Imagine our surprise when we returned home from a night of work-sanctioned piss-tanking last evening, and opened up our email to find a press release from Sportsnet announcing the return of Buck Martinez.Really? Sportsnet sends me press releases? Go figure!
We were so surprised to find our email on the Rogers media list (and also pretty hammered to boot) that we totally missed the fact that Buck is coming back to Toronto to serve as the play-by-play voice of the Jays. It barely computes this morning, to be honest with you. But really, what's the worst that could happen when Buck Martinez takes on a task in the game of baseball for which he has little previous experience?
(Oh, yeah. Right. I'd kinda blocked that year and a half out of my mind.)
It seems a little weird for Buck to be coming back, because from where we sit, there is no other market in the majors where his knowledge of the game would be questioned more than in Toronto. At the same time, it does seem from the initial reactions that we've heard that people seem pretty happy with this. Probably about as happy as they were when the team reached into the past to bring back the Manager. And look how well that's turned out!
(Seriously, I'm not this grumpy. I'm not! I'm just a little hung over and unable to look at the bright side of things, because the brightness burns my eyes and makes every throb in my lobes.)
This announcement also means the end of the Jamie Campbell era in the Jays booth. While some (most) around these parts found Campbell to be lacking (significantly), we hope that the kid lands on his feet. He seems like good people, and a genuine baseball fan, and we hope he finds something new and rewarding to do in the short term.
Taking a break
If we're a little scarce around these parts for the next week or so, it's because we're undertaking a move from our crappy little apartment into a house. These things don't always run smoothly (so I'm told), so forgive if we're not on top of stuff for a little while.
We've asked The Ack to take over for us, but he's not answering our emails these days. We think he may be plotting against us. But if he's not, he may be around should the Jays pull off any sort of deal or engage in further information gathering.
