Blue Jays commentator Buck Martinez nominated for prestigious MLB award

Toronto Blue Jays broadcaster Buck Martinez is up for one of the MLBPA’s most prestigious honours.

The Sportsnet play-by-play and colour commentator Martinez was announced today as one of three nominees for the Curtis Flood Award, given out each year since 2020 by the Major League Baseball Players’ Association.

The award is given annually to “a former player, living or deceased, who in the image of Flood demonstrated a selfless, longtime devotion to the Players Association and advancement of players’ rights.”

Martinez played 17 seasons for the Royals, Blue Jays and Brewers. He had a .225 batting average, 618 hits, 58 home runs, 321 RBIs and 245 runs scored. Since retiring, he’s held just about every position possible in the Blue Jays organization: manager, sideline reporter, colour commentator and TV analyst while working for both Sportsnet and TSN.

Brooks Robinson and Steve Rogers were selected as the two other nominees.

Robinson, who spent 23 seasons entirely with the Baltimore Orioles, won 16 Gold Glove awards, an MVP award, a World Series MVP award and along with two World Series. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1983.

Since retiring, Robinson has become the president of the MLBPA’s Alumni Association, as well as a part owner of Opening Day Partners, an organization which owns several minor league teams.

Meanwhile, Rogers played 13 seasons for the Montreal Expos, where he had 158 wins, 152 losses, an ERA of 3.17 and 1,621 strikeouts. He currently works for the MLBPA.

The 73-year-old Martinez’s future is up in the air, following a tumultuous 2022 year that saw him miss much of the season dealing with a cancer diagnosis this past April. While Martinez has finished his cancer treatment, he admitted he isn’t sure about what the future holds for him in the broadcast booth.

“I don’t know,” Martinez told Simon Houpt of The Globe and Mail in a wide-ranging interview published last month.

“It has nothing to do with Rogers. It’s just me. You know, I’ve been through a lot. And, you know, my wife and I have had a lot of discussions about it. I don’t know.”

The recipient is expected to be announced Thursday, November 3, on ESPN’s 3 pm PT/4 pm MT/6 pm ET SportsCenter broadcast.

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