Blue Jays Broadcasters

PLAY-BY-PLAY ANNOUNCER

Dan Shulman is in his second stint in the Blue Jays broadcast booth, having returned in 2016 after a 15-year absence. The Toronto native began his broadcasting career locally in 1990 at CKBB in Barrie before moving to the FAN 1430 (now Sportsnet 590 The FAN) in 1991, where he hosted a number of shows, including Prime Time Sports, The Major League Report, and Baseball Today. He began serving as the Blue Jays*’ play-by-play commentator in 1995 alongside current *Blue Jays announcer, Buck Martinez. Following his departure from Toronto’s broadcast booth in 2001, he joined ESPN full-time after having worked for the network part-time beginning in 1995. The graduate of Western University was the voice of Wednesday Night Baseball (2002-2007), Monday Night Baseball (2008-2010), and served as ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball play-by-play announcer from 2011-2017. In addition, Shulman called ESPN Radio’s MLB postseason from 1998 through 2022, including the World Series from 2011-2022. He has been a play-by-play voice for NCAA basketball for ESPN since 1995, including the network’s signature Saturday Primetime games since 2007. Shulman has also covered two Olympics, calling hockey in Lillehammer, Norway in 1994, and basketball for the Tokyo games in 2021. Shulman has received many honours and accolades for his work, including being named the 2011 NSMA National Sportscaster of the Year in the US. He was the first two-time winner of the Sports Media Canada Broadcaster of the Year award (2000, 2007). Shulman was named the winner of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s Jack Graney Award in 2020, won the Canadian Screen Award as best play-by-play announcer in 2022, and is a two-time finalist for the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s Ford C. Frick Award.

ANALYST

Buck Martinez returns for a 15th season in the broadcast booth after returning to the Blue Jays for the first time since managing the club in 2002. The 75-year-old brings with him 57 years of baseball experience, including 20 years as a player, 42 years in broadcasting, and two as a manager. Beginning in 1967 when he was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies, Martinez spent 20 years as a catcher in professional baseball with the Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers and his final six seasons with the Blue Jays. He appeared in the postseason with Kansas City in 1976, batting .333 in the five-game ALCS against the New York Yankees. Has written three books about his experiences with the Blue Jays, “From Worst to First” (1985), “The Last Out” (1986), and “Change-up” (2016). Among his 14 seasons associated with the Blue Jays, he served as manager for Toronto in 2001 and part of the 2002 season, compiling a 100-115 record. In 2006, he managed the United States team in the inaugural World Baseball Classic. He then took part in the next four WBC’s as a colour commentator. Martinez’ first experience with broadcasting came in 1982 when he covered the American League Championship Series, the World Series and the All-Star Game for the Telemedia Radio Network. His television broadcast career began in 1987 as a colour commentator for the Toronto Blue Jays on TSN. He began his work with ESPN radio and television in 1992, and in 1995, Martinez was awarded a Sports EMMY Award for his work on ESPN’s coverage of Cal Ripken’s 2,131st consecutive game. He worked as a television analyst for the Baltimore Orioles from 2003-2009, for which he won another EMMY, and has also served as a co-host of XM Radio’s Baseball This Morning show on the MLB Home Plate channel. Martinez contributed colour commentary for Sunday afternoon games on TBS, as well as for the network’s postseason coverage. Most recently, he has worked the All-Star game and the World Series over the last five seasons for MLB International and did do so again this past fall. In 2020, he took over as President of the Baseball Assistance Team (B.A.T.), which is dedicated to confidentially assisting members of the baseball family. In 2022, he was nominated for the Curt Flood Award, given annually to a former player who has demonstrated a selfless, longtime devotion to the Players Association and advancement of players’ rights. In 2023, Martinez was named the winner of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum’s Jack Graney Award, presented annually to a representative of the media who has made a significant contribution to the game of baseball in Canada. A California native, Martinez attended Sacramento City College, Sacramento State University, and Central Missouri State University. He and his wife, Arlene, have been married for 47 years and now reside in New Port Richey, FL. They have one son, Casey, a 47th round pick by Toronto in the 2000 First-Year Player Draft, who is married to Jennifer and has three daughters, Zoe, Lara, and Genevieve.

HOST, BLUE JAYS CENTRAL

Jamie Campbell got his start in sports broadcasting at CBC Sports in 1987. He was a sports anchor at CBC Edmonton from 1993 to 1997 before moving on to CJOH Ottawa for a year. In 1998, he became one of Sportsnet’s original broadcasters and co-hosted the first edition of Sportscentral (now Sportsnet Central). He’s hosted coverage of the Grey Cup, Super Bowl, NHL Draft, MLB All-Star Game, and MLB post-season. He called play-by-play for the Toronto Phantoms of the Arena Football League from 2002 to 2003, the CFL on Sportsnet in 2004, and was the play-by-play voice of the Toronto Blue Jays from 2005 to 2009. In 2010, at the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, millions of Canadians were watching when Campbell announced the country’s historic first gold medal won in Canada by Alexandre Bilodeau. He also called the play-by-play for cycling at the London Olympics in 2012. Campbell has been part of the Blue Jays' broadcast team since 2005 and is in his 14th season as host of Blue Jays Central.

ANALYST

Entering his 11th season with Sportsnet, Joe Siddall was a member of the Blue Jays radio team for four years before moving to television in 2018 as an analyst on Blue Jays Central alongside Jamie Campbell. For the second straight year, Siddall will split the upcoming season between the broadcast booth and Blue Jays Central. He spent the previous 12 years assisting the Detroit Tigers with batting practice for home games. Signed as a free agent by the Montreal Expos in 1987, Siddall played 13 years professionally as a catcher with Expos, Marlins, Tigers, and Red Sox (1988-2000), spending parts of four seasons in the Major Leagues with Montreal (1993, 1995), Florida, (1996), and Detroit (1998). He hit his lone Major League home run on August 7, 1998 off Seattle LHP Jeff Fassero at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Born and raised in Windsor, Siddall attended Assumption High School before accepting a football scholarship to Central Michigan University as a quarterback. Joe and his wife (Dr. Tamara Siddall) have four children - Brooke, Brett, Mackenzie, and Kevin (deceased).

REPORTER

A member of the Sportsnet broadcast team since 2001, Hazel Mae has brought extensive broadcast experience and knowledge to the network's baseball coverage. Currently acting as in-game reporter for Sportsnet's Toronto Blue Jays broadcast, Mae brings the sights and sounds of the ballpark alive for viewers coast-to-coast.

In addition to her work at the ball park, Mae serves as guest co-host on Blue Jays Central throughout the season and regularly contributes to Sportsnet Central.

Since signing on with Sportsnet in 2001, Mae's on-screen presence and sports insight led her to anchor both the morning and 6 p.m. ET edition of Sportsnet Central (previously Connected), delivering the latest updates, highlights and results to Canadian sports fans. During this time, Mae also hosted the weekly Toronto Blue Jays magazine show, Jzone.

In 2004, Mae's career took her across the border, where she assumed the role of lead anchor on the New England Sports Network's Sportsnetdesk. Four years later, Mae signed on with MLB Network during its inaugural season and worked on the Emmy Award-winning studio show, MLB Tonight. In addition to her work on MLB Tonight, Mae also hosted the highlight program Quick Pitch and worked as a sideline reporter for Thursday Night Baseball.

Mae returned to Sportsnet in 2011, where she remains an integral part of the network's Toronto Blue Jays broadcasts.

REPORTER

A member of the Sportsnet team since 2011, Arden Zwelling is a staple of the network’s exclusive Toronto Blue Jays coverage across all platforms. After over a decade working as a senior writer for Sportsnet.ca, a role that saw him regularly contributing to Blue Jays content on Sportsnet’s radio and TV platforms as a baseball insider and analyst, Zwelling joined Sportsnet’s Blue Jays broadcast in 2023 as an in-game reporter. He also regularly provides colour commentary on Sportsnet’s radio broadcast, serves as a Blue Jays Central analyst, and hosts At the Letters, Canada’s most listened-to baseball podcast.

While studying at the University of Western Ontario, where he earned degrees in media and communication, Zwelling kickstarted his sports media career as a web editor for theScore, launching their “University Rush” football blog, as well as working as a featured columnist for the CFL. Following three years with theScore, Zwelling transitioned to the baseball beat, working as an associate reporter for MLB.com where he covered the Toronto Blue Jays. In 2011, Zwelling joined Sportsnet magazine as an assistant editor and has gone on to establish himself as a must-read on Sportsnet.ca.

During his time at Sportsnet, Zwelling’s work has received national acclaim. He won multiple National Magazine Awards for his contributions to Sportsnet magazine, and several of his features were selected for anthologies, including Best Canadian Sports Writing. At the Letters won a Digital Publishing Award in the Best Podcast Series category in 2016, and was named on Amazon Music’s “Best Canadian Podcast” list as well as Apple Podcast’s “Shows That Followed The Action” list in 2022.

PLAY-BY-PLAY ANNOUNCER

Ben Shulman enters his first season as a full-time member of the Blue Jays broadcast team. Ben made his Blue Jays debut in 2022, doing play-by-play on a handful of games, then saw that role grow in 2023, when he called 30 games for the Sportsnet Radio Network and was also a part of the pre and postgame shows for 60 others. Ben previously did play-by-play for the Fort Wayne TinCaps (Padres High-A) in 2022, the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod Baseball League in 2021, and the Barrie Baycats of the Intercounty Baseball League in both 2018 and 2019. In the offseason, Ben has called Raptors 905 games on both radio and television the last two seasons. In addition, Ben called Little League World Series regionals for ESPN in 2022, has called college football and college basketball for the ACC Network, the SEC Network and ESPN+, and has called Canada Basketball games for both the men’s and women’s teams for Sportsnet. Ben is a graduate of Syracuse University’s Newhouse School. While at Syracuse, Ben called numerous sports, including football, basketball, hockey, field hockey, lacrosse and soccer.

ANALYST

Chris Leroux is beginning his first full season as colour analyst and his fourth in broadcasting. Beginning in 2018, he worked on the pre-game and post-game shows along with being a part-time colour analyst. Leroux spent 12 seasons in professional baseball while also playing a season in Japan. He spent parts of six seasons in the Major Leagues with the Marlins, Pirates, and Yankees from 2009-14. He was also a fixture with the Canadian National Team, playing in three World Baseball Classics and numerous tournaments around the world. Leroux attended Winthrop University in South Carolina as a catcher before converting to a pitcher in the summer of 2004 in the Cape Cod League playing for the Falmouth Commodores. He was drafted in the 7th round in 2005 by the Florida Marlins after undergoing Tommy John surgery two months prior. Leroux was born in Montreal but grew up in Mississauga.