King Gets His Crown: Felix Hernandez Throws Perfect Game

We have an early candidate for American League Pitcher of the Month. Or Year.

Sure. What we haven’t seen before is this: According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Félix Hernández is just the third pitcher in recorded history to pitch three 1-0 shutouts in one calendar month. And the last guy who did it was ... Well, first let me ask this question ...

Félix Hernández probably wasn’t going to throw another no-hitter.

↵But Hernández had a great shot at John Montague’s franchise record for consecutive batters retired: 33.

I’m 46. I have seen exactly one perfect game.

↵This kid is nine months old. He has seen sucked his pacifier at two perfect games.

Now I’ve seen it all.

Thirteen years ago, I saw a no-hitter.

The Stage ...

This time was different. Things must have seemed serious. Seattle’s Félix Hernández had already set down Tampa Bay’s first 18 hitters.

Don’t have time to find and watch a full replay of Felix Hernandez throwing a perfect game? Good news! You can watch every single out of Wednesday’s gem, thanks to MLB.com. That’s every ball put into play and every strikeout pitch, from one to 27. And it’s all in a handy six-minute video.

So sit back and enjoy the Felix show, in condensed form:

The Jackson Generals (Double-A Mariners affiliate) reacting to Felix Hernandez’s no-hitter:

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After this afternoon, only two teams have had perfect games thrown against them more than twice.

↵The Rays had it happen to them three times. The Rays formed in 1998.

On a day when the MVP of the All-Star Game got popped for performance-enhancing drugs, Felix Hernandez somehow became the baseball story of the day. His perfect game was, dare I say, perfect. It was the 21st perfect game in the modern era, with 22 of those coming against the Rays.

Here’s the final out of the game:

Felix Hernandez is kind of like Seattle’s child. We’ve watched him grow, seen him through good times and bad, and have a special affection for him. He’s a great pitcher, sure, but there’s something special about watching him grow up and become the player he is today.

Today, Felix Hernandez is perfect. On Wednesday afternoon, he saw 27 batters and retired them all in order. Absolute perfection, and a pitching performance unlike anything I’ve ever seen out of him.

Felix Hernandez pitched the 23rd perfect game in baseball history. It was the 21st of the modern era (post-1900), and the third of the 2012 season. Read that last sentence again ... this just doesn’t make sense. It’s an every-two-month thing now.

A list of perfect games in baseball history:

It’s long seemed just a matter of time for “King Felix”, who’s been one of the American League’s premier starting pitchers since joining the Mariners seven years ago. But Hernández had never pitched a no-hitter.

Hernández struck out Jennings.

Felix Hernandez is chasing a perfect game in Seattle for the Mariners. Through six innings, he shut down the Rays order twice in a row, striking out seven while throwing only 69 pitches. The seventh inning was filled with more excellence.

One thing worth noting is the ejection of Rays manager Joe Maddon, who might have been trying to break up Hernandez’s rhythm when he started a verbal altercation with the umpires.