King Felix's Month To Remember

... and John Montague pops open the Champagne

Don't let this baby near the Rays again!

On Witnessing A Perfect Game

Felix Hernández threw a perfect game, and this writer was in the ballpark to see it.

Was Joe Maddon's Ejection "Bush League"?

Nothing was going to get in the way of Felix Hernandez's first no-hitter, Wednesday afternoon in Seattle. But you have to give Rays manager Joe Maddon credit for doing everything possible to stop it.

Watch Every Out Of Felix Hernandez's Perfect Game

Don't have time to find and watch a full replay of Felix Hernandez throwing a perfect game? Good news! You can watch every single out of Wednesday's gem, thanks to MLB.com. That's every ball put into play and every strikeout pitch, from one to 27. And it's all in a handy six-minute video.

So sit back and enjoy the Felix show, in condensed form:

It's very interesting to see how his day progresses in hindsight and in this form. The game actually starts off with a hard-hit ball to right-center that takes a leaping catch to haul in. And early on, the Tampa Bay Rays were putting balls into play.

But once Felix hits his groove, it's all over. The strikeouts start coming en masse, the balls in play are weakly hit and the Rays look pretty helpless. And that eighth inning? Well, that eighth inning was something else, and worth the time to watch alone.

So This Is Pretty Much the Best

Hundred Year Head Start

Felix Hernandez Perfect Game: GIFs And Video

On a day when the MVP of the All-Star Game got popped for performance-enhancing drugs, Felix Hernandez somehow became the baseball story of the day. His perfect game was, dare I say, perfect. It was the 21st perfect game in the modern era, with 22 of those coming against the Rays.

Here's the final out of the game:

And in GIF form:

The scene on the mound:

Here's King Felix getting drenched in what appears to be wiper fluid:

And, of course, Mariner Moose holding up a hand-written sign that he most certainly did not scribble out at the last second. Because mooses can't draw, stupid.

This was the second no-hitter of the Mariners' season, but something tells me the fans will treasure this one just a little bit more.

Felix Hernandez Throws Perfect Game: Mariners Fans React

Felix Hernandez is kind of like Seattle's child. We've watched him grow, seen him through good times and bad, and have a special affection for him. He's a great pitcher, sure, but there's something special about watching him grow up and become the player he is today.

Today, Felix Hernandez is perfect. On Wednesday afternoon, he saw 27 batters and retired them all in order. Absolute perfection, and a pitching performance unlike anything I've ever seen out of him.

But in order to get a feel for exactly how fun this was, we need to see what our Mariners blog thinks. Lookout Landing is notorious for comment meltdowns. The community is superb, so you know they brought their "A" game today.

The comments number well above 1,000. And the explosion of joy in the comments when Felix finished off the perfect game is something special. This, friends, is why our communities are so great.

List Of Perfect Games In Baseball History

Felix Hernandez pitched the 23rd perfect game in baseball history. It was the 21st of the modern era (post-1900), and the third of the 2012 season. Read that last sentence again ... this just doesn't make sense. It's an every-two-month thing now.

A list of perfect games in baseball history:

Lee Richmond - 6/12/1880
John Ward - 6/17/1880
Cy Young -5/05/1904
Addie Joss - 10/02/1908
Charlie Robertson - 4/30/1922
Don Larsen - 10/08/1956
Jim Bunning - 06/21/1964
Sandy Koufax - 9/09/1965
Catfish Hunter - 5/08/1968
Len Barker - 5/15/1981
Mike Witt - 9/30/1984
Tom Browning - 9/16/1988
Dennis Martinez - 7/28/1991
Kenny Rogers - 7/28/1994
David Wells - 5/17/1998
David Cone - 7/18/1999
Randy Johnson - 5/18/2004
Mark Buehrle -7/23/2009
Dallas Braden - 5/09/2010
Roy Halladay - 5/29/2010
Philip Humber - 4/21/2012
Matt Cain - 6/13/2012
Felix Hernandez - 8/15/2012

Felix's perfect game was the first in Mariners history, and the fourth no-hitter in franchise history. Six Mariners pitchers combined to no-hit the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 8.

Armando Galarraga lost his perfect game on a blown call at first base, and then he retired the next hitter. Two pitchers -- Harvey Haddix and Pedro Martinez -- were perfect through nine innings (with Haddix perfect through 12) before losing the perfect game and the game in extra innings.

Seattle's Felix Hernandez Throws Perfect Game Against Rays

Felix Hernandez Still Perfect Through 8 Innings

Through seven innings of his perfect game bid, Felix Hernandez has managed to do just what he needed to do: Throw as few pitches as possible and keep every ball in play for the Seattle Mariners against the Tampa Bay Rays. After relying on seven strikeouts to carry him through the first six innings (including striking out the side in the sixth), Hernandez induced three ground outs to get to the eighth inning unscathed. Hernandez now has seven ground outs to go with his seven strikeouts, along with five fly outs and two line outs.

After the Mariners got a walk in the seventh but failed to advance him, it was back to work for Hernandez, and he advanced to the ninth inning in style by striking out the side. Hernandez went back to the strike out through the middle of the Rays order. He struck out Evan Longoria with a nasty curveball. He then took out Ben Zobrist with a filthy change-up, then sent Carlos Pena back to the dugout with another filthy curveball.

Hernandez is now up to ten strikeouts on the game and 98 pitches on the game. More importantly, he's three outs away from perfection.

For more on the Seattle Mariners, join the discussion over at Lookout Landing.

Felix Hernandez Perfect Through 7 Innings

Felix Hernandez is perfect through seven innings, setting down the first 21 Rays batters while pitching for the Seattle Mariners.