'I DIDN'T KNOW IF I WAS GETTING BACK': Blue Jays broadcaster Buck Martinez returns from latest cancer battle
When Blue Jays baseball fans across Canada last heard the familiar soundtrack of their summer from Buck Martinez, the team was far from the thing that they are today.
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It was May 28 when the beloved Jays broadcaster signed off following a 2-0 win in Texas improved their record to a modest 27-28.
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But if you think the journey of the ball team has been something, it's pales to what Martinez has endured, even though the baseball lifer would abhor the comparison.
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We'll let the ultimate storyteller take it from here, though.
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'After the Texas game, I had an appointment in Houston to see my doctor and I had some tests and the results came back that I had cancer in my lung,' Martinez said in a phone interview on Thursday after settling into his Los Angeles hotel following a long day of travel to get him back to work.
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'It was the same cancer I had, but it had gone to my lungs.'
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In the 10 weeks since, the Jays have emerged as one of the best teams in baseball.
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In the 10 weeks since, the 76-year-old Martinez has fought like hell to return to the game he loves so much.
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That welcome-back moment comes on Friday night at the famed Dodger Stadium when Martinez retakes his position alongside play-by-play man Dan Shulman for the first game of a three-game series against the World Series champions. Coast-to-coast, Canadians will stay up late to hear the man who has detailed the highs and lows of their baseball team for decades.
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It will be an emotional return for his Sportsnet colleagues and who have missed the heartbeat of the team along the way.
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And typically, Martinez doesn't want anyone to make a fuss: 'I don't want them to make a big deal, I mean they did that last time,' he says. 'Hey, I was away. I'm back. Let's get to work.'
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It was much more than being absent, of course. As he was intently following from afar the rise of the team that has been such a big part of his career, Martinez was battling through the uncertainty of his future — and more than just professionally.
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'After the first session of chemo, I couldn't walk,' Martinez said. 'It flared up my knee so bad, I had to have a cane. I couldn't move my shoulder. But that's the last time I've had any (troubles.) Nothing that's going to keep me from working.'
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Though he's ready to return to work, Martinez isn't completely free of treatment. He'll call the Dodgers series this weekend then return to Toronto for a six-game homestand — and how great will that be. Then he returns to Houston for one final chemo session.
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