Russell Martin, now in his 12th major-league season, has had the pleasure of catching some of the game's top pitchers – from Greg Maddux to Clayton Kershaw to Mariano Rivera.
He was behind the plate for the L.A. Dodgers in 2006 when Maddux came close to throwing what would have been the only no-hitter of his illustrious Hall of Fame career, an opportunity that was drowned out by a rain delay.
He caught the first major-league start – and victory – of Kershaw, also with the Dodgers, in 2008, contributing two runs batted in during a 4-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
And during his two-year stint with the New York Yankees, in 2011 and 2012, he had countless opportunities to be the catcher for Mariano Rivera, the game's greatest reliever with a record 652 saves.
It has been a fabulous run for the Toronto-born and Montreal-raised 34-year-old, who this weekend will likely reach an impressive landmark of his own.
Martin is on the verge of playing in his 1,500th game, a significant achievement considering he spends most of his time playing the sport's most arduous position.
"Halfway there," Martin responded with typical candour earlier this week when asked what the approaching milestone means to him. "We're halfway there.
"Honestly, it's a number. It doesn't mean anything to me. It's a nice, round number. I get it, numbers are cool."
Surely it means more than that, it was stressed to Martin, considering only 39 players in history have eclipsed the 1,500 games-played threshold with catching as their primary expertise?
"It means I've spent a lot of time crouching," Martin allowed.
Friday night's start against the Angels was the 1,499th of Martin's career, and he's caught in 1,429 of them.
Martin will likely be held out of Saturday's game as he is rarely called upon to play on an afternoon following a night game, out of deference to his continued relative good health.
He could get to 1,500 games if he is called upon to pinch-hit on Saturday.
If not, the big moment is likely to occur on Sunday at Rogers Centre when the Blue Jays wrap up the three-game set against the Angels. It will be fitting if Martin reaches the milestone on Sunday, as the game is being promoted as Canada Baseball day. The first 20,000 fans receive a Martin red replica Blue Jays jersey.
While Martin is reticent at blowing his own horn about his achievement, others are not as shy.
"He's a special guy but the thing is, he's got a lot more left in him," said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons, whose own major-league catching career amounted to 18 games with the New York Mets.
"There are only five guys in history that have ever caught and played in 2,000 games, so I would expect Russ will be able to hit that."
Blue Jays starter J.A. Happ said that Martin makes pitchers feel comfortable when they throw to him.
"He's a guy who is really good at separating the offensive and defensive side of the game," Happ said. "I feel like he's always out there battling with you – and that goes a long way as far as the presence he has back there and you know a guy is battling with you.
"I know I certainly appreciate that."
The 2,000 games-played mark for a catcher is an exclusive club.
Ivan Rodiguez tops that illustrious group, catching in 2,427 games in his 21-year career. Carlton Fisk (2,226), Bob Boone (2,225), Gary Carter (2,056) and Jason Kendall (2,025) round out the list.
Those figures represent the number of games those players actually caught in. It doesn't include those games in which they played a different position or pinch-hit.
Friday night's start against the Angels marked the 1,429th time Martin has donned the so-called "tools of ignorance" and set up behind the plate.
Martin has also logged time at third base (his first love), second, the outfield and as a designated hitter, which boosts his total games to just shy of 1,500.
For a player whose primary responsibility is behind the plate, the milestone reflects not only durability but a continued high level of performance on the field.
"It's the most demanding position on the field, so it takes its toll," Gibbons said. "I think Russ is such a good athlete, even when he's banged up and hurt, he's still tough back there. A lot of guys will get banged up and it kills their game in a lot of ways."
Gibbons was the bench coach with Kansas City in 2010 when Kendall worked his 2,000th game behind the plate for the Royals. And the team made sure the moment did not go unrewarded.
"I think it was Bud Light that Kendall liked to drink," Gibbons recalled. "Shortly after he got to 2,000 games, the team got a Bud Light truck and drove it up to his place early one morning, woke him up.
"He opened the door to see 2,000 beers being unloaded from the truck."
Martin was originally drafted by the Montreal Expos in 2000 when he was still a high school student in that city, in the 35th round.
"I was definitely excited being a hometown kid," Martin said. "That was kind of the dream growing up, just to have an Expos uniform on and play at home in front of my family and friends.
"I always thought if they would have signed me, maybe the Expos would still be in Montreal to this day. But who knows what would have happened."
Instead, at the behest of his mother, he continued his education and attended Chipola College in Florida where Jose Bautista, now his teammate in Toronto, was also enrolled.
Because the Expos never signed him, Martin was able to enter the draft again, in 2002, when the Dodgers selected him in the 17th round and he turned pro.
And it was in the Dodgers' minor-league system where Martin surrendered his third baseman's glove for a catcher's mitt, which was obviously a shrewd move.
Martin quickly adapted to the new position and had a seamless transition into the big leagues, starting 114 games behind the plate for the Dodgers in his rookie season in 2006, batting .282.
Martin spent five years in L.A. when a dip in performance, along with a serious hip injury that limited him to 97 games in 2010, prompted a change in scenery.
The Dodgers allowed Martin to head into free agency and he signed with the New York Yankees, where he played two seasons before jumping to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
After two seasons in Pittsburgh, Martin was inked to a five-year, $82-million free-agent contract by the Blue Jays. It still ranks as the club's highest free-agent expenditure in history.
"I definitely was disappointed that the Dodgers kind of gave up on me, definitely wasn't expecting that," Martin said. "But on the other hand it was kind of like an opportunity to prove to another organization that I could get the job done."
Winning seems to follow Martin. His teams have made the playoffs in nine of his first 11 seasons, including the previous two in Toronto.
That will be a tall order this season after Toronto's miserable start, which included Martin, hitting a career-low .217. Admired for his strong throwing arm, Martin's caught-stealing ratio is also just 21.6 per cent, well down the list among regular catchers.
Still, it is Martin's work behind the plate, helping pitchers, especially younger ones such as closer Roberto Osuna, that leaves him in high regard with the club.
In Osuna's three-year career, the 22-year-old has blossomed into one of the game's premier closers, with 26 saves with a sparkling 1.91 earned-run average this season.
"He's one of the reasons why I'm the pitcher that I am right now," Osuna said about Martin. "He's like my brother, I've been learning a lot of things from him. And obviously he's a tremendous inspiration, not just for me but for everybody here in the clubhouse."
Osuna was asked what has been the best advice Martin has provided him.
"Just follow me and I've got you," Osuna said.