He completed a double play with a compound fracture in his leg.  Buck will kick Cancer’s ass.

The Jays play in A’s today and it’ll be Buck’s last game for a while.

I don’t know what type of cancer he was diagnosed with and nor does it matter.  Buck and his lovely wife have an uphill battle and they need nothing but our quiet support and respect as they’ve asked for privacy.

Buck is a national treasure.  Along with Jerry and Dan, Buck has been the comforting soundtrack in our baseball lives for 30 years.  Daily, I see tweets grateful for Dan and Buck.  League-wide, Dan and Buck have been 1 and 1A in terms of baseball broadcast excellence for decades.  When Dan would move to ESPN radio for the playoffs, Buck would do the internationally televised games because they are the gold standard.

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Buck several times.  in 2015, I went to KC for the ALCS with Arlene Martinez (Buck’s wife).  She spent the flight making sandwiches, talking baseball while checking in every couple of hours with Buck who met her at the airport with a kiss and that Buck Martinez life-giving grin.  When we got to the stadium, but said goodbye to Arlene, looked at me a said ‘behave out there today’ (mighta been the 4 bottles of red we had on the flight into town).

Immediately after the game, Buck was waiting for Arlene.  “You guys got more TV time than I did” Buck laughed as he turned and left with Arlene who can party with the best of them.

I’ve always been struck by how normal Buck is.  In the elevator at the Rogers center an hour before calling a game, he’s ‘normal’.  A normal guy with a normal family who treats people like human beings.

I’ve never seen Buck in a bad mood.  I’ve never met anyone who’s had a bad experience with Buck and he’s been that way since 1981.

Buck’s positive and he’ll be back for the playoffs.  He’ll be calling the Blue Jays again.  He needs time and we can give him that after he’s given us so much.

DB

*I just watched him address it on the pre-game show.  He just said ‘I’ll deal with it, I’m good and I’ll be back so let’s get on with the game.”

When I grow up, I want to be Buck Martinez.