Felix Hernandez: Return Of The King

Mariners fans are going to get used to seeing King Felix celebrate the next couple of years

There's that song from The Lion King that's called "I Just Can't Wait To Be King", when young Simba sings about the day he will become king.  The difference between him and Felix Hernandez; Simba wasn't king right away, while Felix Hernandez has been called King Felix for about as long as I can remember.  Yesterday, the big news in Major League Baseball was that Felix Hernandez resigned with the Mariners for  5-7 years for around 135.5-170 million dollars (nothing is exact because different outlets have different numbers).  The contract, once officially announced, would be the largest contract in history for any pitcher.  As tremendous an achievement it is that Felix finally got the contract he deserved, the more impressive thing to me is that he chose to stay in Seattle.

Loyalty is a dying thing in sports now.  Players want to leave teams for more money, chances to win, exposure, etc, but Felix chose to stay in Seattle because he was getting his due, he loves Seattle, and he believes they can contend while he's there.  It seems like it will be a difficult task with how stacked the American League is, but with their ace and many top prospects, hopefully things can change this season.

I don't need to say all the numbers Felix has since you can look them up and marvel at them like I have.  I just wanted to post about him since he's one of my favorite athlete's, and he just made history. As a diehard Red Sox fan, I'm a little bummed he didn't come to Boston since he would have helped the team so much, but I'm glad he's doing what makes him happy in his life.

Being in Boston, they say that Pedro Martinez was one of the best pitchers of his time.  I didn't watch baseball back then until 2003 when Pedro was arguably past his prime, but now that I love the sport, I'm glad that I will be able to see one of the great pitchers of my era flourishing in his environment like so many others have.  Felix Hernandez many not be what Randy Johnson was on the Mariners, but now that he's resigned with them, his place in their history will be immortalized.  Congratulations King Felix on returning to Seattle, but in all honesty, you never left, which is why I thank you as a baseball fan!

King Felix already has a Cy Young award, but can he add a World Series?