Tag Archives: King Félix

Félix Hernández Among 14 New Candidates on the Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot

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Félix Hernández is on the ballot.

The 38-year-old Venezuelan former professional baseball pitcher, nicknamed “King Félix,” is among 14 new candidates on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot released on Monday, joining 14 holdovers.

Félix HernándezHernández, the 2010 American League (AL) Cy Young winner and a six-time MLB All-Star, won the 2010 and 2014 AL ERA titles.

He was 169-136 with a 3.42 ERA and 2,524 strikeouts for Seattle from 2005-19. Hernández pitched the 23rd perfect game in Major League Baseball history against the Tampa Bay Rays on August 15, 2012.

Hernandez isn’t the only Latino to become a first-time candidate.

Outfielder Carlos González, reliever Fernando Rodney and infielder Hanley Ramírez also are among the Latino newcomers on the ballot.

González was a three-time MLB All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner and the 2010 National League (NL) batting champion. He hit .285 with 234 homers, 785 RBIs and 122 stolen bases for Oakland (2008), Colorado (2009-18), Cleveland (2019) and the Chicago Cubs (2019).

Pedroia was a four-time MLB All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner, helping Boston to World Series titles in 2007 and 2013. He batted .299 with 140 homers, 725 and 138 steals for the Red Sox from 2006-19, winning the 2007 AL Rookie of the Year and 2008 AL MVP.

Ramírez was voted the 2006 NL Rookie of the Year and won the 2009 NL batting title, becoming a three-time MLB All-Star. He hit .289 with 271 homers, 917 RBIs and 281 stolen bases for Boston (2005, 2015-18), the Florida and Miami Marlins (2006-12), Los Angeles Dodgers (2012-14) and Cleveland (2019).

Other Latino holdovers include steroids-tainted stars Alex Rodriguez (134 votes, 34.8%) and Manny Ramirez (125, 32.5%) along with Carlos Beltran (220, 57.1%), Omar Vizquel (68, 17.7%), Bobby Abreu (57, 14.8%) and Francisco Rodríguez (30, 7.8%).

Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) members with 10 or more consecutive years of membership are eligible to vote. Ballots must be postmarked by December 31 and results will be announced January 23. Anyone elected will be inducted on July 27 along with anyone chosen December 8 by the hall’s classic baseball committee considering eight players and managers whose greatest contributions to the sport were before 1980.

Félix Hernández Inducted into Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame

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Félix Hernández is forever a Mariner…

The 37-year-old Venezuelan former professional baseball pitcher, nicknamed “King Félix“, was inducted into the Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame on Saturday night.

Félix HernándezHernandez walked from the bullpen as Aloe Blacc‘s song “The Man,” bellowed through the speakers. He stood on the rubber at the top of the mound, put his arms out to his side and mouthed “this is my house.”

For this night, Hernández once again commanded T-Mobile Park.

“This is not easy for me,” Hernández said, pausing during his speech. “Pitching and being there on that mound is way easier than this.”

Hernández became the 11th person to be honored by the franchise but few have a connection that runs as deep. Hernández pitched his entire 15-year career with the Mariners. He made 418 career starts, struck out 2,524 batters and threw the only perfect game in franchise history.

He was saddled with some underachieving teams during his career and his turn on the mound was one of the few reasons to regularly watch or show up.

When Hernández pitched, it was an experience. The yellow-shirted “King’s Court” was part of Hernandez’s starts at home beginning in 2011 and continuing through his last start in 2019. Fans showed up in costumes fit for royalty and chanted “K” every time there was a chance at adding another strikeout to that career total.

Those fans were back in their royal costumes and yellow shirts Saturday, and broke out a few “K” chants during his ceremony.

“I want to thank the entire Seattle Mariners organization, ownership, and staff. I’m blessed by the opportunity to play my entire career here with the Seattle Mariners,” Hernández said. “You guys took a chance on me in 2002 … out of Venezuela, just 16 years old and you stood by my side ever since.”

While the other members of the Mariners Hall of Fame in attendance — including Ichiro Suzuki, Edgar Martinez and Ken Griffey Jr. — sat in padded folding chairs, Hernández sat on the throne that was always positioned outside the King’s Court during his starts on the mound.

Hernández unsuccessfully tried to fight off tears throughout the ceremony. And he received a surprise when former teammate, regular foe and close friend Adrian Beltre made an appearance. The matchups between Beltre and Hernández were among the most entertaining in the game when they faced off as opponents.

“It’s a truly honor. The Mariners, T-Mobile Park and to Seattle, you will always be a part of my heart and my home,” Hernández said.

Felix Hernandez Signs Minor League Deal with the Atlanta Braves

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Felix Hernandezis getting a second chance…

The 33-year-old Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher, nicknamed “King Félix“, has reached a minor league deal with the Atlanta Braves on Monday that includes an invite to big league spring training.

Felix Hernandez

The longtime Seattle Marinersright-hander would get a $1 million, one-year contract if added to Atlanta’s 40-man roster.

Hernandez is coming off his worst season in the majors. King Felix went 1-8 with a 6.40 ERA in 15 starts for the Mariners and lost his place in the rotation.

Hernandez was among the best and more durable pitchers in Major League Baseball for more than a decade, a stretch that included six All-Star selections and the 2010 American League Cy Young Award. He was a huge crowd favorite at Safeco Field, with fans holding up K cards in The King’s Courtto mark his many strikeouts.

The two-time NL East champion Braves hold their first workout for pitchers and catchers on February 13.

Hernández Notches the Seattle Mariners’ First No History

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He’s nicknamed “King Félix”… And Félix Hernández has just logged his latest crowning achievement…

The 26-year-old Venezuelan baseball star pitched the Seattle Mariners‘ first-ever perfect game and only the 23rd one in baseball history on Wednesday as he overpowered the Tampa Bay Rays in a dazzling 1-0 victory on Wednesday.

Félix Hernández

It was the third perfect game in baseball this season— the first time in MLB history that three perfect games have been notched in the same season. Hernández’s feat joins perfect games by Chicago’s Philip Humber against the Mariners in April and San Francisco‘s Matt Cain against Houston in June. More than half of all perfect games — 12 — have come in the past 25 seasons.

“I don’t have any words to explain this,” said Hernandez to the crowd, speaking on the field after the final out. “I’ve been working so hard to throw one and today is for you guys.”

Hernández is the second player born in Latin America to throw a perfect game. Dennis Martinez, born in Nicaragua, threw a perfect game in 1991. In fact, he’s only the second player born outside of the United States to throw a perfect game

With one out to go, Sean Rodriguez got ahead 2-0 in the count. After circling the mound, Hernandez came back with two straight breaking balls for strikes and ended perfection with a called third strike on his 113th pitch.

Félix Hernández

Hernandez (11-5) threw his arms up to the sky and was mobbed by teammates at the pitcher’s mound. He embraced catcher John Jaso for a few seconds and then shared hugs with the rest of his teammates.

“It was in my mind, the whole game, it was in my mind,” Hernandez said.

The right-hander had the Rays swinging over his sharp curve all afternoon, with Evan Longoria, Ben Zobrist and Carlos Pena each striking out in the eighth chasing breaking balls.

With a fastball in the mid-90s mph and an effective change, Hernandez simply wasn’t hittable.