Felix Hernandez

Overview

Félix Hernández, known simply as "Félix" among fans, is a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball, playing for the Seattle Mariners since his debut in August 2005. He is often named among the best active pitchers in the American League, having been voted the AL Cy Young Award winner in 2010 and twice finished second in the voting.

Biography

Félix Hernández was born on April 8, 1986, in the city of Valencia, Venezuela. While pitching in a Venezuelan baseball tournament at the age of 14, he was discovered by a scout for the Seattle Mariners, who was impressed that Hernández was already throwing 90 mph. After graduating from high school, Hernández received offers from several major league organizations, the highest bidder being the Atlanta Braves. He ultimately signed with the Mariners in 2002, partially because another Venezuelan pitcher he greatly admired, Freddy García, was playing with the club at the time.

On August 15, 2012, Hernández achieved one of the rarest feats in baseball, a perfect game - in other words, he pitched a full 9 innings while never allowing an opposing hitter to score or reach base safely, whether by hits, walks, errors, hit batsmen, or any other means. In what was only the 23rd perfect game ever thrown in the Major Leagues, Hernández's Mariners beat the Tampa Bay Rays 1-0 at Safeco Field in Seattle. In a strange coincidence, Philip Humber of the Chicago White Sox had also thrown a perfect game on April 21 of the same year, beating the Mariners 4-0 at Safeco Field. Notably, Tampa Bay's hitting was roughly average that season, whereas the Mariners were the worst offensive team in the American League by a wide margin.