Coming just a J.D. Drew single short of throwing the first no-hitter by a visitor at Fenway since Jim Bunning in 1958, Felix Hernandez rendered the Boston bats impotent last night in Seattle’s 3-0 win, grabbing the global spotlight from what had been a highly anticipated Daisuke Matzusaka / Ichiro Suzuki reunion. From the Seattle Times’ Larry Stone.
With stuff that Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek called “electric,” Hernandez extended his season-opening scoreless streak to 17 innings, during which he has yielded just four hits.
Contrasted with Matsuzaka’s solid but unspectacular effort in his Fenway unveiling (seven innings, eight hits, three runs), Mariners outfielder Jose Guillen could come to just one conclusion: Felix was, and is, the superior pitcher.
“You can see the big difference between those two guys,” he said. “To me, there’s no comparison right there. If you know baseball, and saw what was there today, you don’t even need to ask that question. That was a great lineup they had on the other side.”
Say what you will about Jerry Narron as a disciplinarian, but it’s a hell of a way for Juan Castro to get some at bats.
Not only is Johan Santana unhittable, but he’s far too classy to call Jon Heyman a liar.
dice-k will heat up with the weather.
Guillen needs to shut his goddamned mouth. I don’t know why he suddenly thinks the entire world wants to hear from him all of a sudden.
might have something to do with all the guys holding microphones and notepads that ask him questions while he’s getting dressed.
Nah, I doubt that.
On behalf of the gleefully Googling fans of whichever playoff contender signs Felix in the ’07-’08 offseason, I thank you for your input, Jose.
Eric–I doubt the Mariners will grant free agency to Felix Hernandez in the coming winter. Perhaps in ’10-’11 your prediction will come true!
I doubt it too, because he’s not eligible, but if he keeps this up I’m sure he’ll find a way to move himself. Who knows, maybe he actually likes playing in Seattle, but no matter how hard I try I can’t shake the vision of a Yankees cap on the guy’s head next year.
I can. The Yankees would have to give up some farm to get Felix (like Philip Hughes just for starters) and that’s not gonna happen. Hope The King likes rain and coffee because he ain’t going nowhere till his walk year.
If wishes were horses, Eric B would be getting rogered something proper in a production of Equus.
When a fourth generation Sox fan speculates that a 20 year old ace will make his way to NYY it’s not generally characterized as a “wish.”
It turns out the walk year as currently configured is after the ’11 season. So, unless he eats himself into oblivion, or Hargrove’s replacement wears his arm off, the Mariners will have at least one good starting pitcher for that period.
While the M’s can technically force him to stick around, it would seem that the trade value of a 21 year old whom an arbitrator has mandated must consume 10% of your payroll would be at the forefront of any GM’s mind if said 21 year old spends all of spring training talking about how he wants to play for a contender, then develops a mysterious case of “Manny Ramirez knee syndrome” when you don’t snap to.
It seems that they’re talking contract extension though, so maybe we’ll both get our wish and Felix will remain safely tucked away in Seattle for a while.