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Jesus & the 98 MPH fastball!

13K views 129 replies 18 participants last post by  Moonlight 
#1 ·
Ok baseball fans of the Northwest has the new great one arrived in Mariners land? Since the kid was 16 years old the entire baseball world has been telling us Felix Hernandez will be the second coming of you know who. At 19 and the youngest pitcher to start in years he has not disapointed at all. One earned run in his first 13 innings but that's not important yet. Did you see his comand of all three of his pitches? From a 97 MPH fast ball with real movement then to a 82 MPH change up that really had the batters swinging before the ball got half way to the plate. Then the curve that not one batter in the twins line up came close to making contact with.
I realize things will get tougher for him as teams get to play against him and the scouting reports come in. But do you get the feeling this kid will just continue to take his game a notch higher every time he needs too.
 
#3 ·
He looks a bit heavy for a 19 year old athelete and that little stumble fielding the groundball gave me pause. But wow what a curve ball :Eyecrazy: and like you say that change is going to keep the Chiropractors busy trying to realign the opponets broken backs.
He looks like the second coming of someone. I am too young to have many recolections of Satchel Paige, but hey he's just a kid and he probably likes to eat fried food a bit too much to comped with the Satch man.
Theres new grass on the field :) here we go again
 
#4 ·
Moonlight,
He is 6 foot 3 inches and a hundred and seventy pounds. I wish I could be 170 even at 5'10". I think he's got the baby face blues. I hope he don't turn into a sandwich eater like a lot of baseball players do. I had the same fear about the fast food and Felix last night while trying to get to sleep. All I could picture was this big mean pitcher in a few years who could not keep his lower jersey buttons buttoned like that reliever that pitched for Texas and Boston a few years back.

Anyway we Mariner fans are about as paranoid as Red Soxs fans used to be. But the truth of the matter is this kid Felix is skinney and has the lines and ease of Mario Rivera except he is a starter.
 
#5 · (Edited)
OC said:
Ok baseball fans of the Northwest has the new great one arrived in Mariners land? Since the kid was 16 years old the entire baseball world has been telling us Felix Hernandez will be the second coming of you know who.
SNIP
I was going to head down to the safe last night but decided not to at the last minute. I always listen on the radio but last night I actually watched him pitch on the TV. Looked sharp. I thought his fielding looked pretty sharp too.

Certainly beats flogging 70degree temperature, record low flows for nearly non-existent steelhead.

-tony
 
#6 ·
Great news for the M's! I only got to read about it but the excitement was felt just the same for the Safeco faithful of which I still am.

I just hope they don't trade him away too... unless you want to send him to Fenway :cool: I have grown a split allegience.
 
#9 ·
I too am a born again Yankee basher. On the subject of the "Kids" weight all things being equal I am gonna say 220 pounds is the bare minimum he could weigh. I know the roster has him at 170 But hey I weighed 170 when I passed through Mare Island on my way home from Nam and I looked like a rack of bones and was still 3" shorter than Felix. :lildevl: I think I heard Rick Rizz say he weighed 220 and Valle had him at the roster weight of "170" so hey a debate about weight! Very apropo for a fishing forum!!
 
#10 · (Edited)
2 bills PLUS

Moonlight said:
SNIP
I think I heard Rick Rizz say he weighed 220 and Valle had him at the roster weight of "170" so hey a debate about weight! Very apropo for a fishing forum!!
I heard noise to that effect too. Deciding who to bet on between Rizzs & Valle is a no-brainer.

The important thing is that he looked sharp... but there is no way on earth that dude weighs anywhere close to 170. For sure he's well over 2 bills.

Apropos if fishing is slow.

-tony
 
#11 ·
I'm 6'3", and while not exactly skin and bones, I ain't exactly carrying around any extra weight, either, and I weigh about 195...but one of my fishing partners is 6'2", and is packing about 155...but he is obviously very skinny.

I'd say Felix has got to be at least two bills, probably closer to 210 or 215.

Hey, OC, if Felix can have half the career that Clemens has had, he can get as fat as he wants, and I'll take it!!

Fish on...

Todd
 
#12 ·
Intersting article in the paper comparing his first home start to Ken Cloude's first home start. Anyone remember Ken Cloude?

For what it's worth, to borrow from Lloyd Benson, "I remember Ken Cloude, I saw Ken Cloude pitch and Felix Hernandez is no Ken Cloude" :D
 
#14 ·
19 years old and throws a curve ball over the corner of the plate on a 3 and 2 count. He is eighter young and dum or the real thing, only time will tell. Wait to you get a chance to watch him. 1st ining fast ball 97, 2nd 98, 3rd 97, 4th 98 and the same through 8 inings. Started to mix it up by the 5th ining with more curves and a wicked change up at 82 mph and honestly the only way you could tell it was not a fast ball was the batter was around before the ball was half way to the plate or the ball hit the very end of the bat. there had to be 3 broken bats from change ups last night from the 5th ining on. We will see as the lousy season goes on. Looking forward to seeing the yanks in town I think at the end of the month.
When there are not many fish around at least we have Felix.
 
#15 ·
OC - I just watched the video summary on mariners.org that shows him fanning 11 batters, and although I did not have the benefit of taking in 8 innings it's easy to see that this boy has complete command of the situation. Now just don't trade him away (unless he comes to the bosox).
 
#16 · (Edited)
Woaa Nellie

It was nice too that Nellie only gave back 2 runs in his inning...

The kid seems to be able to throw any pitch at any time. Even on fastball counts, he can burn his fastball past the expecting hitter.

I listen to all the M's games but rarely watch on TV. I had to watch last night after listening to the first few innings. Same thing last week when the kid mowed down the Twins. Very fun for a change.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=schoenfield/050816&num=0

The last fun M's event was sitting right behind the catcher and watching Pedro get beaten for the first time in 13 games... Juice boy got the win I think.

-tony
 
#17 ·
Happen to be at the game last night and the kid is certainly impressive.

Felix in the last two starts has done an excellent job of keeping his pitches low in the strike zone. The KC hitters just could not lay off the pitches below the knee - it will be interesting to see how he adjusts when a more discipline team leaves that low pitch alone.

At least we Mariners fans have something to talk about and hope for in the future - hope he isn't pushed too hard too soon to become the "ace" of the staff. Certainly has the potential but let's give the chance to develop that potential.

Tight lines
Curt
 
#20 ·
Yup, everything looking great with the young King. By the way they now have him listed at 6 foot 3 inches and 225 pounds. That does sound a lot more like it. So maybe we might just have to worry down the road a few years after he gets some real money that he will become a sandwich eater in the off seasons. I have got to worry about something with him after all he plays for Sorry Seattle. :eek:
 
#21 ·
OC said:
SNIP I have got to worry about something with him after all he plays for Sorry Seattle. :eek:
Agreed. I noticed the change in his dimensions stats too. Probably still a little lighter than actual but certainly in the ballpark now.

I also agree about your concern for the talent-sapping potential that the M's possess. Get very worried if he stands on or near 3rd base for any length of time. There is something powerfully evil in 3rd base at the Safe.

-tony
 
#25 ·
So will the kid win rookie of the year? Even with so few games he is still elligable.
I have read where there are many writters who will vote for him even with the short season that he has played. Just a four and four record but an ERA under 2.5 and a strike out to walk ratio of 3.25 to 1 which is unheard of. Last game 17 infield outs one fly out to out field and 6 strike outs. Too bad the team stinks. But ya got to like some of the rookies they show promise. The kid at short will be a 260 life time hitter but he is the real deal and has a major leauge career ahead of him.

Hows steelhead fishing? Anyone been? I have no interest, just can't get excited at this time. Maybe its all this boat searching I've been doing. Headed down to Kemah Texas next weekend to look at a Mason 44 cutter rig. It just completed a world cruise and has been fully re-rigged. She made it through Rita just fine. If we get it it will be my cruising boat so I can fish and surf far off Islands of the Pacific and Indian Ocean. Hell might as well the way steelhead fishing has been going the last few years. :smokin:
 
#26 · (Edited)
So as not to totally hijack the thread -- the kid is a treat to watch and certainly has a good chance to become one of the great ones.

Now the real reason for my post -- I have started up a fund to get OC some counceling for his anti-mykiss avoidance grumpous syndrome. As we all know, 44' is much too long to put a jet pump on and even if you did, outside of the Skeena and Hanford Reach, what rivers would be big enough to use it? Rumor has it he is even willing to sell his cane to pay for RADAR! :eek: It is clear to me that there are some mental, uh how should I say this, irregularities which need to be addressed. If you would like to contribute to this fund and help OC get back in the water and fishing for steelhead, please let me know.

His friend (and former fishing companion) -- Sinktip
 
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