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Edgar Martinez's No. 11 to be retired by Mariners

Mike Oz

It’s not the Hall of Fame, but Seattle Mariners great Edgar Martinez is getting one of the baseball’s top honors this summer: The M’s will be retiring his No. 11.

The Mariners made the announcement Tuesday. The official ceremony will happen Aug. 12 at Safeco Field, where Martinez will become the second Mariners player to have his jersey number retired. The other is, of course, Ken Griffey Jr., after he was inducted into the Hall of Fame last summer.

The Hall of Fame remains the final hurdle for Martinez, who earned 58.6 percent of the vote on the most recent ballot. That’s up from 43.4 a year ago. He has two more years on the ballot to reach 75 percent.

Edgar Martinez's No. 11 will be retired in Seattle come August. (AP)
Edgar Martinez's No. 11 will be retired in Seattle come August. (AP)

In making the announcement Tuesday, Mariners president Kevin Mather said:

“Edgar Martinez is the string that binds together our franchise history. As we embark on our 40th anniversary season in 2017, Edgar has been in a Mariners Major League uniform for 20 of those seasons, all proudly wearing No. 11, and has been a part of our organization for 36 years. He has worn a Seattle uniform in parts of four decades, and today’s announcement will assure that his number will be proudly displayed in Safeco Field forever.”

After playing for the Mariners from 1987-2004, Martinez joined the club as its hitting coach in 2015. So yeah, he could wear No. 11 in the dugout even when it’s retired inside Safeco.

Now, enjoy this fantastic video the Mariners put together to celebrate Martinez’s great career.

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!