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Buck Martinez, a former MLB catcher and current Blue Jays broadcaster for Sportsnet, announced Sunday he will step away from broadcasting after being diagnosed with cancer.
“I've been so honored and privileged to have the support of Blue Jays fans, colleagues, staff and players since I arrived here in 1981, and that continued support through this next challenge means the world to me,” Martinez said in a statement via Twitter. “I'm grateful for a tremendous medical team, who has given me great optimism that I will come through this with flying colors. I hope to rejoin my Sportsnet teammates for the stretch run later this season, but in the meantime I will be watching from the sidelines as I fight the good fight.”
Martinez had a 17-year baseball career as a catcher for the Royals, Brewers and Blue Jays. After he retired in 1986, he became a broadcaster for the Blue Jays before becoming Toronto’s manager for the 2001 and ’02 seasons.
Martinez spent the subsequent years bouncing around baseball as a broadcaster but returned to the Blue Jays broadcast booth in 2010, where he has been ever since.
Dan Schulman and Pat Tabler will most likely fill in as the full-time Blue Jays broadcast team. Jamie Campbell, a Sportsnet Blue Jays host, also announced his cancer diagnosis earlier this month.
