The rumors started to circulate about an hour before the ceremonial first pitch on a surprise guest that the Mariners tried to keep a secret until it happened.
Would it be The King?
Then he was spotted in the elevators pregame and walking in the hallways by the clubhouse.
“Felix is here, I just saw him.”
“Elvis is in the building.”
But for the sold-out crowd at T-Mobile Park, already growing horse from booing the Astros and cheering for the Mariners in pregame introductions and roaring from performance of the national anthem by Mike McCready, they were unaware of what was waiting to transpire.
The steady din of 47,000 was interrupted when music blasted, a crown appeared on the videoboard and the words “Return of the King” flashed before a montage of highlights of his finest moments.
The crowd exploded in delight.
As the doors of the centerfield gate open, the booming baritone of public address announcer Tom Hutyler announced his presence:
“Fans, all rise. Welcome back, Felix Hernandez!”
They were already standing when Hernandez appeared from the gate and walked onto the field with familiar start of Aloe Blacc’s song, “The Man” — his walkout song — filling the stadium.
“Well, you can tell everybody
Yeah, you can tell everybody
Go ahead and tell everybody
I’m the man, I’m the man, I’m the man”
Hernandez walked slowly to the mound, soaking in an atmosphere he desperately wanted to be a part of as a pitcher but never got to experience in a career spent with the Mariners.
“This is my house!” he screamed pointing to the turf. “This is my house!”
His face filled with emotion and acknowledging former teammates and fans, he exalted in the roars and each wave and point made them louder. Nobody could work a crowd in this park quite like Felix.
“That was amazing,” he said. “It felt good to be home.”
Holding a baseball in his tattooed right hand, he stood on the mound where he became the best pitcher in franchise history. That really felt like home. He thanked fans and waved.
But he forward to the grass for his first pitch with his close friend and former teammate Franklin Gutierrez serving as the catcher. He lobbed a high-arcing pitch home as the building erupted. He even spun back and lifted his both hands, similar to his celebration of the final pitch of his perfect game.
No fastball?
“I haven’t thrown a baseball hard in two years,” he said.
With his children, Mia and Jeremy, and his brother, Moises, watching nearby, Hernandez went briefly to the Mariners dugout to interact with the players. Only two — Mitch Haniger and Marco Gonzales — remain 2019 — his last season in Seattle.
“I was nervous,” he said. “But it was a different kind of nervous. This was different for me.”
While fans had lobbied to have Hernandez or Kyle Seager be in attendance for the first game playoff at T-Mobile since 2001, there was no certainty it would happen.
Hernandez had distanced himself after his final year in Seattle, selling his home and living in Miami. He did attend a Mariners game this season in Miami, but didn’t tell the team or his teammate he was going. He sat in the stands with friends, avoiding any interaction with the team.
He received a call from the Mariners “a few days before they clinched” asking him if he would throw out the first pitch. He told them to ask again after they clinched. Chairman John Stanton made the request himself. Hernandez said, yes.
‘As he left the field, Hernandez stopped to shake Stanton’s hand and give him a hug.
“Thank you for coming back,” Stanton said.
“Thank you for asking me,” Hernandez said.
It’s difficult to know if this means Hernandez will be more visible for the Mariners moving forward. Asked if people will see him around more, he said, “We’ll see.”
This story will be updated.