Buck Martinez reveals what kept him away from Blue Jays for months 

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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.

We’ll let the ultimate storyteller take it from here, though.

“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.

“It was the same cancer I had, but it had gone to my lungs.”

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.

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.

It will be an emotional return for his Sportsnet colleagues and who have missed the heartbeat of the team along the way.

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.

“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.”

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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“I will be away again for another two weeks, so I don’t want people to think I’ve had a relapse or anything,” he says. “After that, I’ll be back on the first of September for the rest of the rodeo.”

In our conversation on Thursday, Martinez was candid about the emotional and physical challenges of his summer, one in which he missed a planned 50th anniversary cruise with his wife Arlene as he endured the anguish of his regular chemo treatments.

As the Jays were doing their thing and he desperately wanted to return to tell the stories and live it with the fan base, he knew there were no guarantees.

“I didn’t know if I was getting back,” Martinez admitted. “That was a big thing. When I first found out about it I was pretty grumpy. But my wife has been phenomenal. She never let me feel sorry for myself. She always pointed to the children we saw in (the hospital) in Houston and said you don’t have it so bad. She’s a rock.”

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And then a shot of the familiar Martinez feistiness when we asked him when he got the green light to return to the booth.

“I don’t know if I really got the clearance,” he said. “I just told them I was going back.

“(My energy) is good. I’ve been working out, riding the bike and doing the treadmill.”

As it always does with him, the enthusiasm of a conversation with Martinez jumps noticeably when it shifts to baseball from his own travails. As you would expect, he’s immensely impressed with that the Jays have done and it’s clear that he hasn’t missed much action.

“These guys have played their ass off,” Martinez said. “And they play baseball. They catch it. They throw it. They run the bases better than they have in the past, and they’re just playing for each other. And that’s important.

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“It reminds me of the ’85 team and that was one of the best teams in the franchise history.

“It’s going to be fun (returning to the booth), there’s no question. I mean, how can you not enjoy it? My friends are all asking me ‘You must really be excited to be back when the team is play as well as they are.’ And yeah, it’s great. It will be fun.”

Besides his indebtedness to his wife, Martinez said the road back was made easier by unwavering support of his Sportsnet colleagues and management.

“Dan (Shulman), Joe (Siddall) and Caleb (Joseph) did a great job picking up the slack and going to bat for me,” Martinez said. “And (senior Sportsnet executives Rob Corte and Dave Tredgett) have been incredibly supportive. They told me to take as much time as you need. The only thing that matters is getting healthy and recover.”

Martinez took all the support to heart and with wife Arlene at his side.

“She has been a champion, man. She has pushed me and kept me in line and got me healthy,” he said.

He’s ready to return to his other true love.

“It’s my life,” Martinez said when he asked what he was looking forward to the most. “It’s been my life since I was 18 years old. And you don’t realize what a big part of your life it is until it’s taken away for a second time. I’ve been very fortunate.”

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