Buck Martinez gets celebrated Saturday, and few have touched every era of Blue Jays baseball like him.
Toronto moves its current Level of Excellence into a new Hall of Excellence, located on the 100 level right-field concourse at Rogers Centre.
Paul Beeston, the team's first employee and now president emeritus, called Martinez's induction "a just reward."
"He was there just after the foundation had been put down and he came when we started to get good," Beeston said. "He brought professionalism. He brought a work ethic. He brought a sense of humour."
Former reliever Paul Quantrill put it plainly. "Buck is as much a Blue Jay as any human being that I know."
Martinez's story stretches across nearly six decades in the sport, as a player, a union rep, a manager, a broadcaster, and a support leader for players in need.
Toronto acquired him in May 1981 for outfielder Gil Kubski, pairing him behind the plate with a young Ernie Whitt.
From behind the plate to the front of the union
"I played off of his being a veteran leader on the team," Whitt said. "I thought Buck and I worked really well together as players."
Martinez also became one of the union's most trusted voices during his playing days, according to former MLBPA executive director Donald Fehr.
"This is a guy that can really think in a straight line and is very observant," Fehr said. "He was persuasive and he was respected, and it meant a lot."
That leadership carried into the dugout when GM Gord Ash hired him to manage in 2001, pulling him straight out of the broadcast booth.
"It was really smooth, really good," Quantrill said of the transition. "He cared about us, he cared about his guys."
Martinez advocated for Quantrill's surprise All-Star selection that same year, a rare honor for a non-closer reliever at the time.
The Blue Jays finished 80-82 in 2001, and Martinez was let go two months into 2002 as new leadership reshaped the roster. Quantrill remembered him staying consistent through all of it.
"Whatever he had to deal with upstairs, he at least appeared to all of us to be really just dealing with it and rolling with it," Quantrill said.
His broadcasting career followed, earning a Sports Emmy for his ESPN coverage of Cal Ripken's record-setting game.
"He did the same amount of prep for a game against a last-place team in June as he did for a playoff game in October," longtime broadcast partner Dan Shulman said.
Martinez also spent six years leading the Baseball Assistance Team, which has awarded more than $73 million in grants to over 13,500 people across the sport.
"Everything he does is so genuine," said Eduardo Perez, who succeeded him at B.A.T. in February. "That full understanding of who Buck Martinez has been for everyone is really special."
Saturday's ceremony captures all of that in one afternoon, a rare recognition for someone who's worn nearly every hat this franchise has to offer.
Is Buck Martinez the most deserving first inductee the Blue Jays could have chosen for their Hall of Excellence?
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