Update: Mike Martin died February 1, 2024. The legendary FSU baseball coach was 79.

Carol Martin is proud her husband Mike Martin was recognized Friday night as the recipient of the 2024 ABCA/Wilson Lefty Gomez Award.

“I’ve come to realize how many people he has influenced,” Carol Martin said.

“We’ve been hearing from so many who want to talk and reminisce.”

Martin, 79, the legendary Florida State baseball coach and ABCA (American Baseball Coaches Association) Hall of Fame member, was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia in the summer of 2021 and is in a local memory care center, where “he’s receiving lots of good care,” Carol said.

Award given to person who has contributed significantly to game of baseball

Named after professional baseball player Lefty Gomez, a five-year World Series champion with the New York Yankees, the annual award is presented to an individual who has contributed significantly to the game of baseball.

Current FSU baseball coach Link Jarrett, a former player and assistant under Martin at FSU, is among the coaches from across the country in attendance Friday in Dallas. Chip Baker, the Seminoles' longtime Director of Baseball Operations who retired late last year, also is at the convention.

The ABCA also welcomes its 10-member 2024 Hall of Fame class that includes former Miami coach and FSU assistant Jim Morris, Danny Hall of Georgia Tech and Brian O'Connor of Virginia.

Martin coached FSU for 40 years and retired following the 2019 seasons as the NCAA’s all-time winningest coach in any sport with 2,029 victories.

He led the Seminoles to 17 College World Series appearances and won 11 Metro Conference titles and nine Atlantic Coast Conference championships.

Martin produced eight National Players of the Year, four Golden Spikes Award winners and two Dick Howser Trophy winners.

In the classroom, three of Martin’s players earned ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors on five occasions, while his teams were twice honored with the ACC Sportsmanship Award.

In addition to his work with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and in the Tallahassee community, the 47-year Lifetime ABCA Member has been a featured clinician at several ABCA Conventions.

In 2019, Martin was honored with induction into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame, and in 2020, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association named its National Coach of the Year Award in his honor.

Portions of this story were supplied by the ABCA Hall of Fame.

FSU's Mike Fuentes to be inducted into College Baseball Hall of Fame

The College Baseball Foundation recently announced that former Seminole outfielder Mike Fuentes is one of 12 new members being inducted in 2024.

The 16th induction class will be honored on Feb. 15, 2024, in Overland Park, Kansas.

Fuentes played for FSU under Mike Martin from 1978-1981, earning the 1981 Golden Spikes Award as the best player in college baseball.

He was an All-American in 1980 and 1981 and his .373 career average, 280 hits, 64 home runs, and 233 runs batted in earned him an induction into the Florida State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1987.

Fuentes was selected in the fifth round of the 1980 MLB Draft, returned to school and won the Golden Spikes Award and was a second-round selection in 1981. Fuentes made his Major League debut in 1983, playing the 1983 and 1984 seasons with the Montreal Expos.

Fuentes is the sixth Seminole inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame, joining Dick Howser, inducted in 2008; J.D. Drew, 2016; Mike Martin, 2019; Terry Kennedy, 2021; and Danny Litwhiler, 2021.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Legendary FSU coach receives national award, continues dementia battle