The Everett AquaSox are a minor league baseball organization up in the state of Washington. They are currently the Low-A affiliate for the Seattle Mariners.
This is how Greg Halman started his career off after being drafted by the Mariners. In 2006, he put up a batting average of .259, powering in 5 homers and driving home 15 RBIs in 28 games for Low-A Everett. He then upgraded his power in 2007 before moving onto Single-A Wisconsin.
After the tragedy that killed Halman earlier this year, Everrett is preparing to honor his time with the organization by making sure no one else ever wears his uniform number. Here is the official release courtesy of MLB.
The Everett AquaSox, Short Season-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, have announced that they will retire the first player uniform number* in the 28-year history of the franchise. Outfielder Gregory Halman's number 26 will never again be worn by an AquaSox player. Halman passed away last November in his native Netherlands at the age of 24.
"Like everyone, we were saddened by Gregory's loss," said AquaSox Executive Vice President, Tom Backemeyer. "He played in Everett for two seasons, and not only was he one of the best players to ever wear an AquaSox uniform; he was a wonderful young man too. We wanted to find a way to honor his memory and decided that retiring his number was the most appropriate way to do it."
Check out more on Halman and further discussion of the Mariners and their minor league affiliates by heading on over to Lookout Landing.
Hit up the SB Nation MLB YouTube channel below and see if you'd be willing to subscribe to the videos.