Grip on Sports: Edgar’s number is now on the wall, but will he ever be in the Hall?

A GRIP ON SPORTS • A little cold front is making its way through the Inland Northwest today, bringing with it some change. But before it gets here, let’s do what we do best. Or what the Mariners do best, actually. Look back. Read on.

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• OK, sometimes the Mariner organization hits it out of the park with its nostalgia tour. Last night was one of those times.

The M’s honored the most beloved Mariner of all time, Edgar Martinez, by retiring his number 11.

There is no way I could capture the feelings in a sold-out Safeco Field as well as my friend Ryan Divish did in this story, so I won’t even try.

Nor will I try to recount what made Edgar, Edgar, as Larry Stone did. And I won’t argue with Matt Calkins’ persuasive argument Edgar should be in baseball’s Hall of Fame.

I will, however, do what I do best. Look back at a personal interaction. Well, in this case, more of a personal observation.

For a few years near the turn of the century, I worked at the Mariners’ Fantasy Camp, run by my buddy (and former fastpitch teammate) Mike Murphey. I did what I do best, I put out the newsletter. Wrote it, edited it, put it together on the computer.

But I also put on a uniform and played. Badly.

One day it was raining. No games. We sat around the Peoria, Arizona, clubhouse and former big league pitcher Dave Heaverlo ran the kangaroo court, a longtime baseball tradition in which players make fun of other players. And assess small fines.

That didn’t last too long, especially not after the rumor circulated Edgar Martinez was hitting in one of the indoor cages.

So I wandered down to watch.

Edgar was hitting. Taking BP a week or so before spring training. But he just wasn’t hitting. He was taking BP with the doughnut on the bat. It was the darndest thing I’ve seen.

The doughnut is the weight players put on the bat to warm up in the on-deck circle. It isn’t meant to be left on the bat. It seemed dangerous – and probably was for anyone without the bat control Edgar had.

I never got the chance to ask him why he did it. Others had guesses, but I never received a definitive answer. It was just the most impressive thing ever. Line drive after line drive would jump off that weighted bat.

The double down the line in 1995? Memorable. The 11-for-16 lifetime mark against Mariano Rivera? Extraordinary. The line drives with a weighted bat? Unforgettable.

• The PGA Championship will finish up today. It’s the last of golf’s four majors.

And it’s a big snoozefest.

Maybe it’s the course. Quail Hollow has been the site of a regular PGA Tour stop for years. Even with the renovations made recently, it’s still seems like another non-descript tour course.

Maybe it’s the leaderboard. Kevin Kisner (pictured) and Chris Stroud are fine golfers, but they don’t get the heart racing, do they?

Or maybe it’s the PGA itself. The other three majors – the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open – have a history of identifying the world’s best players. The PGA, which was a match-play tournament until 1958, has a history of introducing the Dow Finsterwalds and Mark Brooks and Rich Beems to the world.

More single major winners come from the PGA than any of the other three.

But that’s just one of the tournament’s problems. It also has been held in August for years, when most fans have suffered major-tournament overload.

That will be corrected in 2019, when the PGA Championship will move to May, played between the Masters and the U.S. Open. It should help. So would keeping it at places like Winged Foot or Baltusrol or Medinah, courses that have held multiple U.S. Opens and usually identify the best of the best.

The way it is now, the PGA is just a step above the John Deere Classic. With a better trophy, sure, and a bigger check, but not that much else.

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WSU: Yesterday we passed along the video of Nate DeRider being awarded a scholarship. Today, we pass along Theo Lawson’s story about the moment. … Around the Pac-12, Washington held its final open practice of the year and it was a showcase for a few freshmen. … Oregon must stay healthy to compete in the conference race. … Oregon State held a scrimmage. The defense shut down the passing game, but not the running backs. … Bryce Bobo is the best receiver Colorado has. … Utah is trying its best to improve its offense, including at quarterback. But will the changes there hurt the defense? … At USC, the defense is way ahead of the offense right now. … Josh Rosen doesn’t have to worry about the right side of UCLA’s offensive line. … There is at least one defensive lineman at Arizona State that wants greatness. … Arizona faces a handful of key position battles.

Gonzaga: It may be August, but that doesn’t mean there is little in the way of Zag basketball news. Jim Meehan spoke with incoming freshman Corey Kispert for this feature – he’s healthy – and also caught up with outgoing guard Bryan Alberts, who decided to transfer to Long Beach State.

EWU: The Los Angels Rams played their first exhibition game last night. Guess who was the star? Yep, Cooper Kupp. … Around the Big Sky, Southern Utah took a step forward yesterday with its first scrimmage. … There was also a scrimmage in Pocatello.

Preps: Gonzaga Prep’s Daniel Roy had a good week swimming in New York. … Rogers High’s Coffield siblings are part of this year’s Spokane Metro Softball Hall of Fame. … Former Prep running back Bishop Sankey was waived by Minnesota after suffering an ACL tear.

Indians: Make it five consecutive losses for Spokane after the Indians fell 4-1 at Eugene last night. … Elsewhere in the Northwest League, Everett blew a six-run lead and lost 11-10 at Boise. … Hillsboro got past Tri-City on the road.

Mariners: After Edgar’s jersey retirement ceremony, the M’s played a crucial game with the Angels. And lost for the third consecutive time. This time they led 3-1 and the bullpen collapsed, leading to the 6-3 defeat. Seattle is back at .500 and a game out in the wild-card hunt. … Jerry Dipoto is doing what he can to shore up the pitching staff, with Christian Bergman called up and Andrew Moore sent back to Tacoma.

Seahawks: The preseason begins today in Los Angeles, with the Chargers hosting the Hawks there for the first time ever. Who and what should we watch? … Shaquill Griffin is one player to watch for sure.

Sounders: It wasn’t the most exciting match of the season, but Seattle picked up its three points with a 1-0 home win over Sporting Kansas City. … In other MLS action Saturday, Portland fell apart in the second half and lost at Toronto, 4-1. … Houston shut out San Jose, 3-0. … The Los Angeles Galaxy lost 2-0 at home to New York City FC.

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• It actually rained a little this morning. Not a lot, but it has to help the air quality, right? It certainly didn’t help our cat’s attitude. She was caught outside. And wasn’t happy about it. She was so angry, actually, she didn’t want to let me finish this column. Maybe she was just representing all of you. Until later …