Seattle Mariners To Retire #51 For A Second Time In 2026

This past season, the Seattle Mariners honored one of the greatest players in franchise history after his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.  In August the team recognized Ichiro Suzuki's impact on the franchise, and the game of baseball, by retiring his #51.

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Ichiro's number was placed alongside two other franchise legends who were also honored with induction to the Hall of Fame...Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez.

There is one player from the greatest era of Mariner baseball who is conspicuously absent from that row of numbers who is also enshrined in Cooperstown, New York.  In fact, this player is the first to wear the trident on his chest for more than one season to earn enshrinement among the sport's all-time greats.

Gaylord Perry (played for the M's in 1983), "Goose" Gossage (1994), and Rickey Henderson (2000) were all inducted to the HOF but only played one season in a Mariner uniform.  Tough to consider them true Seattle reps instead of cups of coffee on the Kingdome turf.

This Announcement Is A "Big" Deal

It was 2015 and it featured three of the greatest pitchers to step on a mound.  The moment Seattle fans were waiting for, the first player in team history to be enshrined, was postponed for yet another year in heartbreaking fashion.

Randy Johnson, "The Big Unit", the guy who made his reputation as one of the most feared pitchers in the game in Seattle, decided he would be the first Arizona Diamondback in the Hall of Fame instead of the first Seattle Mariner.  Johnson won a World Series and pitched a perfect game in Arizona, tipping the scale in their favor.

Johnson's decision doesn't diminish his place in Mariner history, and Ichiro donning the "Big Unit's" number 51 (and turning right field into Area 51) isn't stopping the team from honoring Johnson the same way they did Ichiro in the coming season at T-Mobile Park.

Can You Retire The Same Number Twice?

The short answer is yes, but it is not very common.  MLB is the only professional league where it has happened.  Outside of the number 42 which is retired league wide for Jackie Robinson (and also by the Yankees for Mariano Rivera and the St. Louis Cardinals for Bruce Sutter), this is only the second time the same number will be retired for different players.

The first time was when the Yankees retired #8 for both Yogi Berra and Bill Dickey in 1972.  May 2, 2026 will be the second time in history it happens as Randy Johnson and Ichiro will join that exclusive club.

Johnson won 130 of his 303 wins came in Seattle, along with the first his first of 5 Cy Young Awards after the 1995 season.  He second in franchise history in wins and strikeouts and third in innings pitched.  Johnson has been previously been honored by Mariners when they added him to their Hall of Fame in 2012.