Mike Martin Sr. is a college baseball legend for his storied Florida State career. The Seminole family received some difficult news on Tuesday about the man baseball fans everywhere came to know as “Eleven.”

FSU’s Section B Animals shared a heartbreaking update from Carol Martin that the long-time coach is now receiving hospice care.

Martin, whose 80th birthday is in February, was the Florida State skipper from 1980-to-2019. He left such a mark on college baseball that the NCBWA’s top national coaching honor was renamed the Mike Martin National Coach of the Year award. Martin is the sport’s all-time wins leader, posting a record of 2,029-736-4 in his 40-year career with the Noles.

Florida State was a powerhouse program during Martin’s decorated tenure. He guided the Seminoles to 9 ACC regular-season championships and 8 conference tournament titles.

FSU 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 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.

Martin was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia in the summer of 2021 and has been living in a Tallahassee-area memory care center. A 2019 National College Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, Martin was recognized in January as the 2024 recipient of the ABCA’s Lefty Gomez Award.

Our thoughts are with the Martin family.