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The King Is Almost Totally Unhittable
Dave · April 11, 2007 at 6:43 pm · Filed Under Mariners
What else is there to say?
Felix has arrived. Long live the King.
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Hard to imagine that he would out do his first start, but he did.
one word.
GOOSEBUMPS.
i mean how many no-no’s have ever been tossed in that park? and against the most dangerous lineup in baseball arguably. king has arrived indeed.
What else is there to say?
How about the fine job by the infield tonight.
Still don’t understand Vidro batting third? I’d prefer Johjima at third before Vidro..oh well.
This game was suppost to be about Dice-K, but Felix totaly stole the show.
Couldnt of been any better against another team…
My poor roommates have to hear about this until at LEAST next Felix Day…
HAHAHAHahahahahahaha!!! All hail The King!! I think the world is officially aware of Felix. I think that’s the line Dice-K was supposed to have.
I’m giddy as a schoolgirl! Go M’s!
This win was huge in more ways than one. Sure the king was great, and the offense was good enough. But this is the kind of game were the A’s and Angels have to say to themselves this team is for real. It’s never to early to have to much hope. Hopefully this carries on through this series and on to the next. Anyways its a great nite to be a M’s fan, an all hail the King!!
so when does he pitch again?
that was enjoyable.
Now that Felix has shown he can live up to our expectations, which coming-back-from surgery, used-to-be-good-in-the-National-League, aging star do you think Bavasi will trade him for?
It’s great to root for a team and player that does something phenominal. but to see him so close to doing something near legendary…
wow.
17 innings 0 runs 4 hits. The undisputed Cy Young at week 2.
I wish every day could be Felix Day.
#5: Hmm. I hear there’s this team in the Bronx that thinks Felix will be wearing their uniform in a few short years.
As Felix left me breathless tonight, I did a little math.
36 starts for Felix…let’s say the team goes 25-11 in those starts. Based on these first two starts, that actually might be conservative.
If the M’s go .500 when everybody else starts, we win 88 games. (This is the harder end of the deal).
88 wins might mean October baseball.
What is this strange feeling called, where I think things might go well, actually? It’s been so long since I’ve had this sensation…
…undisputed Cy Young…
Careful, those voters are hung up on W-L records.
11. Agreed and MVP LOL (I wish) But if our 2-5 pitchers can pitch just alright, we may have a chance
wow wow wow!! That was impressive and the deuce to end the game was so sweet! I think I will be attending every Felix Day I can this year!!
6. I know the feeling, my friend. My roommate, and presumably my neighbors, are cursing the heavens.
Good to see an Right-Coaster on here. In school at GW?
#13 Why not do it to both? ; ).
I really hope this game scared the crap outta the AL.
Its one thing to know whats coming. Its another when you know whats coming, and you know cant stop it.
Soon the M’s will be offering season ticket packages that will just have games where Felix is supposed to start..thats the only baseball worth watching usually.
Classic…Pic on ESPN.com is Dice-K pitching to Ichiro. Even when Ms do well, other team gets the spotlight.
…25-11 in those starts. Based on these first two starts, that actually might be conservative.
Oh lordy, based on these first two starts? Haven’t we read enough on this blog about small sample size?
Based on a week of play in 2003, WFB is a .300 hitter who hits grand slam home runs!
Well today was suppost to be all about Dice-K, they largly forgott about Felix with him being on the Mariners and his pedestrian season last year, although if Felix continues on like this they will have to pay attention.
22: with Felix’s talent 25-11 is not nuts at all.
One of the best things about tonight is that the East Coast-centric sports media no longer has any excuse to ignore Felix. This was an unprecedented national coming-out party for him.
T-minus 42 innings to Orel Hershiser ….
its not nuts… it is possible, its just way too early… in fact, i think expecting the rest of the starters to be .500 is a crazier notion
Felix is singlehandedly getting me excited about baseball again. His two games have gotten me charged; I had to run up a local hill after this one.
i had to change my shorts…
I said in the post-game thread after Opening Day that Felix had no-hit caliber stuff that day, and he actually looked a little better today. What surprised me the most was that as good as Matsuzaka looked at times today, Felix was clearly the better pitcher. He was just another notch up from Dice-K, without question. His groundball dominance was particularly amazing; you won’t give up many runs/hits when the other team can’t even get a ball into the outfield.
So far 2007 has lacked WFB and Rick Rizzs. wow.
There’s not much that can get me excited about this TEAM. Remember, we have to slog through Washburn, Batista, Ramirez and Weaver to get to Felix again, every five damn days. That’ll kill any joy about the TEAM in a hurry.
But the PLAYER? Hoooo, mama ….
22: Of course it’s a small sample size. Duh.
But are you seriously suggesting we should be pessimistic about Felix’s season at this point? I’m just riding the wave, enjoying this strange feeling called optimism, at least for an hour or two.
Bavasi is a genius.
ESPN.com (not just the MLB section) and SI.com (not just the MLB section) are both spotlighting Felix’s one-hitter now, at least.
Is Felix better than Francisco Liriano?
I was listening on the radio, and you could tell that Dave was more energized by this game than any other game in a long time. He was sitting on the edge of his chair rather than sitting back and rocking. Fun to listen to.
I didn’t question Felix’ talent. I didn’t say the record would be nuts. I said two games was SSS to be projecting as 25 win season.
When was the last time there was a 25 game winner in the AL? (Felix wasn’t writing cursive yet.)
How many 25 game winners have there been in all of MLB in the last 30 years? (Even Doc Gooden didn’t do it in 1985, and he was pretty good, too.)
How many games will the bullpen blow for Felix when he has a 1-run lead and a 110 pitch count in the 7th and walks the leadoff guy, so Hargrove brings in Mateo to get a ground ball? (More than I’d care to think about.)
Can there be any doubt?
I’m not a Mariners fan; in fact, I’m guessing I’ve seen only 10 or 11 Mariners games since I started watching baseball (2003). I’m a Cardinals fan, and I get the pleasure of watching Albert Pujols day in and day out.
Felix Hernandez almost makes me wish I was a Mariners fan instead.
But are you seriously suggesting we should be pessimistic about Felix’s season at this point?
Nope. Just realistic. Pedro Martinez never won 25 games.
If the M’s get snowed/rained/sleeted out tomorrow, would Grover consider moving Felix up to start on Tuesday. Remember, the M’s have an off day on Monday. Somehow, I feel that Grover would keep the rotation intact, much like his lineup. But it is clear that Felix is light years better than any other starter the M’s have, and if Grover wants to win now to save his job, he better maximize the number of starts that Felix has. If “veterans” like Ramirez, Washburn, Batista, or Weaver don’t like it, screw them. Tell them to be as great as Felix. Although Jim Caple probably will blame Ichiro for not inspiring those four to greatness.
#39
The claim was that the Mariners would go 25-11 in his starts, not that he would win 25 games.
To be fair, he didn’t say Felix would win 25 games - just that the Mariners could win 25 of his starts, which would include games that Felix leaves tied or trailing that the Mariners end up winning.
I didn’t say Felix would have 25 wins. I said the team would win 25 games he starts, given 36 starts.
Felix Hernandez almost makes me wish I was a Mariners fan instead.
We’re the best fans in baseball. They tell us that every year in September, and they couldn’t say it if it weren’t true.
I don’t think we’re oversubscribed.
(well, could win 25).
ETA to when Jim Caple writes a column calling Felix out for not being enough of a team leader?
#43: You are quite right; I stand corrected. (Actually, I sit corrected.)
Of course, with Weaver doing his thing, the M’s might need to win every Felix start.
Glad to see the missunderstanding is over. It would be crazy to suggest Felix winning 25, but the M’s going 25-11 when he pitches is quite reasonable.
#40: As fun as it is to watch Felix, I hope that doesn’t happen. If we’re going to get anything out of the other starters, we need them to pitch more regularly than they have in the first 2 weeks of the season.
I don’t think he said 25 wins, he said the team gets 25 in his starts, which is entirely realistic.
Felix’s gyroball was filthy tonight!
36 starts may be a stretch though; I do think that he should get the start for the first game of the Minnesota series, rather than pushing everyone back in case of a rain/snow out tomorrow.
Well as far as the other four go during their first starts, Ramirez, Weaver, and Batista were terrible, but Washburn had a solid game. I think in the long run Washburn and Batista will be ok, Weaver terrible, and Ramirez hurt.
hearing Orel Hershiser dismiss the existence of the gyroball before the game because “it actually translates to gyroball [pronounced hero] in Greek” was my favorite comment. Give it to the Bulldog to think that they were actually trying to name it after a greek meat
can you guys tell me what his breaking pitch / offspeed to fastball ratio was? i feel like he didnt throw the fastball that much. if he didnt, what does that mean?
Any chance we could clone Felix 4 times over?
Mmmm, gyros.
I’m still at work for another 25 minutes. Stop making me hungry.
Red Sox fan checking in, but I have to say, that was sweet. Eck is completely gushing about Felix on the postgame here. I think it’s great that all the Matsuzaka-hype/coverage created an extra-big national stage tonight for Felix…a lot more people will take notice now.
Don’t expect the game to be played tomorrow…the forecast is horrible.
Who wants to answer the question of why I can’t find a Felix authentic jersey anywhere online?
Replaying the game on FSN right now, if anyone missed it or just wants to relive it again.
I’m so glad it was this media-frenzied game that Felix had as his “I-live-up-to-my-’King’-nickname” showcase. Fantastic, unbelievable, ESPN and Orel were raving less than 10 minutes ago. Can’t wait for the next Happy Felix Day!
ok, so it was on FSN? ’cause I taped it, and I just want to know it shoukd be there when I get back.
Bizarrely, I was in a golf club bar here in SC for diner, and was stunned to see the game on the tv (I’d forgotten ESPN had picked it up) so I got to (sort of) see the first half– one does has one’s obligations to one’s hosts, after all
oh, and when it was learned that I was visiting from Seattle, a very nice gentleman came over to tell me that his son was going to be there in Seattle, pitching against the Mariners on friday? Kevin Millwood?
sheesh. I told him I was sorry that his son had chosen to go to pitch in Texas, and he claimed that Millwood had seriously considered the M’s offer … He said that he and the missus were going to come to the games in July to see Safeco for the first time.
Was at the game and it was one of the greatest 3 hours of my life. Also Dave, when and what kind of contract do you sigh Felix to?
It’s always a good sign when the movement of the pitches makes no sense when compared with their respective speeds.
“What the hell was that? Was that a 98 mph sinker?!”
“That CAN’T be a curve, its going 85!!”
Felix is must see TV. Until school gets out and I go back to Seattle of course, at which point I will be biking to every Felix home game, buying a $5 seat, heckling the opposing team during bp, and moving down to the good seats.
I live in NYC now and went to a Red Sox bar tonight because that was the only way I knew I would get audio on the game. Needless to say, I caught my fair share of heckling for my Felix shirt and Mariners hat, but I had the last laugh. I don’t know if I have ever seen a player that dominant in two straight starts.
Long Live the King!
I am so freaking glad ESPN’s second coming of Christ: Dice-K, got kicked out of the the post-game spotlight. All Hail King Felix. You know, had the M’s gotten Andrew Dice-K, would there be all this hype surrounding him? … Rehtorical question I suppose
Holy crap. What a game. I am a Seattlite (Ballard) who is in New York City on business and actually DITCHED friends tonight to sneak off and watch the game by myself. And to say I wasn’t disappointed is an understatement. Yes, the no-hitter would have been sweet, but holy hell, Felix sucked the wind out of Dice-K’s Fenway Park debut like really nobody else could have. Unreal. The infield defense was awesome. Even Raul’s sliding catch, later in the game, was great. Felix shouldn’t lament the no-hitter, because it could have easily been a four-hitter with a lousier defense. Either way, it was AMAZING. I loved everything about it except Jose Vidro, despite his RBI single. How awesome was Guillen’s “safe” wave after scoring on Betancourt’s sac fly for the first run?
Even the Boston fans I ended up talking to tonight were kind of pulling for Felix’s no-no after the seventh, although they all cheered when he gave it up in the eighth.
I got one thing to say to everyone tonight…the Mariners finally have an ACE they can build around and anchor their rotation with. They also have a leader in Felix. He didn’t give a crap tonight who was batting or who was pitching against him. He went out about his business and treated the opposing team like they were a single A ball club. They say the game is 90% mental. Well I’d say his mental makeup is something the rest of the M’s could definitely use a lot of. Hopefully Felix mania can trigger something special in that clubhouse. After that horrible performance last night, this was something special. The type of night that makes one dream about baseball. Thanks King. El Rey ha llegado. The King has arrived. Long live the King.
I’m in New Orleans tonight, and when the local sportscaster described the game, he kept calling Felix “King.” Not “the King” and not “King Felix,” just “King.” As in “King held the Sox to 1 hit. Maybe his dog shut down the Sox?
I have to apologize to Felix for thinking he was the second coming of Freddie. I even posted it out loud a while back. After last year: over weight, out of shape and lack of focus inning to inning, that was my fear. So now I’m convinced and I eat my words/thoughts. I even go as far as to say that he’s a big game pitcher who feeds off the spotlight and attention and wanted more than anything to show up Dice-K and be the stopper after yesterday’s mess.
Forgive me Felix.
Oh, the casual Red Sox fan.
At least he’s not an M’s fan.
Rex, Rex tremendae majestatis,
qui salvandos salvas gratis,
Salva me!
Salva me, fons pietatis!
Also sweet:
Tacoma tops Fresno, 6-5, in 13 innings.
Travis Blackley started for Fresno: 2.0 3 4 3 2 0 0 6.43
Scott Atchison finished and took the loss: 1 2 2 1 0 0
And Adam Jones is off to a .379/.457/.655 start.
#65: “What the hell was that? Was that a 98 mph sinker?!”
“That CAN’T be a curve, its going 85!!”
My sentiments exactly. I was trying to think of what this reminded me of, and the best I can come up with is this…
Watching Felix throw a 93 mph slider in slow motion replay is kinda like watching a great race horse run in slo-mo. It just looks…Different. I have never been so blown away by the look of a pitch in slo-mo. Remarkable.
Reaaaaally curious to hear what Bill Simmons has to say about this. A die hard Red Sox fan, he still gives credit where credit is due and has been pumped about Dice-K’s opener.
Just unbelievable.
Reading Sons of Sam Horn right now is pretty funny.
“Dice-K was getting squeezed, especially in comparison to Felix!”
This Felix Day thing is really going to catch on this year.
Anybody catch the Jose Vidro postgame interview with Brad Adam? He said it was a “total team effort” tonight(!).
Earth to Vidro - The only reason the M’s competed in this game was because Felix was unhittable by any mortal human being who is not a Jedi Master. Total team effort my ass. Just because Turbo finally hit a ball in the air tonight he’s got delusions of team effort!
Well, we did, y’know, have to score a RUN.
Reading Sons of Sam Horn right now is pretty funny.
Yes, rather like reading this site’s gamethread when Felix pitched a stinker down in Texas in his first year in MLB:
Nothing wrong with a little Daisukenfruede in it’s place, but remember that Boston fans didn’t invent griping about the strike zone.
s/it’s/its/
Oops
Well to give Vidro credit, he had a decent game tonight.
Who was pitching tonight?
Certainly wasn’t the Felix I saw last year!
First time for me to see Felix this year…SWWWEEEEEEEEEET!!!! I can’t believe I’m going to say this but I used to think The Unit was going to be the BEST pitcher the Mariners ever sent to the mound.
WRONG! I’m completely on the bandwagon now…Long live the King!!!
Not throwing away my 70-1 ticket from Ceasars on the M’s winning the Series just yet. Can you imagine the King in a 7 game series? Daring to dream…
86: probably not this year but in a year or two…
Felix was amazing…just electric stuff…he was really huffing and puffing after the 7th though…looked exhausted. Not sure how I feel about Grover sending him out for the CG, but he will make watching every 5th Mariner game a truly exciting event!
Michael Garciaparra claimed by the Phillies…adios to another top pick!
They say the game is 90% mental. Well I’d say his mental makeup is something the rest of the M’s could definitely use a lot of.
Yogi said 90% of the game was half mental.
Aside from that, if you think that the other starters (who I think of as crap1, crap2, crap3, and crap4 to save me the trouble of memorizing their names) are only lacking mental makeup, you weren’t looking at the centerfield camera’s shots of Felix’ pitches either today or Opening Day.
It’s easier to be mentally tough when you are gifted with no-hit stuff.
And #80 has a nice quote on Felix’ reaction to adversity. Let’s see how he pitches on bad days before we pencil in a 0.00 ERA for 2007. Remember, Sexson was on pace for 162 HR’s after Opening Day this year (which was a falloff from Opening Day 2005 when he was on pace for 324).
Probably mentally exhausted more than anything with the No-No and all the pre-game hype. Good thing we don’t have an innings cap on him this year huh? He could go over 200 innings in August at this rate!
By the way when, exactly, did Dave tag Felix with the nickname “the King”? Perhaps we should celebrate the anniversary of this naming day with beer and song? (or at least beer)
Hooray Beer!
Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think he did. Felix nicknamed himself “El Cartuela” and somehow that turned into the King…even though the translation isn’t remotely close to that.
I keep seeing the replays, crazy stuff. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I can’t remember the Sox ever really taking any big swings, save for maybe Otiz’s fly out to left. Even Drew’s swing on the hit was just a pray for contact job. When power hitters are swinging just for contact, you know it’s special.
The first known reference to King Felix was actually posted by Jason back in the summer of ‘03 while he was dominating the Northwest League. A search through that summer’s archives would turn up the exact date.
King Felix has nothing to do with El Cartelua. That was the name Felix had stitched into his glove in the minors, but King Felix was a USSM nickname that got popular nationally.
I’ll retire if Turbo catches on the same way.
#91: I thought that “King Felix” was first coined when they were using blogspot.com to host their site, and now I see that ussmariner.blogspot.com has disappeared.
http://ussmariner.com/?p=373
According to wikipedia, anyway.
Felix almost killed me. Don’t have cable in my apartment so I went to the gym. Started running on the treadmill as Felix took the mound in the bottom half of the first. I was determined to stay on the treadmill until Boston got a hit. 112 minutes later I was totally out of gas, but I made it, barely.
Not sure I’m going to do that anymore. Didn’t help that some of the M’s hitters went deep into the count despite the lack of walks.
Calf is cramping up. Gotta go put some heat on it.
Duly noted. What is the literal translation for “El Cartuela”? I hear it’s “bad ass” but I’m not sure.
http://ussmariner.com/?p=373
That seals it - July 17th is hereby King Felix day. Everybody should celebrate that day by opening a cold bottle of beer and hailing the King. Non-drinkers can then donate said beer to those of us who do.
Watched it on replay and was not disappointed even knowing the outcome.
Major KUDOS to USSMariner. As Rob Neyer stated at the beginning of his post-game Felix column:
He fully quotes Dave’s intro in his “Long live King Felix” story.
Don’t know what else he said…I’m not an “Insider”.
That was a great game. I haven’t been that glued to my TV in a long time. Amazing. Watching those pitches in HD slow-mo and picking up the rotation clearly…I might watch it again right now.
Do you think if Felix dominates like this all season it will be enough to convice Ichiro to stay? Or will Turbo and the back of our rotation (2 through 5) cast a pall over everything?
#33: Why is Bavasi a genius? the only thing he’s had to do with Felix is that he hasn’t traded him away yet…
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Yes, he pitched great. However, he can’t win games on his own and still needs the guys on offense to score some runs. They did tonight, but after 5 games thus far, their team batting average is sitting at .167, on base percentage at .203 and slugging percentage at .292. That just ain’t gonna cut it to win 25 of his starts.
99 Rusty,
Your pain cracked me up. A classic Baseball fan if I ever heard of one.
P.S. Congratulations on the 112 mins. May your recovery be swift.
Greg
Allow me to quote from Dave’s “All Hail the King” post of April 2:
Today his game score was 87.
As for the “who named King Felix” question, thank god someone did. Otherwise we might be stuck with the currently trendy moniker “F-Her”.
Or worse, “Feel-her”…
Felix has the top two game scores of the year so far, and they probably stick in the top-ten all year.
The plane and the movement of his pitches is just beautiful. With 17 innings in his first two starts, I hope he’s not being pushed too hard. But he’s been very efficient with his pitches, and certainly hasn’t had high-stress situations.
As far as the team going 25-11 in his starts, he likely won’t start that many games. And remember that this offense seems to go very, very south on occasion. That little bit of caution aside…
Kick ass!!! Long live our King!
Best quote from a Red Sox fan on the SoSH game thread:
When Josh Beckett pitches, you say: “That’s nasty”
When Felix Hernandez pitches, you say: “That’s unhittable”
I’ve NEVER been more excited to be a Mariners fan. Having this sheer amount of talent in one pitcher…I’ll take this over the playoffs. But Felix will guide us to the playoffs.
All hail the King. I’ll sell my soul to see him keep pitching like this.
I can’t sleep. This was too exciting. I am still way to happy. This season is supposed to be crap, but hey against my better judgment, I look at the 3-2 record and feel like we have a chance. I know we don’t but hey maybe Felix and pray for snow…….and rain………..and how about some more snow………oh, you say its gonna snow in Boston tomorrow……?
I hate to keep being the voice of reason, but here’s something to chew on.
Last year everyone was terrified of having to face the Twins in the ALDS because it would mean facing Johan Santana twice. To face him at home in that pathetic excuse for a ballpark would mean two certain losses.
In Game 1, Zito managed to outduel Cy Santana for 8 innings in which, if you want to take Cy as the analog to Felix, the Twins offense is a darned good analog to the M’s offense. Cy gave up 2 runs in 8 innings and Zito gave up 1.
No way 2006 Zito was a better pitcher than 2006 Santana. Not in any lifetime, not in any universe.
The A’s won the next two games and never had to face Santana a second time.
The last guy I can think of who was so dominant that his three starts meant you’d bet on winning the World Series was Bob Gibson, 1967 edition. That was in an age where you didn’t have to battle your way through a Division Series round and an LCS round. And even he didn’t pull it off a year later in 1968.
Bottom line: making plans to attend the World Series parade based on Felix’ two starts might be a wee bit premature.
M’s on the king, via Joel: “Everybody in Seattle calls him King Felix, but we were calling him Queen Felix last year, messing around with him,” said former teammate and current Sox reliever Joel Pineiro, who nonetheless recognized Hernandez’ immense talent immediately.
(Pithy comments on appropriate names for Joel elided.)
USSMariner mentioned in depth at ESPN (there is currently a link to it from the ESPN front page)-
“The best Mariners-related blog — and one of the best team blogs, period — is u.s.s. mariner. Just before last night’s big game in Boston, co-captain Dave Cameron wrote:
The media is going to run with Matsuzaka-Ichiro as the big story, which should be expected. The matchup will open the game, and Ichiro is the most famous player on the roster. Oh, and he happens to be from Japan, or so I’ve heard. Since it’s Boston, the focus of the story will be on Matsuzaka’s first start at Fenway. The $102 million right arm takes the hill in front of Red Sox Nation for the first time. And the leadoff hitter happens to be his countrymate. It writes itself.
But in four hours, there’s a good chance that Ichiro and Matsuzaka won’t be the story to come out of this game. This is King Felix’s first start in Fenway, too. Red Sox Nation has never seen him pitch, either, and it’s his first major league start as a 21 year old. It’s a nationally televised game - only the second one of his career.”
-Rob Neyer
Cool stuff.
The title is Long live King Felix.
Grats on minor fame, Dave
(hope I get the link right)
On that ESPN thing… It would mean so much more if it were being written by someone other than Rob Neyer. Oh well, it’s nice that the incredibly engaging comments and knowledge of Dave Cameron are recognized so widely. Dave is so much of a good reason to like baseball and I have always been impressed with (not only) the knowledge/intuition but also the writing style and complete fairness. If he only had a book to promote…
I’m thinking that maybe I should lose a little weight too….
re: ESPN… oh, so now they’re trying to discredit blogs by giving USSM so many hits that the site goes down. Man, they’re crafty.
That’s a joke.
What a game, watched it on MLB TV on my laptop with a buddy that was a huge RedSox fan. I couldn’t have asked for more.
Favorite moment: The RedSox crowd as quiet as I have ever seen them!
Least Favorite moment: FSN guys comparing Felix to Freddy Garcia, I think I was yelling at the screen for them to stop!
Yankees bound yo!!!
I noticed that Google is honoring Felix’s coming-out party by featuring on their homepage a picture of a metallic baseball achieving escape velocity and hurtling towards some bemused and amiable-looking aliens.
This is big.
You sure that’s a baseball?
I don’t think it’s a regulation baseball. It seems to have a hatch. It might be doctored.
“The Red Sox are not chopped liver,” Hargrove said.
Brilliant, Grover.
Re google: click on the logo, it leads to Yuri Gagarin who on this day in 1961 became the first man in space. The baseball is probably his spaceship.
Nah, it wouldn’t be something that makes sense. I too agree that it is Felix’s fastball achieving escape velocity.
Re google No.2: This is the third link you get when you search Felix Hernandez.
I loved Grover’s quote in the PI this morning about how Fernandez isn’t always looking into the dugout for help. Hey, no kidding, why would Fernandez be looking to Grover for advice? Seesh…
The fact that they are comparing Felix to the first man in space says it all.
USS Mariner… one of the best team blogs, period.
NICE!
Speaking of the King Felix nickname, Joe Morgan and John Miller refer to him as such in the MLB 2K7 video game. Talk about catching on.
Man, I really hate people that diss Rob Neyer. He’s educated more people on baseball history, analysis and how to recognize a good player from a bad one than all the bloggers combined. The only reason people can look at his writing now with disdain is because he raised the level of discussion. Rob is great and I really hope that some day he gets the recognition he deserves.
RE: #23. Not DZ the author but a different one said: “Well, today was suppos[ed] to be all about Dice-K, they larg[e]ly forgot about Felix with him being on the Mariners and his pedetrian season last year, although if Felix continues on like this they will have to pay attention.”
and RE: #72, with the quote about the casual Red Sox fan dissing Felix because of his record last year?
Skip Bayless must have cribbed that guy’s comments because Bayless was on Cold Pizza this morning, saying the exact same thing. Bayless still doesn’t think Felix had “arrived”, even after these first 2 starts of 2007, but Dice-K has based on his showing in KC and his second-best showing in yesterday’s game.
More-or-less accurate Bayless quote: “Look at this kid, he’s coming off a 4.52 ERA 12-14 record last year, he’s not as good as Dice-K, and Dice-K has this terrific record in Japan!!!!”
Sheesh. Prime example of bending the facts to fit your (dumber than dumb) opinion…
Oh, yeah, another thing Bayless said in his diatribe on Cold Pizza: “Sure, Dice-K won his MLB debut against KC, but Felix was pitching against the A’s, who don’t have any kind of offense this year.”
Yeah, sure. Any Mariner fan can tell you that it doesn’t make any difference at all if the A’s are totally punchless, they SEEM to find a way to win games played against the Mariners, year in and year out. They could be awful against every other team, but against the M’s….?
We M’s fans were exulting that FINALLY, the white elephant is off the M’s backs with those 2 consecutive wins to start the 2007 season (never mind about Rich Harden getting the ol’ white elephant back on track if only for one game).
Last night was the first game since 2003 that the Mariners have been shown on UK TV.
Worth the wait * 100.
135 - I don’t think gag harbor in 119 was dissing Rob Neyer if that is what you were referring to.
They were saying that since Neyer is already a Mariner fan and has acknowledged this blog previously it would mean more if someone else at ESPN had mentioned U.S.S. Mariner so glowingly.