Buck Martinez's Yankees rant is a perfect sendoff into retirement for Blue Jays fans

In one of the biggest pieces of surprising news from this offseason, Toronto Blue Jays long-time commentator Buck Martinez announced he would be stepping away from the broadcast booth. The statement was shared via social media and immediately, thoughts and well wishes poured in from fans, players and other media personalities.

Traded to the Blue Jays in 1981, the veteran catcher thought that it was going to be one last quick stop in the majors before retirement. Not only did he play for another five seasons after that, but he wound up being linked to the organization for the better part of the next four decades as a broadcaster and a stint as the team's manager.

Blue Jays fans loved Martinez's energy and enthusiasm in the booth and he was never afraid to call it like he saw it, and that includes a call from his final season that fired up the Blue Jays faithful.

Buck Martinez's Yankees rant is a perfect sendoff into retirement for Blue Jays fans

On Sep. 9 with the season into the stretch run and the Blue Jays trying to hold off the Yankees for the top spot in the American League East, Martinez made his thoughts and feelings well known about the Bronx Bombers.

In the middle of a game at Rogers Centre against the Houston Astros, the Yankees were brought up on the broadcast by play-by-play man Dan Schulman. Martinez responded with, ""The Yankees, they're not a good team. I don't care what their record is. They have a lot of wild pitches. They make a lot of mistakes in the field. They don't run the bases very well. If they don't hit home runs they don't have a chance to win."

Those comments didn't go unnoticed by fans of both teams. For the Blue Jays it was immensely satisfying to hear a broadcaster say all the things they were thinking. Of course, the Yankees eventually their team did catch the Blue Jays for the top spot in the division, finishing the year with identical 94-68 records. But all that did was seat them in the top Wild Card spot as they lost the season series tiebreaker, 8-5.

So with the Yankees catching strays from the Blue Jays commentary team, they backed up those words by beating the Boston Red Sox in the AL Wild Card series and had some momentum going into their ALDS showdown against Toronto. That's when the Blue Jays promptly embarrassed them by winning the series in four games, including the clincher at Yankee Stadium.

It would have truly been a fairytale ending for Martinez to have been in the booth to call a Game 7 World Series win for Toronto, but alas the Blue Jays came up just short of making that happen. Still, Martinez will be remembered for many great calls and amazing moments throughout Blue Jays history, including this absolute fire of a comment about the 2025 Yankees.