Buck Martinez, the former Blue Jays catcher, manager, and television analyst announced his retirement Friday. The 77-year-old is well known to a generation of U.S. audiences for his work with ESPN; Martinez was in the analyst’s chair for ESPN’s broadcast of Cal Ripken’s 2,131st consecutive game, a game for which Martinez collected a Sports Emmy.

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Martinez is even better known to Blue Jays fans in Canada, where Martinez and play-by-play broadcaster Dan Shulman have been paired on TSN for more than 30 years.

Shulman was among many in baseball who shared their reflections on working with Martinez Friday.

“By now, many of you have heard that Buck has announced his retirement. It goes without saying how much he has meant to Blue Jays fans for the last 40 years, and the same goes for everyone here at Sportsnet,” Shulman wrote on Twitter/X. “From the first day I worked with Buck back in 1995 right thru the World Series this past season, I couldn’t have asked for a better broadcast partner. He was incredibly welcoming when I started and was a phenomenal teammate to me and everyone on our crew every single day.

“No one worked harder, no one cared more. He’s one of the most significant figures in Blue Jays history, and all of us at Sportsnet know how lucky we are to have had him as a colleague, but even more importantly, as a great friend.”

No one worked harder, no one cared more. He’s one of the most significant figures in Blue Jays history, and all of us at Sportsnet know how lucky we are to have had him as a colleague, but even more importantly, as a great friend.

— Dan Shulman (@DannySpxp) February 6, 2026

“Thank you, Buck. So incredibly grateful to have been your teammates,” Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae wrote on Twitter/X.

“Simply put: Buck is baseball,” former big league catcher and current Sportsnet analyst Caleb Joseph wrote. “I’ve never met anyone like Buck Martinez. His ability to tell a baseball story is captivating. His enthusiasm for the game and its players is unrivalled. The vast knowledge about the game and its history is remarkable. His feel for the game, its highs and lows, was always perfectly delivered thru the microphone.”

Martinez retired as a player following the 1986 season and began his broadcasting career as a color analyst for Toronto Blue Jays games in 1987.

In 2000, Martinez was hired as the manager of the Blue Jays, a job he held for two seasons. Afterward he returned to broadcasting with MASN on Baltimore Orioles broadcasts. In 2010, he returned to the Blue Jays telecasts and made the transition from color analyst to play-by-play.

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