I'll never forget when I was in Seattle for vacation, and took in a Mariners game vs the Tigers in April of 2006. The starting pitchers that day? Felix Hernandez vs Justin Verlander. I about pooped my pants watching two young hurlers throw over 100 mph fastballs.
It sucks Felix fell off I grew up watching him every 5 days it was amazing to watch. His perfect game against the Rays was probably one of the greatest perfect games ever. If anyone gets a chance go watch that game it was unbelievable!
I went to his last game and it was very emotional. A backup utility guy made an amazing catch to save Felix from a few earned runs. That guy is Dylan Moore and he gave the Mariners perhaps the highlight of the decade already.
This video could have been better with more details into the fall of Felix. It’s not the age or injury that did Felix Hernandez in. It was the lack of commitment from the mariners and Felix to rehab properly. This should have been mentioned when discussing the careers of Justin and max; both had the work ethic and franchise support to get better after injuries threatened to derail them or when Father Time came knocking. Felix couldn’t and the mariners enabled him.
@@set921 I would say it’s more true than an assumption. Felix reportedly came back outta shape to camp when his decline began. The mariners, according to reporters, having never really pushed him to take better care of himself started to try to stop his bad habits. It’s possible that Felix saw the mariners as not being serious enough since the team hadn’t rebuilt properly.
@@bradhorowitz2765 i dont think that was the reason why. I think its because of felix declining velocity and how he never changed his pitching style. He should have used his breaking ball pitches more instead of relying on his fastball and offspeed in his later years. Mariners are at fault as well for not changing it and letting him pitch late at games.
@@JoseGarcia-ki3vk you are right that a big problem was his breaking ball and for being over used. but there are some reports of schism developing between the front office and hernandez. hernandez showing less interest in controlling his weight and the mariners being too reluctant/lazy to confront him on his decline. it makes sense as the mariners for most of hernandez's career never really showed an interest in improving the team
As a casual fan of the Mariners, I’ll always like Felix. Age catches up with you in sports. I played all the sports growing up, the injuries pile up really quick. He wasn’t trying to get bad, but he was great for awhile.
@@iTalkStudios , honestly, I wish that time machines existed so that a better team, like, say the Twins, could have brought a young Felix Hernandez into their team around 2019 and then the Twins would have been a World Series winner, and not the Nationals.
I don't know what's a bigger shame: Felix's arm just giving out and robbing baseball of a couple more years of King Felix greatness, or the Mariners robbing Felix of a chance at the postseason
unfortunate circumstance caused the first. The mariners being incompetent caused the latter. I'll take no Felix in the postseason as the biggest shame.
As an A’s fan I would always get so mad because it seemed almost every year the A’s would have to open up the season vs the Mariners and that meant a loss vs Felix lol. Definitely a tough pitcher to face in his day.
I don't think you can call his collapse unexpected. Most players, especially pitchers, see some decline in their skills as they get older. Hernadez was among the best in baseball but few can keep up that level of excellence over the years. Verlander and Scherzer are rare exceptions. Clemens was too, but his numbers were greatly enhanced by his use of steroids.
Excellent video---I watched the perfect game in a great family-owned cuban bar/restaurant in Greenwich Village called Agozar (RIP) while waiting for my GF to get out of work. By the 9th inning, literally the whole bar was hanging on his every pitch and when he got the final out, you would have thought he was pitching for one of the NY teams by the reaction, great afternoon.
The one thing Felix did for baseball that is amazing, is prove the basic pitcher statistics aren't everything. Without his Cy Young award maybe DeGrom doesn't have his. Because of course people love seasons like Bartolo Colons Cy season with 20 wins but overall a slightly above average season. They finally realized ERA is important but so is innings pitched, FIP, ERA+, WAR, H/9 and K/9 and sometimes HR/9. Also it's a shame that starting from like 19 years old he threw so many innings and pitches a year. On a better team he might be a hall of famer. Who knows.
That year showed the epitome of a wasted career though! He did deserve the Cy Young, but his W-L showed a lack of run support (he won on the strength of everything else) as he was 13-12. His career basically ended at 33.
Comparing Felix to Lincecum is not really accurate. Lincecum had a few good years then flamed out. Hernandez had over a decade of great play. Lincecum had only 4 seasons of sub 4 ERA, whereas Felix had 11. Overall, Felix's career wasn't short, it just went from amazing, to average, to bad very quickly.
King Felix was truly amazing, and such a dedicated player for Seattle, and that really breaks my heart in a way. Having given Seattle such absolutely AMAZING pitching for over a decade, and never even getting a taste of the playoffs in his entire career. And that DOES really make me sour. Him and Kyle Seager both deserved to be in at least one playoff game. It is a real shame that he never got to live that because of poor management and terrible teams around him. I appreciate he is outright dedication, him and Kyle both, but god I wish he could be in a playoff game, just once. I kept hopping the King could find a way to work with lower velocity, but it never came. I miss him already.
As a Mariners fan it wasn’t unexpected. The Mariners abused his arm for over a decade. Everyone in Seattle knew it was only a matter of when, not if his arm just gave out.
What this video fails to mention is that not everyone is the same. Someone’s athletic peak might be in their mid 20’s versus someone who peaks mid 30’s. Anyone who gets to the show is valuable, anyone who can stay for more than a few seasons is incredible, anyone who can do it for a decade or more is a freakin alien
Also, when pitchers start their careers so early like that - it usually turns out badly, the wear out much more quickly than guys like Verlander or Scherzer who started in their early to mid twenties. But Max and Justin are two of the GOATs but I believe you're going to start seeing this more and more from great starting pitchers - pitching well into their late 30s and maintaining that level of greatness. Guys like Felix and Doc Gooden who began their careers at 19 - both burned out relatively quick as it was overuse and not drugs that got to Doc.
You can say that. There have been plenty of examples of guys that started young but have preserved their arms. It does take a lot of care to protect your arm from injury but also a little bit of luck. I believe pitchers can pitch well in their 30s now. 1) Pitchers throw fewer innings 2) Teams are so much more careful with them 3) The science is way better.
Great video, though I'm confused by the video title. If Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander are exceptions to the rule that a pitcher declines once they hit 30, how is Felix Hernandez's decline after age 30 an "unexpected collapse of a career"? Wouldn't his decline be very much expected?
We could have used him in the 2020 NLCS. We had 3 rookie starting pitchers that series and one of them pitched twice. Him and Cole hamels were both in the braves system. Hamels was hurt and Hernandez decided to sit out the season
@@Southernguy41 i believe so. He had a minor league contract. I think he could have worked on his mechanics but he probably had too much pride to workout at the alternate site.
Considering Max is probably thee most productive mega contract, I think it’s time for some videos on those really awful and dreadful contracts that have weighed teams down and the collateral damage attached to them
Things like that happen in baseball. Back in the Deadball era, the dominant pitcher on the NY Giants was the Hoosier Thunderbolt, Amos Rusie, one of the most effective pitchers of the day. Racked up over 300 wins in his nine years in Indianapolis (IND Hoosiers, then in the NL) and New York up to 1898 when he had his worst year with the Giants, mediocre by his own standards. Shoulder injury, a contract dispute and personal problems led to his being traded to Cincinnati in 1900 for an untried 19-year old rookie. Rusie was finished, no more wins ahead of him. He pitched only three games in 1901 with the Reds, one loss and two he was pulled from before he would have been counted the official pitcher of record, before quitting baseball altogether with an ERA of 8.59 for those final three games. His career just dropped off a cliff. And the kid who replaced him? Christie Matthewson.
I went to the supreme court for Felix's start following his perfect game. It was such an electric game and I'm happy to have grown up watching Felix. It's unfortunate how he ended and even moreso that the Mariners couldn't bring him a playoff contention but I'll always cherish being able to watch him when he was at his prime.
14 seasons in MLB is not the “collapse of a career”. Dude is a Cy young winner who also threw a freakin perfect game. That’s bordering on hall of fame IMO. Him, Kluber, Strasburg and Zack Greinke probably won’t make the HOF but they’re in that tier of pitchers who were excellent, just not the generational talents of Scherzer, Kershaw, Verlander and Degrom. That’s okay. They all had a great ride.
King Felix didn't respect his gift. He didn't maintain top physical peak fitness, he drank too much and ultimately it cost him. He wasn't a bad man just undisciplined. Nolan Ryan showed how discipline can maximize a career. The blue print was there he just didn't follow it.
This is my first time watching this channel. And they had me until he used the word "tainted" so ignorantly like many do. Didn't deserve my watch for the rest of the video. Turned it off. Like you said get over it.
The thing with the declining velocity was that he already adjusted to it early on to be elite. When he was 19, 20, 21, he’d throw straight heat around 97-100 mph. By the time of his perfect game and cy young, he was throwing about a 94 but utilized his devastating changeup a lot. By about 2015 his fastball was in the low 90s but he had movement on it and his changeup was his best pitch. By 2016 I starting to notice he was looking different just by the eye test and seemed like he was starting to degrade physically. By 2017 he was washed up, sadly. The first reduction in his fastball was I think just an adjustment to give himself more longevity, but once he started to burn out it affected his whole game. Thanks for all the blood sweat and tears you’ve poured into Mariners baseball, King Felix.
Alot of people don't realize it but he changed his windup. He used a little Luis Tiant twist at the perfect game but as he got older he stopped doing it.
I think the HoF is learning that longevity is not necessary for induction. They did it with Kofax for a short stint of godly pitching. Look at Felix and his career was longer and more productive, but on a team that couldn't hit. For some, King Felix is a shoo-in.
Felix's run was really really good. You can't compare this run with Kofax's or Pedro's. Those were ridiculous numbers those 2 put up. Now if you compare Felix with the rest of the time period, you have a very valid point. His run was probably one of the best among his generation.
I think foreign substances used for pitching really helped out sherzer and verlander. Felix was a power pitcher who never had a spin rate high enough to raise eye brows. Felix is a hall of famer and the best mariners franchise pitcher ever
I can't believe he retired. I thought for sure some team would give him a shot and he would make 2-6 million. Definitely could have DH'd somewhere. Supposedly the Marlins had interest in him at 3B since Anderson has been hurt a lot.
And Scherzer and Verlander just keep on rolling dude. They've been dominant af so far this year. But King Felix, that was just sad to watch him fall off like that, just like it was with Tim Lincecum.
King Felix was one of the few good things about the M's during the late 2000s-early 2010s. There were a few years where King Felix was literally the ONLY good thing about the M's, especially in 2008.
He was great, fun to watch. Had attitude at times. Good ball player. Made good money, good for him. However the greats continue being great in their 30s. No matter the position. He had a lot of mileage on that arm. He had a good career. Maybe if he had tj and needed a year the rest of his could’ve rested. As a catcher I appreciated his gesture.
It was more than likely because of sticky stuff. His spin rate shot up instantly when he got to Houston. Because he missed this year with the crackdown happening we don’t know how it’s going to affect him yet. If he did rely on it then the good news for him is that there is probably going to be a legal substance that pitchers can use next year. People really think all he needed was a couple pointers from a coach and then he’s instantly elite again? Good one. Anyone who isn’t even a little bit suspicious is delusional as hell.
@@grega490 I can name a whole encyclopedia of players that did once training with different coaches or philosophy. Why don’t you @ me next time and I’ll gladly inform yourasss
All you have to do is look at video. When Verlander got to Houston, the pitching coaches took him into the film room and showed him how his arm angle had dropped over the last several seasons. They worked on getting his release point back closer to where it was and BAM ... old Verlander. As for the sticky stuff ... please. Every pitcher, including Hernandez, was using it just like every hitter was using PEDs in the 90s.
Matthew Digiacomo I’m not denying that he made physical adjustments and that it had some impact to his renaissance. But do you know how muscle memory works? If it took him years for his arm angle to drop to the point it did, it’s not possible to fix it overnight and any pitcher will confirm that. Over an offseason or over the course of a season is a different story. People have every right to be suspicious. And again a suspicion isn’t a proven fact.
My friend called me up one random day in August and asked if I wanted to go to the ballgame with him, managed to get my boss to let me off work early and went, decided just because it was so hot out that day that I'd not have any drinks, so never got up for the concessions nor a bathroom break, watched a perfect game thrown by the King...was so random and awesome, by the 3rd inning I was counting down the outs left, to be funny at first, but by the later innings everyone sitting around us was counting down with us...what an epic day that was
I'm an A's fan...so i don't need to day anything about what we saw. I hated him but loved him as a pitcher. Doesnt get enough respect. How desperately i wanted to see him pitch inbthe playoffs
Felix's mechanics changed signifcantly over time and didn't seem to keep up his fitness. Scherzer and Verlander on the otherhand have and that's why they're so consistent
Are you the same guy that does Baseball Doesn't Exist? Your voice sounds similar to him. Felix, Halladay and Lincecum were my favorite pitchers of the 2000's and early 2010's. Felix and Tim had a great prime but it was too short to get into the HOF. I hope you do a video on Halladay's career someday. He used to throw 7-9 complete games a season. We will never see that again.
honestly theres a lot more times where pitchers in their 30s are better than hitters in their 30s, but even just because of the fact that pitchers and hitters decline differently, pitchers become more prone to injuries, and as a pitcher if you get a bad hip injury your career could be over (tim lincecum), an arm blowout could be 2 years of being gone, but once hitters start aging they lose power, there hasnt been that many beast hitters in their old ages recently in modern sports but the biggest ones being nelson cruz, ichiro suzuki, david ortiz, however there have been many of them in the entire history of sports, hank aaron, babe ruth, ted williams, barry bonds, willie mays, and many many more, there is not as many veteran sluggers as there used to be and theres more veteran pitchers now, take albert pujols for an example, he had 11 big years and the entire rest of his career was average and not hall of fame worthy, just. those 11 years were enough, for many pitchers this isn't usually the case unless you are talking about kershaw who I dont even need to explain how good he is, for pitchers you need to put up genuinely good numbers throughout your career, and pitchers do this a lot more often than hitters do, you see pitchers who are old offered big contracts more than hitters who are old. I hope you get what im saying but yeah
I loved Felix, but even before the injuries you could just see the weight creeping up every year. Some big boys can pitch but it's rare that they put together a long run. I'd be worried about Manoa in TO, but I'm an M's fan so keep hitting those buffets kid.
I was gonna say "this video aged like milk," thinking it was posted prior to everyone knowing why Verlander had a "resurgence" in Houston. But this was posted a month ago. Wow. Just wow. Bauer had called out Houston way before the trash cans.
He had started getting good with other pitches towards the end of his time with the Mariners but got injured again, really hope he at least retires with us.
1. Felix’s career trajectory is the norm. We just don’t put aging pitchers like John Smoltz in the bullpen anymore to let them slowly fade out. 2. One team and zero playoff appearances isn’t gonna boost any inflamed 35 yr old arms.
For those Mariners and MLB fans from the US allow me to clear up a few points: 1. Young Venezuelan prospects never have the proper nourishment which leads them to Vitamin deficiencies vital for a full development of their bodies, especially Felix who comes from a slum or a poor neighborhood in Valencia-Venezuela. 2. Young Venezuelan talents aren´t well coached during those first childhood and teenage years, relatives and surroundings only see dollar signs tatooed on a prospect´s face but not a human being, they force a kid to throw as hard as he can , hence eventually causing him major shoulder and arm injuries which kill his career prematurely. 3. Most Young Venezuelan Stars don´t take care of themselves during the off-season, they lack the discipline to train and take care of their bodies in terms of the amount of calories they put in, you tend to see a pattern where very skinny guys grow into these giant blimps 5 to 7 years into their MLB careers. These are some of the reasons why Venezuelan and Latino players shorten up their careers whereas American top players last longer; Key word, Discipline, Second: Determination. P.S: I´m a Venezuelan native, so I know what the heck I´m talking about.
Losing velocity on your fastball is not a good sign. I’m a mariners fan and they held onto him way, way too long. I’ll always love the guy for his perfect game and winning the Cy Young with a 13-12 record. He was nearly unhittable in his prime. If he played for nearly any other team, I have little doubt he’d have won a ton more hardware.
Felix got hosed on his second Cy Young. I told John Clayton on his show that I had hoped the M’s would trade Felix to the dodgers so he’d have a chance to win,plus he liked hitting. John said that would never happen which I knew….
What’s your favorite Felix Hernandez commercial?
All of them
Larry Brenandez
Lol #fekisisamazing
“I have a dollar”
Larry bernandez
I'll never forget when I was in Seattle for vacation, and took in a Mariners game vs the Tigers in April of 2006. The starting pitchers that day? Felix Hernandez vs Justin Verlander. I about pooped my pants watching two young hurlers throw over 100 mph fastballs.
Don’t think Felix ever threw over 100 but ya
So who won the game?
@@ralphus44 this was almost 18 years ago, so my memory might be wrong, but I think the Tigers won that contest
2006 was barely 16 years ago. Don’t go making us feel older than we need to.
@@LampwicksCigar lol - whoops, typo on my part. Yes, 16 years ago and now that I’m now in my 40’s, last thing I want to do is add years.
It sucks Felix fell off I grew up watching him every 5 days it was amazing to watch. His perfect game against the Rays was probably one of the greatest perfect games ever. If anyone gets a chance go watch that game it was unbelievable!
I went to his last game and it was very emotional. A backup utility guy made an amazing catch to save Felix from a few earned runs. That guy is Dylan Moore and he gave the Mariners perhaps the highlight of the decade already.
Lol I like how you said “A Mariners team that missed the playoffs yet again” that describes the Mariners perfectly. Missed the playoffs yet again!
you meant to say, on a regular basis?
This is the year! 2022! ( lockout please end soon)
@@Sloanyboloni management has said that since 95
@@Sloanyboloni Fr bro I’m praying
@@stevennihipali3607 watch these mariners
This video could have been better with more details into the fall of Felix. It’s not the age or injury that did Felix Hernandez in. It was the lack of commitment from the mariners and Felix to rehab properly. This should have been mentioned when discussing the careers of Justin and max; both had the work ethic and franchise support to get better after injuries threatened to derail them or when Father Time came knocking. Felix couldn’t and the mariners enabled him.
Is this an assumption, or is it true?
@@set921 I would say it’s more true than an assumption. Felix reportedly came back outta shape to camp when his decline began. The mariners, according to reporters, having never really pushed him to take better care of himself started to try to stop his bad habits. It’s possible that Felix saw the mariners as not being serious enough since the team hadn’t rebuilt properly.
Very true Felix coulda worked a lot harder and it showed in his later career
@@bradhorowitz2765 i dont think that was the reason why. I think its because of felix declining velocity and how he never changed his pitching style. He should have used his breaking ball pitches more instead of relying on his fastball and offspeed in his later years. Mariners are at fault as well for not changing it and letting him pitch late at games.
@@JoseGarcia-ki3vk you are right that a big problem was his breaking ball and for being over used. but there are some reports of schism developing between the front office and hernandez. hernandez showing less interest in controlling his weight and the mariners being too reluctant/lazy to confront him on his decline. it makes sense as the mariners for most of hernandez's career never really showed an interest in improving the team
As a casual fan of the Mariners, I’ll always like Felix. Age catches up with you in sports. I played all the sports growing up, the injuries pile up really quick. He wasn’t trying to get bad, but he was great for awhile.
I'm still upset the mariners wasted his career. He deserved so much more.
I really wish we saw him pitch in the postseason
Mariners didn’t waste his career he wanted to be in Seattle he had plenty of chances to leave Seattle but he didn’t
@@JoseGarcia-ki3vk That is exactly the opposite of the point Frankie Cottrell was making.
@@iTalkStudios , honestly, I wish that time machines existed so that a better team, like, say the Twins, could have brought a young Felix Hernandez into their team around 2019 and then the Twins would have been a World Series winner, and not the Nationals.
Just like they wasted ichiro's, Randy Johnson's and Junior's..
I don't know what's a bigger shame: Felix's arm just giving out and robbing baseball of a couple more years of King Felix greatness, or the Mariners robbing Felix of a chance at the postseason
unfortunate circumstance caused the first. The mariners being incompetent caused the latter. I'll take no Felix in the postseason as the biggest shame.
The Mariners also had him throw his arm off, if they managed the workload better, especially in those lost seasons he would have lasted longer.
That Felix fault. He never had to play or continue to play for the Mariners. No championship grit
Braves fan here. King Felix is one of the greats that was overtaxed by his team. I know this is a common opinion.
As an A’s fan I would always get so mad because it seemed almost every year the A’s would have to open up the season vs the Mariners and that meant a loss vs Felix lol. Definitely a tough pitcher to face in his day.
I think of Jered Weaver the same way. Dominant in his 20s, but fell off the map after his velocity declined
I don't think you can call his collapse unexpected. Most players, especially pitchers, see some decline in their skills as they get older. Hernadez was among the best in baseball but few can keep up that level of excellence over the years. Verlander and Scherzer are rare exceptions. Clemens was too, but his numbers were greatly enhanced by his use of steroids.
Broke my heart that he opted out while he was pitching with the Braves. He actually looked pretty good in the pre-season.
Excellent video---I watched the perfect game in a great family-owned cuban bar/restaurant in Greenwich Village called Agozar (RIP) while waiting for my GF to get out of work. By the 9th inning, literally the whole bar was hanging on his every pitch and when he got the final out, you would have thought he was pitching for one of the NY teams by the reaction, great afternoon.
It feels like this kind of thing always happens to Mariners. Griffey, King Felix, and Canó seemingly had a sledgehammer swung into their 30’s.
The one thing Felix did for baseball that is amazing, is prove the basic pitcher statistics aren't everything. Without his Cy Young award maybe DeGrom doesn't have his. Because of course people love seasons like Bartolo Colons Cy season with 20 wins but overall a slightly above average season. They finally realized ERA is important but so is innings pitched, FIP, ERA+, WAR, H/9 and K/9 and sometimes HR/9.
Also it's a shame that starting from like 19 years old he threw so many innings and pitches a year. On a better team he might be a hall of famer. Who knows.
That year showed the epitome of a wasted career though! He did deserve the Cy Young, but his W-L showed a lack of run support (he won on the strength of everything else) as he was 13-12. His career basically ended at 33.
Shameful that the Mariners didnt add some runsupport for this legend! He deserved to pitch in the postseason
They did they just kept signing the wrong players. Bad management and bad luck
They tried too lol. Robinson cano and Nelson Cruz
We tried 🤦🏻♂️. Do you think we wanted to suck for the past 2 decades?
It was telling even in his perfect game against the rays they struggled to get runs for Felix
Felix is Seattle’s version of Tim Lincecum. A supernova that burned brightly then flamed out.
At least Tim won. Felix didn’t thanks to his supporting cast being a bunch of scrubs and Ichiro.
Comparing Felix to Lincecum is not really accurate. Lincecum had a few good years then flamed out. Hernandez had over a decade of great play. Lincecum had only 4 seasons of sub 4 ERA, whereas Felix had 11. Overall, Felix's career wasn't short, it just went from amazing, to average, to bad very quickly.
Wow. Felix deserves WAY more respect than that comment sheesh. Dude was arguably the most solid ace in AL for damn near full decade
Yea no.
Lincecum won when it mattered and had a fine set of hair. Tim everyday
King Felix was truly amazing, and such a dedicated player for Seattle, and that really breaks my heart in a way. Having given Seattle such absolutely AMAZING pitching for over a decade, and never even getting a taste of the playoffs in his entire career. And that DOES really make me sour. Him and Kyle Seager both deserved to be in at least one playoff game. It is a real shame that he never got to live that because of poor management and terrible teams around him. I appreciate he is outright dedication, him and Kyle both, but god I wish he could be in a playoff game, just once.
I kept hopping the King could find a way to work with lower velocity, but it never came. I miss him already.
As a Mariners fan it wasn’t unexpected. The Mariners abused his arm for over a decade. Everyone in Seattle knew it was only a matter of when, not if his arm just gave out.
What this video fails to mention is that not everyone is the same. Someone’s athletic peak might be in their mid 20’s versus someone who peaks mid 30’s. Anyone who gets to the show is valuable, anyone who can stay for more than a few seasons is incredible, anyone who can do it for a decade or more is a freakin alien
Also, when pitchers start their careers so early like that - it usually turns out badly, the wear out much more quickly than guys like Verlander or Scherzer who started in their early to mid twenties. But Max and Justin are two of the GOATs but I believe you're going to start seeing this more and more from great starting pitchers - pitching well into their late 30s and maintaining that level of greatness. Guys like Felix and Doc Gooden who began their careers at 19 - both burned out relatively quick as it was overuse and not drugs that got to Doc.
You can say that. There have been plenty of examples of guys that started young but have preserved their arms. It does take a lot of care to protect your arm from injury but also a little bit of luck.
I believe pitchers can pitch well in their 30s now. 1) Pitchers throw fewer innings 2) Teams are so much more careful with them 3) The science is way better.
Great video, though I'm confused by the video title. If Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander are exceptions to the rule that a pitcher declines once they hit 30, how is Felix Hernandez's decline after age 30 an "unexpected collapse of a career"? Wouldn't his decline be very much expected?
Verlander and scherzer also pitched 95 plus and still throw it some what hard..felix was a 90-94 guy
Thank you for adding the "now tainted" to the 2017 championship. You rock
We could have used him in the 2020 NLCS. We had 3 rookie starting pitchers that series and one of them pitched twice. Him and Cole hamels were both in the braves system. Hamels was hurt and Hernandez decided to sit out the season
We acquired him that year. Was it because of covid that he didn’t want to pitch?
@@Southernguy41 i believe so. He had a minor league contract. I think he could have worked on his mechanics but he probably had too much pride to workout at the alternate site.
Considering Max is probably thee most productive mega contract, I think it’s time for some videos on those really awful and dreadful contracts that have weighed teams down and the collateral damage attached to them
Randy Johnson signed a 4 year deal and won 4 straight Cy Young awards.
@@franzschubertv2874 true. He also won the ERA title 3 out of those 4 seasons. Mind boggling!!!
Things like that happen in baseball. Back in the Deadball era, the dominant pitcher on the NY Giants was the Hoosier Thunderbolt, Amos Rusie, one of the most effective pitchers of the day. Racked up over 300 wins in his nine years in Indianapolis (IND Hoosiers, then in the NL) and New York up to 1898 when he had his worst year with the Giants, mediocre by his own standards. Shoulder injury, a contract dispute and personal problems led to his being traded to Cincinnati in 1900 for an untried 19-year old rookie. Rusie was finished, no more wins ahead of him. He pitched only three games in 1901 with the Reds, one loss and two he was pulled from before he would have been counted the official pitcher of record, before quitting baseball altogether with an ERA of 8.59 for those final three games. His career just dropped off a cliff. And the kid who replaced him? Christie Matthewson.
Big A's fan... saw him pitch a ton against them. Its a shame he never got to the postseason in his prime..
I went to the supreme court for Felix's start following his perfect game. It was such an electric game and I'm happy to have grown up watching Felix. It's unfortunate how he ended and even moreso that the Mariners couldn't bring him a playoff contention but I'll always cherish being able to watch him when he was at his prime.
14 seasons in MLB is not the “collapse of a career”. Dude is a Cy young winner who also threw a freakin perfect game. That’s bordering on hall of fame IMO. Him, Kluber, Strasburg and Zack Greinke probably won’t make the HOF but they’re in that tier of pitchers who were excellent, just not the generational talents of Scherzer, Kershaw, Verlander and Degrom. That’s okay. They all had a great ride.
Felix is one of few pitchers to have the three rarest accomplishments as a pitcher: a 4 Strike Out Inning, a Perfect Game, and an Immaculate Inning
The best RUclips channel right now for baseball
King Felix didn't respect his gift. He didn't maintain top physical peak fitness, he drank too much and ultimately it cost him. He wasn't a bad man just undisciplined. Nolan Ryan showed how discipline can maximize a career. The blue print was there he just didn't follow it.
whenever talking about the astros, this channel always finds a way to say “tainted championship” they can’t let it go like a crazy ex
This is my first time watching this channel. And they had me until he used the word "tainted" so ignorantly like many do. Didn't deserve my watch for the rest of the video. Turned it off.
Like you said get over it.
Awesome guy. He would wait and sign for people waiting for his autograph at spring training in Peoria, AZ. He would even personalize them. Nice guy.
Felix rocking a casual industries hat. That's pretty cool
The thing with the declining velocity was that he already adjusted to it early on to be elite. When he was 19, 20, 21, he’d throw straight heat around 97-100 mph. By the time of his perfect game and cy young, he was throwing about a 94 but utilized his devastating changeup a lot. By about 2015 his fastball was in the low 90s but he had movement on it and his changeup was his best pitch. By 2016 I starting to notice he was looking different just by the eye test and seemed like he was starting to degrade physically. By 2017 he was washed up, sadly.
The first reduction in his fastball was I think just an adjustment to give himself more longevity, but once he started to burn out it affected his whole game.
Thanks for all the blood sweat and tears you’ve poured into Mariners baseball, King Felix.
Alot of people don't realize it but he changed his windup. He used a little Luis Tiant twist at the perfect game but as he got older he stopped doing it.
I wish He could have used and developed his breaking pitches more. I think if he did that he would have stayed much longer
By the time he was around 94 or 95 mph, his elbow was already deteriorating.
@@JoseGarcia-ki3vk He had one of the best breaking balls in the league.
I think the HoF is learning that longevity is not necessary for induction. They did it with Kofax for a short stint of godly pitching. Look at Felix and his career was longer and more productive, but on a team that couldn't hit. For some, King Felix is a shoo-in.
Felix's run was really really good. You can't compare this run with Kofax's or Pedro's. Those were ridiculous numbers those 2 put up. Now if you compare Felix with the rest of the time period, you have a very valid point. His run was probably one of the best among his generation.
If he would have gone to the Yankees he would be known as one of the best pitchers ever and maybe the Yankees fix his current problem
Million dollar talent, 2 cent brain!
Max has a 2.13 Era this year. Dudes a beast.
Felix was pitching 200 innings like it was nothing 😔
Imagine if he came up with the Yankees.
Detroit drafted so many good pitchers but held on to none lol
Wish he had the same prime as Kershaw :/ would've been a legend
I think foreign substances used for pitching really helped out sherzer and verlander. Felix was a power pitcher who never had a spin rate high enough to raise eye brows. Felix is a hall of famer and the best mariners franchise pitcher ever
Speaking of the Mariners, can you do a video about the recently retired Kyle Seager? Keep up the great work. Thanks!
I can't believe he retired. I thought for sure some team would give him a shot and he would make 2-6 million. Definitely could have DH'd somewhere. Supposedly the Marlins had interest in him at 3B since Anderson has been hurt a lot.
I grew up a mariners fan (still am) and I remember going to a game where he started . It was fun
The fact that on king Felix perfect game, he only won by 1 run perfectly epitomes my poor mariners. The king definitely deserved way better
I’m of the opinion that anyone who pitches a perfect game should gain automatic entry into the baseball hall of fame.
I was at the game where he one-hit the sox. We were pumped to see Dice-K pitch but instead got rocked by Felix.
I'm a huge Mariners fan. Looking forward to this video
And Scherzer and Verlander just keep on rolling dude. They've been dominant af so far this year. But King Felix, that was just sad to watch him fall off like that, just like it was with Tim Lincecum.
King Felix was one of the few good things about the M's during the late 2000s-early 2010s. There were a few years where King Felix was literally the ONLY good thing about the M's, especially in 2008.
He was great, fun to watch. Had attitude at times. Good ball player. Made good money, good for him. However the greats continue being great in their 30s. No matter the position. He had a lot of mileage on that arm. He had a good career. Maybe if he had tj and needed a year the rest of his could’ve rested. As a catcher I appreciated his gesture.
Verlander's renaissance with the Astros is suspicious as hell imo
Then you don’t understand what working with other coaches can do for a player.
It was more than likely because of sticky stuff. His spin rate shot up instantly when he got to Houston. Because he missed this year with the crackdown happening we don’t know how it’s going to affect him yet. If he did rely on it then the good news for him is that there is probably going to be a legal substance that pitchers can use next year. People really think all he needed was a couple pointers from a coach and then he’s instantly elite again? Good one. Anyone who isn’t even a little bit suspicious is delusional as hell.
@@grega490 I can name a whole encyclopedia of players that did once training with different coaches or philosophy. Why don’t you @ me next time and I’ll gladly inform yourasss
All you have to do is look at video. When Verlander got to Houston, the pitching coaches took him into the film room and showed him how his arm angle had dropped over the last several seasons. They worked on getting his release point back closer to where it was and BAM ... old Verlander. As for the sticky stuff ... please. Every pitcher, including Hernandez, was using it just like every hitter was using PEDs in the 90s.
Matthew Digiacomo I’m not denying that he made physical adjustments and that it had some impact to his renaissance. But do you know how muscle memory works? If it took him years for his arm angle to drop to the point it did, it’s not possible to fix it overnight and any pitcher will confirm that. Over an offseason or over the course of a season is a different story. People have every right to be suspicious. And again a suspicion isn’t a proven fact.
Good content, I’ve been watching these videos non stop, lol. Just subbed and keep up the great work…
Your support means a lot! Thank you!!!!
It's good for an average fan. So many holes in many of the videos. It's decent though to learn about many stories and the history of the game.
My friend called me up one random day in August and asked if I wanted to go to the ballgame with him, managed to get my boss to let me off work early and went, decided just because it was so hot out that day that I'd not have any drinks, so never got up for the concessions nor a bathroom break, watched a perfect game thrown by the King...was so random and awesome, by the 3rd inning I was counting down the outs left, to be funny at first, but by the later innings everyone sitting around us was counting down with us...what an epic day that was
You could make a whole video about pitchers who were finished by age 30. It is brutal on your arm. Jim Maloney is a perfect example.
I'm an A's fan...so i don't need to day anything about what we saw. I hated him but loved him as a pitcher. Doesnt get enough respect. How desperately i wanted to see him pitch inbthe playoffs
Felix's mechanics changed signifcantly over time and didn't seem to keep up his fitness. Scherzer and Verlander on the otherhand have and that's why they're so consistent
Justin swears by the pound a day. Of Pinto beans.
Are you the same guy that does Baseball Doesn't Exist? Your voice sounds similar to him.
Felix, Halladay and Lincecum were my favorite pitchers of the 2000's and early 2010's. Felix and Tim had a great prime but it was too short to get into the HOF.
I hope you do a video on Halladay's career someday. He used to throw 7-9 complete games a season. We will never see that again.
honestly theres a lot more times where pitchers in their 30s are better than hitters in their 30s, but even just because of the fact that pitchers and hitters decline differently, pitchers become more prone to injuries, and as a pitcher if you get a bad hip injury your career could be over (tim lincecum), an arm blowout could be 2 years of being gone, but once hitters start aging they lose power, there hasnt been that many beast hitters in their old ages recently in modern sports but the biggest ones being nelson cruz, ichiro suzuki, david ortiz, however there have been many of them in the entire history of sports, hank aaron, babe ruth, ted williams, barry bonds, willie mays, and many many more, there is not as many veteran sluggers as there used to be and theres more veteran pitchers now, take albert pujols for an example, he had 11 big years and the entire rest of his career was average and not hall of fame worthy, just. those 11 years were enough, for many pitchers this isn't usually the case unless you are talking about kershaw who I dont even need to explain how good he is, for pitchers you need to put up genuinely good numbers throughout your career, and pitchers do this a lot more often than hitters do, you see pitchers who are old offered big contracts more than hitters who are old. I hope you get what im saying but yeah
And Verlander may possibly win the Cy young in the 2022 season too. Dude has been a monster after TJ surgery and being 39 years old
Great video! Looking forward to seeing more.
I loved Felix, but even before the injuries you could just see the weight creeping up every year. Some big boys can pitch but it's rare that they put together a long run. I'd be worried about Manoa in TO, but I'm an M's fan so keep hitting those buffets kid.
7:51 Wait is that Chris Taylor? I guess this from before the Dodgers dangled that juicy Zach Lee carrot.
Great video as always but brother you butchered Scott Servais name. 😂
The elder scrolls music was unexpected but appreciated
😂👊
Shame he didnt play for a better team. Pound for pound this guy was a top 3 pitcher of his era.
Verlander has alway's been nasty on that mound definitely a future Hof.
It would be fitting if Hernandez threw the last perfect Game ever.
Fitness, fitness, fitness. He always seemed out of shape.
Fun fact. Felix Hernandez never gave up a postseason hit and is undefeated in postseason play.
Felix was dominating the league and then …
I was gonna say "this video aged like milk," thinking it was posted prior to everyone knowing why Verlander had a "resurgence" in Houston. But this was posted a month ago. Wow. Just wow. Bauer had called out Houston way before the trash cans.
Tired arm. Got an early start, logged a bushel of innings, there’s the answer. But when healthy he was “The King”.
Plus a ticking time bomb in his elbow.
"Hold my beer, it's time to show off a little."
- Felix Hernandez, probably sometime in 2012.
He had started getting good with other pitches towards the end of his time with the Mariners but got injured again, really hope he at least retires with us.
Jntt there
New intro music hits hard 😞👍
A King with out a throne 😢
King Felix is one of the last among a group of pitchers who really just don’t exist anymore. Not overpowering stuff, but man could he pitch
Mariners milked his arm and gave him barely any help. Every Ms fan knows Felix did enough.
1. Felix’s career trajectory is the norm. We just don’t put aging pitchers like John Smoltz in the bullpen anymore to let them slowly fade out.
2. One team and zero playoff appearances isn’t gonna boost any inflamed 35 yr old arms.
How about a video on how the Mariners wasted yet another brilliant career
haha there’s so much to talk about with the Mariners and their unfortunate failures over the last 20 years
Ichiro's
For those Mariners and MLB fans from the US allow me to clear up a few points:
1. Young Venezuelan prospects never have the proper nourishment which leads them to Vitamin deficiencies vital for a full development of their bodies, especially Felix who comes from a slum or a poor neighborhood in Valencia-Venezuela.
2. Young Venezuelan talents aren´t well coached during those first childhood and teenage years, relatives and surroundings only see dollar signs tatooed on a prospect´s face but not a human being, they force a kid to throw as hard as he can , hence eventually causing him major shoulder and arm injuries which kill his career prematurely.
3. Most Young Venezuelan Stars don´t take care of themselves during the off-season, they lack the discipline to train and take care of their bodies in terms of the amount of calories they put in, you tend to see a pattern where very skinny guys grow into these giant blimps 5 to 7 years into their MLB careers.
These are some of the reasons why Venezuelan and Latino players shorten up their careers whereas American top players last longer; Key word, Discipline, Second: Determination.
P.S: I´m a Venezuelan native, so I know what the heck I´m talking about.
Do you need to show max scherzer strike out all phillies???
I feel like more could've been said in this vid
Mad max with the foul mouth 😂😂
Sad how many careers the Seattle Mariners current ownership group has failed. Thank God for Jerry Dipoto turning this organization around
The triple crown is an offensive statistic man.
As much as I love Felix, he didnt take his rehabs as seriously as Mariner management wanted him too. There, I said it in a nice way.
Love the videos! Thanks for making them
Losing velocity on your fastball is not a good sign. I’m a mariners fan and they held onto him way, way too long. I’ll always love the guy for his perfect game and winning the Cy Young with a 13-12 record. He was nearly unhittable in his prime. If he played for nearly any other team, I have little doubt he’d have won a ton more hardware.
This video reminds of what happened to Ubaldo Jimenez. I remember he had that one good season in 2009 or 2010 I don't remember I was 14 years old
It's very difficult not to get injured as a pitcher.
Roger Clemens had a point in his career where he fell off and then like Justin he miraculously became dominant again. A couple of feel good stories.
Felix got hosed on his second Cy Young. I told John Clayton on his show that I had hoped the M’s would trade Felix to the dodgers so he’d have a chance to win,plus he liked hitting. John said that would never happen which I knew….