Obviously, yesterday’s press conference/celebration at Safeco Field where Felix Hernandez signed his contract extension was very emotional. You can watch videos of it here.
TNT columnist John McGrath wrote a great column on the signing.
From his column …
Guaranteed the most money ever paid to a baseball pitcher, King Felix figured to show up for his contract-signing press conference Wednesday with his big shoulders back and his regal smile fit for a portrait pose. Instead, the King was moved to tears.
Uh, Felix? There’s no crying in baseball, not when lucrative contracts are torn up and converted into historic contracts.
But as he gathered himself, as he found the very right words to describe the peculiar, powerful love affair between a gifted Venezuelan pitcher and the Puget Sound baseball fans who have come to see him as royalty, the tears were as right as rain.
Hernandez extended gratitude toward his family and teammates, fans and business representatives, and Safeco Field employees and general manager Jack Zduriencik – “thanks to Jack, man, can’t leave Jack out of this” – and CEO Howard Lincoln and president Chuck Armstrong, and then he offered the conference room his version of an inauguration address.
“I’m not gonna disappoint anybody,” proclaimed Hernandez, his stable voice gaining volume. “I’m gonna do my best, more than my best. I’m not gonna disappoint Howard and Chuck. We’re gonna be one of the toughest teams in this league.”
Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com has a breakdown of the contract details , including a clause concerning elbow issues with Hernandez. From the story …
Hernandez receives a $6 million signing bonus, along with annual salaries of $19 million, $22 million, $24 million, $25 million, $26 million, $26 million and $27 million, respectively.
Hernandez’s contract includes a full no-trade clause, effective immediately. The deal has a fairly standard package of awards incentives: $200,000 for the Cy Young Award, $100,000 for the World Series MVP, $50,000 for the LCS MVP, and $50,000 for every Gold Glove and All-Star appearance.
- Here’s the press conference story from the AP’s Tim Booth
- Lookout Landing has this post on the press conference.
- John Boyle of the Everett Herald filed this column on the “love fest” at Safeco
- And even though he works for our competition, Jerry Brewer is a buddy of mine …. so I will link to his great column as well.
- Here’s some statistical stuff from ESPN about Felix.
This is an age of cynical, jaded, and tainted professional sports, but Felix’s tears washed all that away for one glorious afternoon. The people outside of the Northwest never seemed to get it: why Felix and the Mariners were more than a ballplayer and his team. But now they all get it. And if they don’t, that’s just too bad. Because Felix gets it. And so do we.
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I think Felix gets it and will continue getting for the next 7 years.As for the fans getting it, only the next 7 years will show what they got.
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