SEATTLE — Felix Hernandez won’t allow himself to disgrace the pitcher’s mound where he became a Seattle Mariners icon, and certainly not on the weekend where the franchise is celebrating 50 seasons.

The “King” doesn’t operate like that.

Since he’s scheduled to throw out the ceremonial first pitch Friday to open the weekend celebration, he took a break from his retired life of golfing, chasing his four dogs and spending time with his children (Mia, 21, and Jeremy, 17) to start throwing baseballs again.

“I’ve been playing catch because I’m supposed to throw out that first pitch,” he said from his home in the Miami area. “I don’t want to be embarrassed in front of a lot of people.”

This isn’t his first ceremonial first pitch and it won’t be his last. But standards are standards.

How did he feel?

“I felt pretty good,” he said. “All fastballs, no changeups.”

Will he do his unique full hip rotation on his windup and maybe toss out the unforgettable one-legged, arms-up celebration that he had after his perfect game?

“Maybe,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m getting kind of old for that.”

Obviously, Hernandez was an easy choice to be included in the celebration and Top-50 players ranking, which will be unveiled Saturday. He’s looking forward to being a big part of it.

“It's always really fun to go back to Seattle and see that all the fans still love me,” he said. “I'm glad that I'm coming back again. And it's gonna be fun.”

The relationship between the phenom-turned-superstar and the fanbase that relished his talent and emotion was a baseball love story.

Signed as a 16-year-old out of Valencia, Venezuela, on July 4, 2002, Hernandez blossomed into arguably the best pitcher to ever wear a Mariners uniform.

He holds the Mariners’ records for strikeouts (2,524), innings pitched (2,729⅔), quality starts (258), ERA (3.42), opening-day starts (11), Baseball Reference WAR (49.7) and FanGraphs WAR (54.0).

He won the American League Cy Young in 2010, was named an American League All-Star six times, finished runner-up in the Cy Young twice, threw a perfect game in 2014 and had dozens of other accolades and accomplishments.

Although he signed minor-league deals with the Braves (2020) and Orioles (2021), he never pitched in a regular-season game for either franchise.

He was and will only be a Mariner in his career.

“The Mariners and the city of Seattle mean so much to me,” he said.

While Hernandez will return for the 50 seasons celebration, there is a chance that he could soon return to see his No. 34 jersey retired and a statue unveiling that same celebratory pose if/when he is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

That possibility is becoming very real following a massive jump in Hall of Fame voting this past season, going from 20.6% of the vote in 2025 to 46.1% of the vote this year.

“A lot of people were writing to me on Instagram and sending me DMs,” he said. “I was trying not to pay attention to that. I know it was a big jump, but I was like, ‘I don't think it's gonna happen this year. I don't think it's gonna happen next year. I don't know. We’ll see."

The likelihood of reaching the 75% threshold is very real with expected jumps in the years ahead.

“It’s on my mind, but I'm not thinking about that,” he said. “I just try not to think too much because if I get really excited, really happy about it and then if nothing happened, I'd be really upset. So I’m trying not to think about it. I’m trying to just let it happen, see what happens. If I get in, everyone is going to be happy.”

Hernandez went to Adrian Beltre’s induction in Cooperstown and saw what it meant to his close friend. He thought about what he would say in his speech. He knows the emotion would overtake him like it did in his final start at T-Mobile Park.

“I will be like a little baby crying the whole time,” he said. “You know I will.”

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