During an 11-minute speech in the middle of the Mariners diamond, Randy Johnson gave every indication that the lingering animosity he’d held onto for years had finally washed away, once and for all.

And if Johnson’s No. 51 hanging permanently in T-Mobile Park wasn’t enough of an olive branch from the team, Mariners chairman John Stanton announced Saturday evening that a new statue of the Hall of Fame left-hander will be unveiled outside the ballpark in 2027.

Reconciliation complete.

“To this city, this moment says something important: That greatness matters here. That history matters here. And those (who) give us their very best will always be remembered,” Stanton told the T-Mobile Park crowd.

Johnson’s No. 51 hangs right next to Ichiro’s No. 51 beyond the center-field wall, along with Jackie Robinson’s 42, Ken Griffey Jr.’s 24 and Edgar Martinez’s 11.

Ichiro had sent a letter to Johnson asking permission to wear No. 51 before the 2001 season. Johnson, by then with the Arizona Diamondbacks, was flattered at the request.

“Without hesitation I said, ‘Yes, go right ahead,’” Johnson recalled. 

Now ’51’ has a special place for both in Seattle.

“I’m grateful there was room for another ’51’ to be retired,” Johnson said in his speech. “One number, two players representing one team.”

Johnson had long been bothered after his bitter trade from the Mariners in 1998 — or perhaps more annoyed at some people’s perception that he wanted out.

“I was traded; I didn’t walk away, and I think that is something that I hear from fans still occasionally,” Johnson said last year, after the Mariners announced plans to retire his number. “For whatever reason, the ownership then didn’t make this happen (sooner). And so I suppose I was a little disappointed.”

He expressed gratitude and graciousness during his speech Saturday.

“I learned a lot here, on and off the field, and I will always be grateful for my time playing here and for the fans supporting us,” he said.

A 6-foot-10 lefty revered and feared for his ferocious intensity, Johnson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015, as a member of the Diamondbacks. He’d been inducted into the Mariners team Hall of Fame in 2012, at the same time as his longtime catcher, Dan Wilson.

Wilson, the M’s manager, gave a speech introducing Johnson on Saturday, and the team’s venerable play-by-play radio voice, Rick Rizzs, served as the emcee.

Griffey, Edgar, Ichiro, Jay Buhner, Alvin Davis, Félix Hernández and Marilyn Niehaus were also on the field as part of the ceremony, along with Johnson’s family. 

Hall of Fame pitchers Nolan Ryan, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz were among those to provide a video tribute for Johnson.

Johnson recalled pitching against Ryan, one of his heroes, in a Mariners-Rangers game in Texas in September 1992.

“Everything came together in Texas (that day),” Johnson recalled, noting his 18 strikeouts in eight innings. 

He also remembered throwing a career-high 160 pitches that afternoon, an unfathomable total in today’s baseball.

“I don’t suggest any of you pitchers do that tonight,” Johnson said with a smile.

Johnson relived some of his best moments — and the franchise’s all-time best moments — from 1995, when he became the first Mariners pitcher to win the AL Cy Young Award and led the club to its first postseason appearance with a dominant complete-game performance against the Angels in the AL West tiebreaker game.

“Nothing short of heroic,” Stanton said.

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