Russell Martin, Quebecois

To celebrate baseball in Montreal this weekend, I'm going to take my thirteen years of French education and put it to good use. That's right, I am going to translate an interview.

Russell Martin recently talked to Gregor Chisholm about fulfilling his childhood dream this weekend by playing in his hometown of Montreal.

"I knew about it even before I signed, even just the first year when they played," Martin said. "I was like, 'Can the Blue Jays borrow me for a game so I can go play over there?' I remember even talking during the season about the guys, because I remember seeing the pictures on Instagram, the whole park being filled up, and I'm like, 'Man I haven't seen that in a long time.' I thought it was pretty cool."

Right after Martin signed his big deal with the Jays, he showed up on the Quebecois talk show Tout le monde en parle.  (or Everyone's Talking About It.)

Here it is.




The host, Guy Lepage introduces him and states that with this contract, Martin is the richest Quebecois athlete ever. Hilariously, the bearded dude next to him, actor Antoine Bertrand, starts snuggling with him. Lepage then teases him that while his deal sounds pretty good, but it is paltry compared to Giancarlo Stanton's from Miami.

I can't quite hear the joke he tells Martin, but Russell says that he isn't too mad about 82 million. Lepage reads out the stats with Pittsburgh. He talks about how Pittsburgh wanted him back, the Cubs were sniffing around and so were the Dodgers. He asks, "Why the Blue Jays, besides the reputation for Toronto's night life?" Russell laughs and then says that it's close to home. And that when he was a kid, the team for him was the Expos but in '92-'93 the Blue Jays won the World Series and he listened to the games with his dad. The family can travel to see him play.

Lepage points out while Martin grew up in Quebec, he was born in Toronto. Russell says that that is true, except he was two, so he remembers nothing. And the blonde woman, actress Sophie Moreau, asks, "When you go to Toronto, do you say 'I remember everything'?"

And Russell says no, but he says that the questions asked in French and English are a bit challenging, just because he has to think in both languages, but he likes it that way.

They then quote Anthopoulos, who talks about Martin's athletic ability, etc and also how good he is in the locker room. Then the "Killer Question" music/ lights happens and Lepage asks him, "What exactly do you do in a locker room that's so great?" with a tone that indicates it might be something pervy. Everyone laughs and Russell says he showers (maybe naked?) after games. And then he gives the much discussed "respect, good attitude" serious answer. And Sophie Moreau talks about how a good attitude in the locker room, and Lepage wonders, again with the tone, that maybe it's something she thought about a lot. And she says no, she played a lot of sports and knows.

And Lepage talks about how the Jays were good the first half and then fell off last year. He asks Russell about leadership and his post season experience. Lepage asks him if he's going to "mix it up/agitate" them. (The verb Lepage uses is "brasser", which translates in English to "mix up" but it is more aggressive, I think, than that. "Fire up" might be better.)

Martin says he doesn't know if he'll do that, but does know that his main job is to take care of the pitchers. He talks about how he's a bit of a psychologist with the pitchers and he has to figure out what makes each of them tick. What motivates them, how to encourage them.

Sophie Moreau talks about how the pitchers are sort of the stars of the team and compares them to a goalie on a hockey team. Martin doesn't quite agree, but does say that the game revolves around the pitcher. No one else can go out there and do their job for them. Lepage then infers about Martin's workload and Martin says he's a bit like an orchestra conductor.

The guy sitting on his left is Montreal mayor Denis Coderre. He talks about how modest Russell is but insists that he's so solid that the pitchers really put their faith in him and that he is an excellent ambassador for baseball. He then says that everyone should go the Montreal games in April to see Martin play. He's an athlete from Quebec that they should all be proud of. The audience applauds and Martin is a bit bashful. Coderre is working this like a true politician.

One of the guys then asks Coderre if he's a baseball fan and he answers that he is but also that baseball is part of their heritage as Quebecois. Again, Coderre is stumping.

Lepage then asks Martin if it's his dream to play in Olympic Stadium in those two games, even if it's something (either ugly or empty). Coderre says it's going to be very full and there is a weird vibe. Martin then rescues the vibe by saying that he drove by the stadium on the way to the show the last time he was on it and he got a little heartache cause he wasn't going to play there. But this year, he will. He thinks he's going to be nervous, even though they are exhibition games.

Lepage then says the Jays have a lot of hopes of making the team a cross Canada team, with fans from across the country. But suggests that they haven't made as many inroads in Quebec. Given that traditional animosity between Montreal and Toronto, a lot of Quebec baseball fans haven't adopted the Jays as their teams. He asks Martin how he plans to convince these fans to love the Jays. Russell says he doesn't really know but he hopes that the team will be really good and win a lot. He says that convincing people to love a winning team is pretty easy. All he can control is what's on the field.

Lepage then hilariously yells at Coderre that the Expos don't exist. Like the Nordiques, they exist only in his head. I think it's because Coderre was making slightly sad faces during all the Blue Jays talk. Coderre talks about getting kids to play baseball in Quebec and once again calls Martin a great ambassador.

Coderre is then asked if he believes the Expos could come back to Montreal. Coderre says he's a believer.

Lepage then states that Martin is going to make more money than Carey Price and PK Subban and asks if he thinks Montreal can support an MLB team again. Then there is general talk about money and how it does or doesn't win championships. Consensus is that it's more complicated than that.

Lepage then quotes Anthopoulos saying that they didn't get Martin because he's Canadian or Quebecois but because he's a great baseball player. Lepage then says Martin now has the role of the biggest ambassador for baseball in Quebec and Canada and wonders how he'll handle that role. Martin says he started by appearing on this show and Lepage thanks him.

(I'll just say here that Martin is a total pro at this. He's affable, he's a bit bashful and he's a good sport. He's also more articulate in French than in English. Although, he hasn't yet dropped a "supple leopard" in there.)

Martin says it's all about passion and that the players he watched as a kid, he'd always watch to see how passionate/dedicated they were in their sports. And he says that that passion is a way to convince people to watch you and to be a fan. Martin says he's a guy that has a lot of passion, he loves his sport, loves competing and he thinks when people see that, they'll want to be in on it, too. Sophie Moreau says, "That's why you're good in the locker room!"

Martin then says it's 162 games with the guys, and Antoine Bertrand  says, "162 showers." And Martin nods in agreement.

Bertrand then says that earlier Martin talked about being a psychologist with the pitchers, and he asks if Martin also has to play with the heads of the hitters a bit and wants to know about "trash talk." He literally says "trash talk" in that charming Quebec way of Frenching up English words. We called it "franglais" at school.

Martin says you see that in films a lot, and Bertrand says everything he knows about baseball is from the movies. Martin just basically says he says "Hi" to the hitters sometimes. And sometimes talks to them in French and they do a double take. Lepage sort of teases him that his "trash talk" is saying "Hi."

Bertrand then says Martin seems like a nice guy and that trash talk isn't likely his specialty. And Martin says he just tries to know the tendencies of the hitters and get the pitchers to pitch accordingly.

Lepage then brings up a charity softball game where the money goes to amateur baseball. Martin has a team called the Martin 55s or something and has to find nine players. Lepage then says Sophie Moreau should play, and she says "Yeah, I play softball." And Martin asks if she wants to come in the locker room, too. And everyone gets silly.

Lepage says that if Martin is nice, she'll give him a photo of herself.

Lepage then says that Martin lives in the same building as Rachid Badouri (a Montreal comedian) who constantly wears an Expos hat. Lepage asks Martin if he's tried getting him to wear a Jays hat. Badouri then comes out, and Martin seems thrilled. Badouri says he'll wear the Jays hat if Martin signs it. Lepage then teases that Badouri just wants it signed so it's worth more.

Badouri says (I think) that he found it in the garbage outside the building. And Lepage then teases him and says he thought he was saying "The Garbage" like it was a bar in Laval (Badouri is from Laval.)

Coderre then says that since things are being signed, he whips out an Expos hat and asks for Martin to sign it. Martin puts the Expos hat on and everyone whoops it up. Lepage teases that Martin's bosses who just signed him to play for the Jays might be a little taken aback to see him in an Expos hat. Coderre then says Paul Beeston loves the Expos.

Lepage, again, hilariously yells at Coderre, "Damn it, they don't exist!" Coderre puts on the Jays hat.

Lepage then says he loves baseball, is thrilled that Martin is with the Jays and wishes him an excellent season. Danny Turcotte then gives Martin a little card, which is a show tradition. The card says " Ici à Montréal, à 82 millions, tu fais pas juste jouer dans le stade. À ce prix-là, on te le donne!"

Which means, "Here in Montreal , with 82 million , you do not just play in the stadium. At that price,we give it to you !"