Thursday night might very well have been Felix Hernandez’s swan song, not just in Seattle, but in baseball altogether.
The Mariners legend made his final start of the 2019 season, a 5 1/3-inning effort in which he allowed three runs in a 3-1 loss to the Oakland Athletics. The 33-year-old will be a free agent after this season, and though he hasn’t closed the door on continuing to play, he has become increasingly less effective over the last few years.
Knowing though that Thursday likely would be the last time he was on the mound as a Mariner, Seattle fans were out in droves to watch Hernandez, giving him one massive ovation after another. And when it came time to pull the star righty, Mariners manager Scott Servais had a simple message for him.
“You will always be the king in this town,” Servais said, via ESPN, referencing Hernandez’s “King Felix” nickname.
That’s for sure.
Here’s the moment Hernandez was pulled.
Awesome.
