Buck Martinez had crystal ball working with regards to Ohtani

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Only one of them was going to be right.

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If the Dodgers Shohei Ohtani was going to be the Ohtani of the night before or even the start before that, the Jays were going to be in a 3-1 hole.

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If he was anything less, you had to like the Jays chances.

FOX analyst, former long-time starter and closer with the Atlanta Braves and Hall of Famer John Smoltz was leaning towards Ohtani playing the hero again in his pre-game analysis.

Smoltz began by saying there was no way Game 4 could top Game 3 but then stopped himself and with a broad smile pointed out Game 4 had the greatest show on earth taking the mound in the form of Ohtani.

A little further down the press box, almost assuredly without the top-notch vantage point that the FOX broadcast booth enjoyed, Buck Martinez in the Sportsnet booth took a decidedly different tact.

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“On any given night, baseball can humble even the best,” Martinez said repeating something he said earlier in direct reference to Ohtani.

About three hours later, Martinez looked to have the more accurate crystal ball.

Ohtani certainly wasn’t beat around by the Jays batters, but he was far from the greatest show on earth on this evening.

Perhaps even expecting him to be considering the nine plate appearances and nine times he reached base the night before in that 18 inning marathon win was asking too much.

Then to have him hit leadoff while pitching, another first in World Series history — just added to his degree of difficulty.

Ohtani would give the Dodgers six innings allowing four Blue Jays runs while striking out four. At the plate he was 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.

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Martinez and broadcast partner Dan Shulman seemed to agree early on that fatigue would not be a factor for Ohtani who was looking good early on but in hindsight they may have spoken too soon.

This was not vintage Ohtani, or even remotely close.

Not that they’re competing, but give Buck Martinez the edge over John Smoltz.

WHO HAS BEEN JAYS’ UNSUNG HERO IN WORLD SERIES?

A night earlier and maybe a different result, the answer to this question could have easily be Eric Lauer who did such a masterful job keeping the Jays in that marathon and extending it the way he did.

But it’s not a mistake that both Shulman and Martinez have been lauding and showing the levels of appreciation they have for Chris Bassitt throughout the past two series.

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Bassitt has not just accepted that change in role from starter to reliever, he has embraced it. The Sportsnet tandem has repeatedly pointed this out, giving credit where credit is due.

It’s just one more example of why a local broadcaster is so much more preferable to, say, just picking up the U.S. broadcast when the playoffs get to this point.

As good as Joe Davis and Smoltz might sound on the FOX broadcast, they don’t have the back story of a guy who began the Series as maybe the fifth or sixth reliever of importance in that Jays bullpen. But Shulman and Martinez have been around this club all year. The Bassitt backstory is common knowledge for them and allows them to give it the proper time it deserves.

Two more clean innings in Game 4 just add to the appreciation.

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ALSO FROM GAME 4

The more we see of Guerrero Jr. fielding questions in English without the need of a translator, the more silly it becomes that he and/or the Jays insist on him having one when dealing with the local media. Guerrero Jr. has no issues understanding the questions when they come from the likes of David Ortiz and Alex Rodriguez or Derek Jeter. It should be no different when he’s dealing with Toronto media.

THE LAST WORDS GO TO DAN SHULMAN

As good as it had to be to see Guerrero Jr. go deep again and as good as it must have felt to see Shane Bieber out-pitch Ohtani, Shulman summed up perfectly the most important part of Tuesday’s win.

More important than all of those individual accomplishments according to Shulman, Tuesday’s Blue Jays win means the 2025 World Series will end, one way or the other, at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

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