August 10, 2005
HAPPY PEOPLE:
Mariners' Hernandez dazzles: Future is now as 19-year-old rookie wins Safeco Field debut (JON PAUL MOROSI, 8/10/05, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER)
He deserved a sellout. Instead, he drew a fairly unspectacular Seattle blend of well-behaved professionals and families, a typical weekday crowd of 34,213 at Safeco Field.Posted by Orrin Judd at August 10, 2005 6:18 AMIn fact, even fewer showed up than for Monday night's win.
Still, Felix Hernandez was gracious to the guests, offering a prolonged look into what -- for now, at least -- appears to be a limitless future. Before the largest crowd he had ever seen, the 19-year-old Venezuelan ushered in what may be known as a new chapter in Seattle baseball history, with eight scintillating, scoreless innings in the Mariners' 1-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night.
To quote Bill James: "Young pitchers will break your heart."
Posted by: Cyrus at August 10, 2005 12:00 PMCount me in as one of those happy people. Thanks to $7 centerfield tickets, there was no excuse for missing this game, which was simply incredible. This kid is amazing.
Posted by: Timothy at August 10, 2005 12:53 PMIn 1995, Seattle had a rookie pitcher named Bob Wolcott. He beat the Indians (by far the best hitting team in baseball that year) in the playoffs. Great things predicted. He was out of baseball by 1999 and his career record was 16 Wins and 21 losses.
So, I wouldn't reserve a space in Cooperstown yet for this kid.
By the way, the Twins have the offense of my 8 year old daughter's team now with Hunter out. Another reason to wait and see.
Posted by: Bob at August 11, 2005 9:35 AM