists in her past two games with the WNBA’s Indiana Fever, which will completely infuriate her many haters … This is how you get your baseball pedigree: Martinez caught for three Blue Jays managers: Bobby Mattick, Bobby Cox and Jimy Williams. Among the other managers he played for:  Bob Lemon, Whitey Herzog, Jack McKeon, George Bamberger and Buck Rodgers … My latest lesson: Never second-guess Mike O’Shea. The Blue Bombers pounded the great Montreal Alouettes on Friday night. After I pounded the Bombers as being finished as contenders … Josh Allen is the obvious choice as the first quarterback taken in any NFL fantasy league. But who’s second? Lamar Jackson? Joe Burrow? Drake Maye? Jayden Daniels? Can’t remember a year in which there is no obvious second choice … Super Bowl-winning coach Mike Macdonald tried to explain to his Seattle Seahawks about the passing of O.J. Brigance and his eyes couldn’t stay dry. Macdonald worked with Brigance with the Baltimore Ravens.

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SCENE AND HEARD

The next Blue Jay to get Hall of Excellence treatment should be Tom Henke. That one is more than overdue. It was Henke’s ability to close that turned the Jays from pretender to contender in 1985. He then went on to close 217 games in Toronto. No one before Henke had more than 100 saves … And after Henke, we can have an Edwin Encarnacion conversation. He’s not a sure thing, but he’s worth talking about … If the Jays hit 50 more home runs next year, they’ll be among the leaders in baseball. By my count, you can figure Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for 10-15 more, Addison Barger for at least 20, Anthony Santander (assuming he plays) for 20. Those are conservative numbers. In the three seasons before Santander stole two years of Blue Jays money while on the injured list, he hit 109 home runs for Baltimore … The Jays have 129 home runs this season, 14th among 15 AL teams. Add 50 to that number and it’s 179, which would be five homers behind the league-leading New York Yankees … Is August the worst batting month of Guerrero’s life? He has one home run and three RBIs in August  with an OPS of .583. He also has four two-hit games. Jays are 4-0 in those games … This was not supposed to happen: Kazuma Okamoto leads the Blue Jays in home runs, RBIs, slugging, OPS and WAR. Okamoto was thought to be a complementary player when he signed out of Japan back in January, not a franchise-changer … Tip of the cap to the Blue Jays for a special presentation for Martinez’s Hall of Excellence ceremony. It was Montreal Canadiens-like. Of all the terrific interviews and tributes paid, one photo stuck with me: It was Martinez alongside Joe Garagiola and Vin Scully. Three generational greats … Of the former Hall of Excellence members who returned, the largest applause was for Jose Bautista. Recency bias, no doubt, although Dave Stieb wasn’t far behind.

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AND ANOTHER THING

Bianca Andreescu should get direct entry into the U.S. Open for life, based on her 2019 victory at the tournament. But tennis doesn’t seem to operate that way. Instead, Andreescu had to attempt to qualify of the world’s most exciting tournament. She didn’t make it. Honest, I’d rather her lose in the first round with direct entry than get knocked out in what they call the ‘qualies’ … I’m at the age where I’d rather see BTO in concert than BTS. Then again, I think I’ve always been of that age … Remember when everyone was screaming that U.S. college athletes needed to be paid? And now that they’re being paid — and way too much in many cases — American college sport has never been as erratic and devoid of rules, honesty and ethics … The Blue Jays spend $200 million more on their roster than the Cleveland Guardians do, but as of Saturday afternoon the Guardians had two more wins … Happy birthday to Kent Nilsson (70), Andy Roddick (44), Ray Elgaard (67), Jonas Hoglund (54), Drake Maye (24), Larry Fitzgerald (43), Scott Niedermayer (53), Jalen Brunson (29), Jean-Claude Killy (83), Noah Syndergaard (34), and Bob Beamon (80) … And hey, whatever became of Randy Carlyle?

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