I recently had those distinct pleasure of meeting Seattle Mariners legend Edgar Martinez during a “meet and greet” event.  (Thanks to my man DW in AZ and Crave the Auto for the heads up.). Actually, I signed up for a pregame meet and greet with him last year, but it was cancelled because, well, he was the M’s new hitting coach.  The Mariners gave a signed baseball as a consolation prize, which was a nice gesture.  While it’s awesome to receive signed memorabilia through a purchase or as a gift, you know and I know that it’s way more meaningful and fun to meet folks in person while they sign.  I’ve seen Edgar plenty of times during BP at Safeco, but he usually scurries into the dugout rather than signing autographs.  Anyway, it was great to finally meet him!  Sometimes these events turn into assembly lines and you have just enough time to say thank you.  However, Edgar was really chill and cordial.   After he signed my mini batting helmet, I thanked him and also complimented the efforts by he and his wife Holli, through their Martinez Foundation, to improve public education in WA state by supporting the recruitment, training, and retention of teachers of color.   It turned out, as Edgar told me,  that the Martinez Foundation merged into the TAF (Technology Access Fund) which partners with school districts to help students across the state.  It was nice to hear that their support of education is still going strong.  I enjoyed our brief conversation, and the signed mini helmet is awesome!  Fun day 🙂