Felix Hernandez named PCL Rookie of the Year

DMZ · August 31, 2005 at 1:05 am · Filed Under Mariners 

The Pacific Coast League’s news item is here.

Hernandez becomes the first pitcher as well as the first player from Tacoma to receive the award.

Congratulations, Felix.

Comments

19 Responses to “Felix Hernandez named PCL Rookie of the Year”

  1. Shoeless Jose on August 31st, 2005 1:24 am

    And well-earned.

    It’s just too bad earning the same award in the majors (in the same year!) seems so unlikely, however apt.

  2. Mike L on August 31st, 2005 8:31 am

    First Tacoma player ever? Really? Is that including the Tacoma Tigers as well, or just the Rainers?

  3. Russ on August 31st, 2005 8:38 am

    Others have also seen the light.

    (King Felix)

  4. Adam on August 31st, 2005 9:03 am

    Way to go Felix! And goodluck tonight!

  5. mara on August 31st, 2005 9:18 am

    The ‘King Felix’ nickname made the NY Times this morning.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/31/sports/baseball/31felix.html

  6. Steve Thornton on August 31st, 2005 9:42 am

    There’s a nice article in the P-I about Hernandez’s family and signing, too:

    http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseball/238749_felix31.html

  7. Mike Snow on August 31st, 2005 10:12 am

    New Jim Caple story about tonight’s matchup, too. Not that much new information, though.

  8. goodbye baseball on August 31st, 2005 10:43 am

    Mara, thanks for the NY Times link. Here’s the difference between the New York Times (which isn’t exactly known for great sports coverage) and the Seattle Times:

    [“In the seventh inning against Kansas City, he had a hint of trouble with runners on first and third, two outs and a 3-2 count to Mark Teahen. Catcher Yorvit Torrealba called for a fastball. Hernandez shook him off. Torrealba called for it again and Hernandez shook him off again. “I thought, ‘O.K., this is interesting,’ ” Torrealba said. Hernandez came in with an 84-m.p.h. changeup, striking out Teahen.

    “I’ve caught other young guys before and all they want to do is throw their fastball because that’s their best pitch and they can locate it,” Torrealba said. “But this guy, for 19 years old, man, that’s nice. He’s acting like he’s been around for a long time.”]

    Plus, I had no idea the Yankees were interested in signing Felix a few years ago, and I was still living in NY at the time. Wow. Excellent details gathered by Bob Sherwin. Despite my admittedly limited readings of the Seattle Times, I seriously doubt Bob Finnigan could gather that kind of detail for an article.

    Congratulations on the award, Felix, and good luck tonight against an angry Yankee team.

  9. Conor Glassey on August 31st, 2005 11:01 am

    Goodbye baseball – a very similar (perhaps exactly the same) paragraph ran in USA Today about a week ago, detailing the Teahen at-bat. I have the USA Today article at home, so I can’t check, but it looks like potential plagarism.

  10. Deanna on August 31st, 2005 11:26 am

    Wow, cool. There’s never been anyone to win the ROY in more than one league in the same year, has there?

    Is there a pre-game Felix celebration going on at “King” Street again today, or are you guys sick of entertaining the USSM Fan Club?

  11. goodbye baseball on August 31st, 2005 11:37 am

    Conor, I’ll look for that link online. I hope that’s not true, but this is the paper that once employed Jayson Blair and his fabrications. By the way, what’s he doing these days?

  12. John in L.A. on August 31st, 2005 11:43 am

    Does anyone here know Bob Engle? I am curious about someone who rates so much respect from King Felix.

    What is it about him? Anybody know his story?

  13. goodbye baseball on August 31st, 2005 11:53 am

    Conor, here’s that link: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/al/mariners/2005-08-24-hernandez-rookie-star_x.htm

    The setup on that paragraph is similar, but Dodd’s article quotes Hernandez through his interpreter while NYT simply quotes Torrealba. I wouldn’t consider that plagiarism. However, it wouldn’t surprise me if blatant plagiarism occurs in some news organizations. I’m alarmed even more by fabrications, i.e. the Blair situation, the USA Today reporter whose name I currently forget, and the St. Louis-area paper that made news recently over the fabrication of a soldier’s story in Iraq.

  14. Michael Roper on August 31st, 2005 11:58 am

    Re [8], not so different. Finnigan had the same story:
    http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/mariners/2002441752_mari16.html

  15. Rusty on August 31st, 2005 12:00 pm

    baseball-reference.com has a great new feature where you can see what the very best hitters or pitchers at a specific age have done. It’s fun to put in 19 and “pitchers” and see what others have done before Felix. Most of the pitchers listed are from the 1800’s or early 1900’s.

  16. goodbye baseball on August 31st, 2005 12:05 pm

    14. I stand corrected. Perhaps it was a detail that Torrealba discussed to a pool of reporters, including Sherwin and Finnigan. Regardless, thanks for clarifying.

  17. Rusty on August 31st, 2005 12:14 pm

    The best modern day 19 year old performances comparing to Felix…

    Gary Nolan 1967, Wally Bunker 1964, Dwight Gooden 1984, Bert Blyleven 1970, Larry Dierker 1964 (I wish he was the current M’s manager).

  18. Jim Thomsen on August 31st, 2005 12:17 pm

    I really hate Jon Paul Morosi’s style, which insists that you be in awe of his gawky, clunky, try-to-hard-for-poignancy prose as the subject about which he writes, but once you get past that it’s a good story. I’d never seen the “how Felix came to the M’s” story put together in A-to-Z fashion. Here’s hoping the M’s don’t let their Venezuela scouts get away like they did Charley Kerfeld.

  19. msb on August 31st, 2005 12:25 pm

    goodbye baseball said:”Mara, thanks for the NY Times link. Here’s the difference between the New York Times (which isn’t exactly known for great sports coverage) and the Seattle Times”

    and just a reminder, Bob Sherwin was a Seattle Times writer who covered the Mariners; he took their voluntary retirement package back in April…