Mike Buczkowski, the president of Rich Baseball Operations, has been the Bisons' point man for their discussions with the Toronto Blue Jays about the use of Sahlen Field this season.
Buczkowski was the longest-tenured general manager in Buffalo baseball history, serving from 1993 until his promotion earlier this year. The South Buffalo native has seen a lot since joining the club as a public relations assistant in 1987 but nothing like this: The Bisons are about to embark on a joint venture with the Blue Jays on a fast-forward conversion of the downtown ballpark into a facility suitable to host major-league baseball perhaps as soon as this weekend.
Here are some of Buczkowski's thoughts on the situation, combined from Friday's press conference and a one-on-one interview afterwards with The Buffalo News:
Q. What have the emotions been like since learning the minor-league season was canceled to getting to this announcement?
People are also reading…
Mike Buczkowski: It's unimaginable. I said to a few people that if you would have submitted this as a movie script it would have been turned down because it's not believable enough. There's no way that could have happened. It literally has been a roller coaster from the day I was in spring training when they shut down the facilities and cleared every thing out because of the Covid outbreaks ... You kind of wake up each day and try to tackle what's going to happen. Ultimately this virus is going to have a say in whatever happens. We need to adjust, we need to be safe and we need to do the best job we can.
Q. What has the immediate response been like?
MB: You look at your phone and see all the names. So many of them. I barely want to say any because I'll leave some out [Buczkowski then listed Buffalo Baseball Hall of Famers Tom Prince, Pete Weber, Marty Brown. Terry Collins as among the first callers]. I haven't listened to the messages. There are many, many more. I can anticipate what they say. How cool to look down your phone and see names like that. They're following the story and they're still connected to this place.
Q. You got emotional when talking about (owners) Bob and Mindy Rich, about how they "put their heart and soul into Bison Baseball." What was it like to give them this news?
MB: (Blue Jays GM) Ross Atkins gave me the news and right after I got off the phone with him, Bob and Mindy were the first people I called. I told them, 'I just got a call and the Blue Jays are coming to play here.' There was silence. There was hesitation and I was like, 'Hello?' But then it was total excitement. Even if it's just a temporary time, to be able to have Major League Baseball in Buffalo has been a lifetime goal for them. And we had gotten to the point long ago where you thought it would never happen. So now to have it be brought back is very special for them.
Q. What did you think Ross was going to say?
MB: When I saw his name on the phone, I thought it might have been an update on Baltimore. He took the suspense out of it right away. I answered the phone and said, "Hello, Ross. How are you doing?" And he said, "Good. How are you? We're coming to Buffalo.' And then he said, "Let's get ready. There's a lot of work to do, We're excited about it. Our players are excited and we've got to do our best to create a place that's great for them and hopefully gives them an advantage."
Q. You've had parent-club exhibitions here, including the '95 Indians that went to the World Series. But what's this going to be like to see the likes of the Yankees, Mets and Red Sox in town playing real games?
MB: That's the whole thing. Not only are they here but it's a regular-season major-league game. This is not some exhibition, not a game against the parent club, it's not a home run derby like we had with the Pirates (in 1991). This is real. A game that will be recorded in the Major League Baseball record books. Forever. I'm not going to let myself get too far down that road because I have to focus on all the things we need to do to get ready. But I'm sure at some point like in November all that stuff will sink in a little more.
Q: How much can the former Bisons on the Blue Jays' roster help sell the park to the rest of the team if there's disappointment about being in a minor-league park?
MB: Not just the park but also the community. There's not many former players who left here who can say they didn't have a good experience in Buffalo. They may not have succeeded on the field. Maybe they didn't get called up and it didn't work out for them in baseball. But the Riches and the Bisons and this community has always done a great job welcoming players. Whether back at War Memorial Stadium or here. There's a lot of Blue Jays who have played here. They know.
Q. What's the staff morale turnaround like now, given how badly everyone felt last month when the Bisons' season was canceled?
MB: A month ago was just a terrible day, one of the worst we've ever had here. We had already furloughed employees and now we were canceling the season, something I never thought possible. Now we're going to need more hands on deck to get this done and that's really a great thing to be able to say. More of our people will be able to experience this and what we're going to build. It impacts a lot of people in the community economically and they'll be part of that.
Q: Would we be here without the franchise's longterm relationships with (Jays president) Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins?
MB: There's definitely familiarity and trust there from when they were with Cleveland. We know each other and they know what we're all about. They know we're going to do everything we can to make this work and I also think a real key for them is what Erie County has done. It's a safe place right now and that certainly played into their decision. Location and geography played into it, having a ballpark with a footprint as big as it is can work to our advantage with our buildouts. But there's no doubt the Blue Jays knew they didn't have to get to know anybody to make this kind of major decision.
Q: With no games in a nearly a year, how are the field conditions and how big a concern is it?
MB: You think about it all the time. The field for me is in the same breadth as the training facility and clubhouse. While that's true for all baseball, I'm really focused on it because this is Major League Baseball. (Head groundskeeper) Danny Keene has been doing this for a couple weeks now in anticipation of this in case it happened or the taxi squad. He's had a couple weeks of head start to get it to where it needs to be today. I'm sure we'll be enlisting the help of Blue Jays as well to put forth the best possible field.
Q: How much does the exposure take you back to the park's glory days?
MB: It first reminded me of the Strasburg game when MASN did it and MLB Network picked it up (referring to the 2010 matinee when then-Syracuse pitcher Steven Strasburg made his final start before getting called up to the Washington Nationals). Back in the day, you remember ESPN doing the Triple-A All-Star Game (1988) or the oldtimers games we had here. That was very exciting and so is this. The big difference here was that we had huge crowds for those games and these, unfortunately, there will be nobody in the stands.
