COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- For Edgar Martinez, this moment has been 10 years in the making. Or 36 years, really, from the time he broke into professional baseball as a shy 20-year-old at Class A Short Season in Bellingham, Wash.

But the reality is finally sinking in for Martinez. He’ll finally be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame -- a fact driven home further by the large number of Mariners fans swarming Main Street in Cooperstown this weekend wearing No. 11 jerseys and broad smiles.

MLB Network’s coverage of the 2019 Hall of Fame induction ceremony will begin Sunday at 8 a.m. PT and be streamed live on MLB.com.

Martinez has forever been a fan favorite in Seattle, where he has a street named in his honor, a restaurant in the ballpark and his retired jersey adorning on the outfield wall. But now he’s going national, with no bigger honor bestowed on a ballplayer than to have his plaque placed among the game’s greats in the Hall of Fame.

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Martinez first came to Cooperstown in the early 1990s, when the Mariners played an exhibition game at Doubleday Field and briefly visited the museum. He returned in 2016 to see teammate Ken Griffey Jr. become the first full-time Mariner inducted, and he was back in April for a preview and private tour of the facilities.

What are his thoughts when he sees the Plaque Room -- where the tributes to everyone from Babe Ruth to Hank Aaron and Roberto Clemente line the gallery -- the place where his own likeness will soon hang for eternity?

“It’s an incredible feeling,” Martinez said. “When you see who is on the walls, the players who [made] this great game what it is, that’s when you really think, ‘I can’t believe I’m here and [my] plaque is going to be here.’

“This is a process that I’ve been going through, kind of taking all this in. I wonder how it’s going to feel on Monday when I wake up? I think that’s probably when it’s going to set in.”

Sometimes Martinez wonders if he needs to pinch himself. But he worked his entire career to reach this pinnacle. And, yes, it’s been a long road since he came to the U.S., after agreeing with the Mariners on a $4,000 signing bonus after a tryout camp in Puerto Rico -- a kid who spoke literally no English and had little more than a bat and a belief in himself.

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Martinez put up a .173/.304/.202 line with no homers in 32 games that first season in Bellingham, hardly providing an inkling of what was to come from a man who wound up posting a .312/.418/.515 career line with 309 home runs for the Mariners.

“I think the most difficult part is when you have failures,” he said. “How do you look at failure? It’s very easy to just look at yourself and say, 'I don’t have the skills, I won’t be able to make it.' That doesn’t help you. But if I could tell myself, 'Keep pushing, keep working hard,' because that first year I had a terrible year. I would tell myself to keep trying, keep playing hard and don’t give up.”

He never did -- and now he’s standing at the doors of the Hall of Fame, awaiting his enshrinement. But first he has an induction speech on Sunday that will be attended by a huge group of family and friends, as well as a large contingent of Mariners fans eager to cherish this moment with him.

Martinez never has been particularly comfortable as a public speaker and acknowledges the 12-minute speech he’ll give to the expected record-setting crowd of 75,000 or more at the Clark Sports Center won’t be easy. But again, he’s been growing toward this moment for a long time and says it’s no harder than a big at-bat in a pressure situation.

“You know, if this was the first at-bat, that would be the most nerve-wracking,” he said. “I remember the first time I came to play in Rookie League ball in Bellingham ... and that was nerve-wracking. The speech is difficult for people to feel comfortable. I know I will be nervous, but I’m up to the challenge.”