Florida State is saying goodbye to legendary Seminole baseball coach Mike Martin Sr.

FSU announced Martin’s passing in a social media post Thursday afternoon. Martin was 79 years old. He passed after a three-year battle with Lewy body dementia, for which he had recently been receiving hospice care.

Martin was the Florida State skipper from 1980-to-2019. He became known to college baseball fans everywhere as “11,” his uniform number, during his decorated career.

Martin had such an impact on college baseball that the NCBWA’s top national coaching honor was renamed the Mike Martin National Coach of the Year award. Eleven is the sport’s all-time wins leader, posting a record of 2,029-736-4 in his 40-year career with the Noles. Martin led Florida State to 40 winning seasons and 17 College World Series appearances.

Under Martin, FSU was a baseball powerhouse. Florida State was a member of the Metro Conference for Martin’s first 12 seasons in Tallahassee. The Noles picked up 11 Metro Tournament titles, winning every year from 1980-to-1991 except for 1982. Martin was the conference’s Coach of the Year 6 times, guiding Florida State to 4 regular-season Metro titles.

Martin’s squad dominated a new conference when FSU joined the ACC. He guided the Seminoles to 9 ACC regular-season championships and 8 conference tournament titles.

Martin was named ACC Coach of the Year 7 times, earning national recognition as Baseball America’s Coach of the Year in 2012 and 2019. Under Martin, FSU extended its postseason streak to an incredible 42 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances with a 2019 berth.

Following his retirement, Martin was inducted into the Florida State Athletics Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the Florida Sports Hall of Fame (inducted 2005), the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame (2007) and his home-state North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame (2018).

Florida State will hold a public celebration of life will be held on Mike Martin Field at Dick Howser Stadium.