Game 107, The King Is Here

Dave · August 4, 2005 at 6:55 am · Filed Under Mariners 

As everyone knows by now, King Felix makes his major league debut today, becoming the first teenage pitcher to start a major league game since Todd Van Poppel in 1991. That’s a bit of a chilling sentence, but the fact is that Felix Hernandez is the best pitcher in the organization right now. His command is still a problem, but his stuff is so good that it won’t stop him from being effective.

The M’s have been hard to watch for 24 months. We’ve gotten bad news on top of bad news this week, as the club hoped to turn the focus to the future but instead has had to deal with a steroid suspension and yet another arm injury. But Felix is our glimmer of hope. He’s something to genuinely get excited about, a reason to watch the games, incentive to go to the ballpark.

From the all-star break of 2003 to the present, the Mariners have been a depressing cloud of disappointment. Today brings the hope of something better.

All Hail the King. Long Live the King.

Comments

512 Responses to “Game 107, The King Is Here”

  1. Rusty on August 4th, 2005 2:43 pm

    498. Mara, if Doyle isn’t called up then I’m sure some mad crazed individual from this board will accidentally trip Speizio to put him on the DL and clear space for our favorite Aussie.

  2. The Ancient Mariner on August 4th, 2005 2:45 pm

    Re #481 & #484 — who, exactly, would you have preferred to see hit? What clearly superior options did we have? Yeah, the bench was full, but all that means is that there was the appropriate number of uniforms sitting there — it doesn’t speak to any real options on Grover’s part. I do believe that Torrealba is a better hitter than Wiki, but it’s going to take a little familiarity before anyone around the team believes that, and aside from him, I don’t see any substitutions which were even remotely obvious.

    Re #489 — I’m no Spiezio fan, to be sure, but he has more of a track record of success than anyone who’d be likely to replace him on the roster. I may not like him much as a player, but I like Dobbs even less. I think the team would have been better off with Jamal Strong in LF and Ibañez at DH, but that’s because it would have been a better lineup in the field — I would hesitate to argue that we would have been any more likely to score that way.

    Re #494 — two words: sample size.

    Re #496 — for those of us who are missing something: what’s ATHF?

  3. Wally on August 4th, 2005 2:55 pm

    Re:502

    Aqua Teen Hungar Force, a cartoon

  4. Vince on August 4th, 2005 3:40 pm

    #487: Actually, Ichiro set records last year for hits AND for singles:

    http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/1B_season.shtml

  5. Rusty on August 4th, 2005 3:44 pm

    1.45 ERA & 97 mph fastball – Roger Clemens
    1.80 ERA & 97 mph fastball – Felix Hernandez

    There’s a new King in town.

    (Normal disclaimers about sample size obviously apply here.)

  6. Jim Thomsen on August 4th, 2005 4:16 pm

    The New York Times is reporting that Brian Cashman has talked to Aaron Sele’s agent about acquiring our favorite pitcher for the Yankees’ stretch run.

  7. Gomez on August 4th, 2005 4:59 pm

    493. At this point, anyone. ANYONE. Aside from Hansen and Dobbs, who are just a step above Spiezio’s uselessness, you could plug in Strong, Doyle once he comes up, Betancourt if he isn’t playing, any one of a number of guys. The efforts of even Leone and his injured hand may be slightly better than what Sandfrog offers us right now and in the future, which is jack crap.

  8. JasonAChurchill on August 4th, 2005 5:32 pm

    In case I missed comments on this very subject, if you use a proxy setting, you can view the mlb.tv in the blackout areas.

    It’s exactly what I did today.

  9. Jake S. on August 4th, 2005 5:37 pm

    This blackout thing seems silly to me so I wrote MLB to tel them how I felt this is what I got in response. What gets me is how they still tried to sell it to me in the end of the email.
    ——————————————–
    Thank you for sending your email.

    We would love to offer all games to all fans, however we have to adhere to the
    Local and National blackout regulations even if the local or national rights
    holders choose not to broadcast the game in your area. Unfortunately we are not
    given information on how the black out areas are determined. Blackouts are based
    on your actual physical location at the time you are trying to access the game,
    not your billing information.

    [long deletion]

    Thank you again for taking the time to write!

    Sincerely,
    OD, MLB.com Support

    IF YOU ATTEMPT TO CIRCUMVENT OR CIRCUMVENT ANY BLACKOUT RESTRICTION OR OTHER USE
    RESTRICTION: YOUR SUBSCRIPTION WILL BE SUBJECT TO IMMEDIATE TERMINATION AND A
    CHARGE OF ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($100.00) FOR EARLY TERMINATION; YOU MAY BE
    SUBJECT TO LEGAL ACTION; AND MLBAM RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REPORT SUCH MISCONDUCT
    TO APPROPRIATE LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES.

  10. Will on August 4th, 2005 5:45 pm

    “law enforcement authorities”

    Nice.

  11. John D. on August 4th, 2005 6:03 pm

    TV BLACKOUTS, ETC. (# 509)- Join the gang. I’ve written dozens of letters to the powers that be, and have usually gotten the same kind of response:

    1. Thank you for your concern.
    2. Thank you again for your concern.
    3. BTW, would you like to buy…

  12. Frommer on August 4th, 2005 10:22 pm

    502
    Who would I have rather seen at bat in the 8-9th down by one run?
    Probably half the pitching staff…..