Tag Archives: Ichiro Suzuki

Félix Hernández Inducted into Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame

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Félix Hernández is forever a Mariner…

The 37-year-old Venezuelan former professional baseball pitcher, nicknamed “King Félix“, was inducted into the Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame on Saturday night.

Félix HernándezHernandez walked from the bullpen as Aloe Blacc‘s song “The Man,” bellowed through the speakers. He stood on the rubber at the top of the mound, put his arms out to his side and mouthed “this is my house.”

For this night, Hernández once again commanded T-Mobile Park.

“This is not easy for me,” Hernández said, pausing during his speech. “Pitching and being there on that mound is way easier than this.”

Hernández became the 11th person to be honored by the franchise but few have a connection that runs as deep. Hernández pitched his entire 15-year career with the Mariners. He made 418 career starts, struck out 2,524 batters and threw the only perfect game in franchise history.

He was saddled with some underachieving teams during his career and his turn on the mound was one of the few reasons to regularly watch or show up.

When Hernández pitched, it was an experience. The yellow-shirted “King’s Court” was part of Hernandez’s starts at home beginning in 2011 and continuing through his last start in 2019. Fans showed up in costumes fit for royalty and chanted “K” every time there was a chance at adding another strikeout to that career total.

Those fans were back in their royal costumes and yellow shirts Saturday, and broke out a few “K” chants during his ceremony.

“I want to thank the entire Seattle Mariners organization, ownership, and staff. I’m blessed by the opportunity to play my entire career here with the Seattle Mariners,” Hernández said. “You guys took a chance on me in 2002 … out of Venezuela, just 16 years old and you stood by my side ever since.”

While the other members of the Mariners Hall of Fame in attendance — including Ichiro Suzuki, Edgar Martinez and Ken Griffey Jr. — sat in padded folding chairs, Hernández sat on the throne that was always positioned outside the King’s Court during his starts on the mound.

Hernández unsuccessfully tried to fight off tears throughout the ceremony. And he received a surprise when former teammate, regular foe and close friend Adrian Beltre made an appearance. The matchups between Beltre and Hernández were among the most entertaining in the game when they faced off as opponents.

“It’s a truly honor. The Mariners, T-Mobile Park and to Seattle, you will always be a part of my heart and my home,” Hernández said.

St. Louis Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado Earns 10th Consecutive Gold Glove Award

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Make that a perfect 10 for Nolan Arenado…

The 31-year-old Puerto Rican and Cuban American baseball player, a third baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals, has become the fourth infielder to win 10 consecutive Rawlings Gold Gloves, when baseball’s winners for the sport’s most prestigious fielding awards were announced on ESPN2 before Game 3 of the World Series.

Nolan ArenadoArenado has won the National League‘s Gold Glove at third base in each of his 10 seasons in the major leagues. That streak ties former Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki for the longest by a player at any position to start a career.

The only infielders who put together longer streaks were Hall of Famers Brooks Robinson (third base, 16 straight Gold Gloves) and Ozzie Smith (shortstop, 13 straight) and former Cardinals and New York Mets first baseman Keith Hernandez (11 straight).

The Gold Gloves once tended to favor repeat winners, but this year’s list of honorees marked a season of unprecedented change. A record 14 players won their first Gold Gloves, including all but one of the winners in the American League.

The AL‘s first timers were Cleveland Guardians pitcher Shane Bieber, New York Yankees catcher Jose Trevino, Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Cleveland Guardians second baseman Andres Gimenez, Baltimore Orioles third baseman Ramon Urias, Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena, Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan, Guardians center fielder Myles Straw and Astros right fielder Kyle Tucker.

The AL’s only repeat winner was the Yankees’ DJ LeMahieu, who was recognized as a utility player.

There was a little more familiarity among those who joined Arenado as Gold Glovers on the National League side. The first-time winners included Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Christian Walker, Colorado Rockies second baseman Brendan Rodgers, Atlanta Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson, Chicago Cubs left fielder Ian Happ and Cardinals utility player Brendan Donovan.

Philadelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto won his second Glove Glove, joining Houston’s Pena and Tucker in learning of their honor during the lead-up to their World Series contest.

“It’s a pretty cool moment, for sure,” Pena said. “[Getting] congratulated by our teammates. We know the focus is the game, so we’re going to enjoy this for a little bit and then get ready for the game.”

Pena joined Kwan and Donovan as winners during their rookie seasons, another record. The only other time in which there has been even two rookie Gold Glovers was 2020 (Luis Robert and Evan White).

In taking the honor, Pena continued to prove a worthy successor at the position in Houston to Carlos Correa, who won the award last season. Pena became the first rookie shortstop to win a Gold Glove.

“I heard that today and I was in shock because I didn’t know that was a thing,” Pena said. “But it’s pretty cool.”

San Diego Padres center fielder Trent Grisham won for the second time, while Los Angeles Dodgers star right fielder Mookie Betts won his sixth Gold Glove. Atlanta Braves pitcher Max Fried was honored for the third time.

Here’s a look at the 2022 Gold Glove winners:

American League
P: Shane Bieber, Cleveland
C: Jose Trevino, New York
1B: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto
2B: Andres Gimenez, Cleveland
3B: Ramon Urias, Baltimore
SS: Jeremy Pena, Houston
LF: Steven Kwan, Cleveland
CF: Myles Straw, Cleveland
RF: Kyle Tucker, Houston

National League
P: Max Fried, Atlanta
C: J.T. Realmuto, Philadelphia
1B: Christian Walker, Arizona
2B: Brendan Rodgers, Colorado
3B: Nolan Arenado, St. Louis
SS: Dansby Swanson, Atlanta
LF: Ian Happ, Chicago
CF: Trent Grisham, San Diego
RF: Mookie Betts, Los Angeles

Detroit Tigers Designated Hitter Victor Martinez Registers 2,000th Career Hit

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And the hits just keep coming for Victor Martinez…

The 38-year-old Venezuelan baseball player, a designated hitter and first baseman for the Detroit Tigers, reached 2,000 career hits on Friday night.

Victor Martinez

Martinez, heard the crowd roar and felt his heart swell, as he picked up the milestone hit on the same field where he began his MLB career, against the franchise that signed him as a teenager out of Venezuela.

Detroit’s switch-hitter singled in the second inning off Cleveland Indians‘ Carlos Carrasco to reach the plateau. After reaching first base, Martinez received a lengthy standing ovation from the large Cleveland crowd, fans that adored him during his eight seasons with the Indians from 2002-09.

Martinez hugged Detroit first-base coach Omar Vizquel, his teammate in Cleveland and a fellow Venezuelan, before tipping his cap to the crowd. Players on both benches applauded and the game was briefly halted to acknowledge the feat.

“It’s special to have it done here,” Martinez said following the Tigers’ 11-2 loss. “For me, it was even better. Nothing against the Indians, I feel like it’s where everything started for me. I will always remember this day, until I die. What the fans did to me with that ovation. It made me feel so proud and so good that they stand up for me. I just want to let them know too that I will always have the Indians in my heart, always.”

Martinez is the ninth active player to reach 2,000 hits, joining Ichiro Suzuki, Adrian Beltre, Albert Pujols, Carlos Beltran, Miguel Cabrera, Robinson Cano, Matt Holliday and Jose Reyes.

To attain the milestone in Cleveland and with Vizquel, the career hits leader among Venezuelan-born players, at his side made it even more meaningful for Martinez.

“He congratulated me and told me it was awesome, and at the same time, I wasn’t hearing and stuff,” Martinez said. “It was a pretty cool moment.”

Martinez was a three-time All-Star with the Indians, who signed him in 1996. He broke down in tears when Cleveland traded him to the Boston Red Sox at the deadline in 2009 for three pitchers.

And although he’s had a long run with the Tigers, Cleveland will remain dear to Martinez.

“This is my seventh year in Detroit, but this was a place that I called home, and I’m always going to have Cleveland in my heart,” he said. “It was the team that gave me a chance to be a professional baseball player, gave me a chance to become a major leaguer. It’s a pretty special place.”

Martinez, too, is a pretty special hitter.

He entered the season with a .301 career average and the five-time All-Star has been one of the game’s toughest outs from the day he broke into the big leagues.

“There aren’t a lot of people who can say they got 2,000 major league hits,” Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. “He probably grinded out every single one of those at-bats to get those hits. It’s something he should be proud of.”

Abreu Earns MLB Player and Rookie of the Month Honors in July

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It’s turned out to be a July to remember for Jose Abreu…

The 27-year-old Cuban professional baseball player, a first baseman for the Chicago White Sox, has been named both player of the month and rookie of the month for July.

Jose Abreu

It’s Abreu’s third rookie of the month award this season and it’s the second time that he has won both honors in the same calendar month, achieving the same feat in April, when he made his MLB debut in massive style.

Abreu makes history with the honors… No one in baseball has ever won both awards in the same month twice in one season, and Abreu became just the fourth player to win the rookie honor three or more times in a season. Ichiro Suzuki won it four times in 2001, Mike Trout won four in 2012 and Jason Bay won three in 2004.

Much like his style all season, Abreu was pretty modest about his latest honors.

“I don’t really like to talk about myself a lot but I am surprised (at the accomplishments),” Abreu said through an interpreter. “I wasn’t expecting to have all this success and definitely all these awards. But, you know, I am very thankful that it happened. I just continue to go about my day the same way and continue to work on my routines.”

Abreu batted .374 in July with 11 doubles, six home runs and 19 RBIs in 25 games. He also had a .432 on-base percentage and a .667 slugging percentage all while dealing with lower back discomfort toward the tail end of July.

He not only hit safely in 24 of the 25 July games, he led the American League in batting average, slugging percentage, OPS (1.099), extra-base hits (17) and total bases (66).

“It’s not surprising; you’re happy for him,” manager Robin Ventura said. “He’s had a great month and he gets rewarded for it. The kind of teammate he is makes it better. Guys are happy for him.”

Despite missing 14 games this season while on the disabled list with an ankle issue, Abreu leads the major leagues in home runs (31), RBIs (84), slugging percentage (.627), at-bats per home run (12.29) and at-bats per RBI (4.54).

He’s on pace to hit 45 home runs and drive in 122 runs. Mark McGwire has the rookie record for home runs with 49 in 1987.

“I don’t know that anyone really envisioned this,” Ventura said. “When you saw and heard the ball coming off his bat (during spring training) you understand his power and things like that. You probably allowed for a little more inconsistency going through your first year of seeing pitchers and knowing the type of pitchers you’ll see every day are pretty dang good. You don’t really envision the numbers you’re seeing, but once you see him, it can make sense.”