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John Albert "Buck" Martinez (born November 7, 1948) is a former Major League Baseball catcher and manager, and is currently the television play-by-play announcer for the Toronto Blue Jays. He played 17 seasons in the majors with the Kansas City Royals, the Milwaukee Brewers, and the Toronto Blue Jays.〔http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/martibu01.shtml?redir〕 Since the end of his playing career, he has been a broadcaster, working on Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles radio and television broadcasts, and nationally for TBS. Martinez managed the Toronto Blue Jays from 2001 to May 2002 and Team USA at the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006.〔http://www.tbs.com/stories/story/0,,136584,00.html〕 He attended Elk Grove High School, Sacramento City College, Sacramento State University, and Southwest Missouri State University. ==Playing career== Martinez made his major league debut in 1969, playing 72 games with the Kansas City Royals. He is mentioned in Jim Bouton's 1970 bestseller ''Ball Four'' as John Martinez, a player Bouton and his Seattle teammates know little about. During a meeting, as Bouton's team is devising strategies to effectively pitch to their opponents, manager Joe Schultz lacks any concrete suggestions about the rookie Martinez, and famously advises that they just "zitz" him. Over the next few years, however, Martinez developed the reputation of being an offensive liability. He never appeared in more than 95 games during his time with Kansas City, through 1977. Martinez was traded twice over the next few years, including to the Milwaukee Brewers in late 1977. In the midst of an 18–8 loss to Kansas City on Wednesday, August 29, 1979, Martinez entered the game as the Brewers sixth pitcher of the day. As a pitcher, Martinez batted in the 9th inning, stroking an RBI single. For Martinez, who played in over 1,000 ML games, this game was his lone appearance in the majors as a pitcher. () Martinez was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays May 10, 1981 after being designated for assignment. He is most remembered for his time in Toronto, where he twice hit 10 home runs (in 1982 and 1983) and was regarded as a solid defensive catcher. Martinez's career took a bad turn when he broke his leg and severely dislocated his ankle in a home plate collision with the Seattle Mariners' Phil Bradley at the Kingdome on July 9, 1985. After the collision, he still attempted to throw out the advancing runner Gorman Thomas. When the throw went into left field, Thomas tried to come home. However, he was tagged out by a sprawled-out Martinez, who had managed to catch the return throw from George Bell on the ground, thus completing a 9–2–7–2 double play. Martinez attempted a comeback in 1986 but retired after hitting .181 in 81 games. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Buck Martinez」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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