Retired Numbers - Seattle Mariners

 I don't appraise myself of every teams criteria for number retirement, but I noticed Seattle's. They have two paths for team immortality. Either you make the Hall of Fame and spend at least 5 years with the team, or you come close to the HoF and spend at least 10 notable years in Seattle. Ichiro Suzuki will be qualifying soon enough, but for now we have two immortal Mariners.

#11 - Edgar Martinez

Baseball's greatest Designated Hitter. Martinez came up as a 3rd Baseman, but was a full time DH by 1995. All 18 years of Edgar's HoF career was in Seattle. He won 5 Silver Slugger awards and went to 7 all star games. To date, he has the most famous hit in franchise history when his walk off double in Game 5 of the ALDS sent the Mariners to the Championship Series.

#24 - Ken Griffey Jr

Mike Trout may be considered the greatest player to never even sniff the World Series, but he'd have to go through Ken Griffey Jr to get that crown. In the 1990s, Jr went to every all star game and won every Gold Glove to go along with 7 Silver Slugger awards. He took home the 1997 MVP award and led the Mariners on their notable 1995 playoff run that stalled out in the LCS. When he left Seattle in a trade with Cincinnati, the wheels almost abruptly fell off and injuries hampered his career. He returned to the Mariners in 2009 and 2010 to close things out, with the credentials of the first half of his career more than enough to get him entry to the Hall of Fame.

#51 - Ichiro Suzuki

Already a star player from Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, Suzuki came over to America in 2001 and took MLB by storm, leading in both Stolen Bases and Batting Average as he took home the MVP and controversially the Rookie of the Year at the same time, and helping the Mariners tie for the regular season record of 116 wins. From 2001 to 2010 he'd win a Gold Glove and be an all star each season, as well as win the Silver Slugger in '01, '07 and '09 and an additional Batting Title in 2004. That 2004 season also saw him break the single season Hits record with his total of 262. His initial run ended with a requested trade in 2012, but he would find his way back to Seattle briefly in 2018. In 2019, the Mariners opened the season in the Tokyo Dome. There he would play his final games and officially end his playing career in front of his native Japan.