8/12/17: Open Game Thread

Happy Edgar Day, friends!

The Mariners Twitter account has been going around retweeting favorite moments of Edgar and his career, and I hope you'll do the same in the early comments here before the game gets started.

My personal favorite, one that I feel perfectly encompasses Edgar's personality comes courtesy of Ryan Divish. It was his first year on the beat, and he was up in the press box in Peoria, covering a Spring Training game. Everyone was focused on the field when all of a sudden they heard a voice go, "Hi guys, I'm Edgar."

When they turned to look, it was Edgar Martinez, standing at the top of the box. He gave a wave and explained that he had just wanted to come say hi and introduce himself. And that was it. Humble to a fault.

I interviewed him two weeks ago, and experienced the same thing. When queried about what pitchers he most liked to face he couldn't come up with one, and instead launched into an explanation about how each at-bat was a competition, which was why he couldn't possibly think of a pitcher he specifically preferred to face. He even appeared surprised when I initially approached him to talk about the number retirement ceremony, as though he couldn't quite understand why I'd be wanting to interview him of all people.

There will also be a baseball game that will be played after Edgar's number retirement ceremony. A little Ramirez vs Ramirez match-up, and an opportunity for the Mariners to rise to the occasion in front of what will be their largest home crowd of the season. Fingers crossed.

Update:

Mitch Haniger will be starting at DH in Tacoma tonight (sorry to take the clicks away, Dutton).