Felix Hernandez was all tears as he finished what could be his last start as a Seattle Mariner.
Fans stood up and gave him a loud standing ovation as he hugged coach Scott Servais and his teammates, including Kyle Seager, who was also noticeably crying as well. It was an emotional send-off to one of the most dominant pitchers of the 2000’s and arguably the best pitcher in Mariners’ history, ranking just higher than Hall of Famer Randy Johnson, due to Johnson’s departure to Arizona.
In 2011, a group of fans kept growing in the left field bleachers who came with yellow ‘K’s’ printed on their shirts to cheer Hernandez on. The marketing department advertised them as the ‘King’s Court.’ Over time, the group expanded from that area. On Thursday, the whole field became the King’s Court.
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Always considered a class act among all of baseball, his entire 15 year career has been spent with the Mariners; a rare feat in sports today, especially in a smaller market team without a championship.
King Felix, as he is so called (the nickname started in the Minor Leagues back in 2005), was a picture of consistency at the highest level for over a decade. Hernandez is one of only 23 pitchers in the 150 year history of the game to pitch a perfect game (as opposed to a no-hitter where walks and errors allow a player on base, a perfect game allows no one on base for nine innings), and is one of 92 pitchers to pitch and immaculate inning (three batters up, nine strikeouts). He also led the league in wins, ERA twice, was the AL Cy Young award winner in 2010, is a six time All-Star, and more. As for his team, he is the Mariners all-time leader is strikeouts, wins and WAR.
Like Ken Griffey, Jr before him and his teammate Ichiro Suzuki before him, and era of Mariners faithful might be over in Seattle. Who’s next?
