Going the Rounds: King Felix’s Hall of Fame chances aren’t great, the lion’s share of the blame lies with the Mariners

While walking to his office on the afternoon of Aug. 15, 2012, Daily World Editor Doug Barker couldn’t have been surprised to hear then-City Editor Dan Jackson (an avid baseball fan) and myself discussing the Seattle Mariners-Tampa Bay Rays game in progress.

Doug’s ears perked up, however, when he learned that Mariner ace Felix Hernandez was pitching a perfect game through six innings.

Informing Dan and me that he planned to watch the Root Sports replay telecast that evening, Doug warned us against giving away the outcome.

Journalists, though, are pretty bad about keeping such things secret. The yelps that emerged from the newsroom about 45 minutes later was a giveaway that King Felix had indeed joined baseball’s royalty by completing the perfecto. Doug was forgiving (or at least said he was).

Although it was Hernandez’s only no-hitter to date, that contest symbolized his career in Seattle in many respects.

The Mariners were in the late stages of another otherwise forgettable season (they finished with a 75-87 record). The score of the perfect game? Mariners 1, Rays 0.

Coming off the worst season of his illustrious if ill-starred 15-year career with the M’s, Felix is unlikely to throw another perfect game. He did, however, begin what is almost certainly his last campaign in Seattle on an encouraging note, picking up the win in Monday’s 6-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.

That showing was doubly gratifying for Mariner loyalists. It contributed to the reconstructed team’s surprisingly hot start — and postponed for at least a while the post-mortems from the national media on the role that playing his entire career for the M’s had in damaging his Hall of Fame prospects.

Before they are even published, I know what such commentaries will say. According to the pundits, the Mariners destroyed Hernandez’s chances of reaching Cooperstown by working him too hard and failing to provide him with sufficient support. And Felix would have been better off migrating to a big-market team as a free agent rather than signing a long-term contract extension with Seattle in 2013.

I agree with some of those conclusions, but not all.

A succession of Mariner general managers deserve 100 percent of the blame for failing to surround Felix with more talent.

If statistics exist on pitchers with the most losses or no-decisions stemming from quality starts, Hernandez undoubtedly ranks high on the all-time list. “Being Felixed,” or to drop 1-0 or 2-1 decisions, actually became part of the national lexicon.

Even in the perfect game, the M’s started six players (this, remember, was in mid-August) batting less than .240.

The game’s only run was driven in by Jesus Montero, a once-heralded prospect who wound up attacking desserts with more gusto than enemy curve balls.

The M’s could have — and probably should have — shut down Hernandez in September during the years in which they were out of playoff contention.

Otherwise, the Mariners presumably were trying to win games. Their chances were better pushing even a slightly fatigued Felix into the late innings than depending on a generally unreliable relief corps.

As for the contention that Hernandez should have tested the free-agent market, one must consider the sources. A good percentage of the national media believes that the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox should corner the market on superstars — apparently by divine right.

In 2010, I remember listening to ESPN Radio on the day that All-Star catcher Joe Mauer signed a long-term deal to remain with his hometown team, the Minnesota Twins.

ESPN analyst Buster Olney seemed offended by Mauer’s decision. His open hostility was so apparent that the studio host even questioned him about it.

“I just think he could make more (money) somewhere else,” Olney snapped.

Hernandez always contended he liked playing in Seattle (an attitude that seemingly changed somewhat under the Jerry Dipoto-Scott Servais regime). Too bad that club executives didn’t do a better job of rewarding his loyalty by making better personnel decisions.

Barring a late-career revival (he’ll turn 33 on Monday), Felix’s Hall of Fame chances don’t appear to be that great.

His 169 career victories are about 30 shy of what is generally considered to be the Hall of Fame minimum for starting pitchers. He’s never won 20 games.

He has won only one Cy Young Award, although he was flat-out robbed of a second in 2014. Felix led the American League in four major categories, including earned run average and WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) that year.

The voters, however, went with Cleveland’s Corey Kluber, apparently on the basis of a stronger September. That surprised many who believed the award was for season-long performance.

Most painful of all, Hernandez has been unable to bolster his regular-season credentials with playoff heroics. The Mariners haven’t made it into postseason play since 2001 — four years before Felix arrived in Seattle.

Despite the hot start, that drought is unlikely to end this year. Seattle’s rebuilt bullpen has been shaky at best and the Mariners may be fielding the worst defensive team in franchise history.

Thus far, they’ve been able to outslug their mistakes. It’s hard to imagine that continuing all season. Even if they remain in playoff contention beyond the All-Star break, budget-conscious general manager Dipoto probably would still unload his veteran assets at the trading deadline.

Sadly, that type of scenario would also symbolize King Felix’s reign in Seattle.