Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners on Trade Rumors, Tough Hitters and More

What does Seattle Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez get for pitching six strong innings to beat the Cleveland Indians for his 12th win?

A day off, of course.

And what does a star like Felix get to do on his day off?

Go to Fred Meyer in Ballard to sign autographs, take pictures and promote Pepsi MAX's Field of Dreams campaign. 

Of course.

Well, I was lucky enough to get a couple of minutes to talk to Felix via telephone just before that event started. We discussed his involvement in the campaign, which can be found here, the toughest hitters to face, his favorite guys to strike out, his favorite parks to pitch in, the funniest guys on the team and more.

Enjoy. 

Toughest Hitters

Tim Keeney: Who are some of the toughest hitters you've ever faced?

Felix Hernandez: Toughest hitter? Hmm, on the team, or on other teams?

TK: Other teams.

FH: Michael Young, for sure, man. Young is the toughest hitter. Him and Joe Mauer. Those guys are so tough to strike out. They always make contact.

(Michael Young against Felix: .280 with five strikeouts in 79 plate appearances.

Joe Mauer against Felix: .500 with four strikeouts in 30 plate appearances.) 

Favorite Guys to Strikeout

TK: That leads me to my next question, who do you love to strike out the most?

FH: (laughs) I like striking out every hitter, man. 

TK: (laughs) Fair enough, moving on. 

Favorite Parks to Pitch in

TK: What are some of your favorite parks to pitch in? Where do you dominate?

FH: I like to pitch in New York, man. And Fenway, too. It's just great beating those guys over there in their home park. It doesn't get better than that. Umm, here in Seattle. Seattle's pretty good, too. And Anaheim. 

Funniest Teammates

TK: Who are some of the funniest guys on the team? Who are some of the jokesters?

FH: Me.

TK: You? (laughs) You're No. 1?

FH: Yeah. Definitely. Brendan Ryan's pretty funny, too. There are a lot of guys on the team [that are pretty funny]. We are a loose group of guys. We just try to have fun all the time, man. We like keeping things light. 

Favorite Things to Do in Seattle

TK: What's your favorite thing to do in Seattle when you aren't playing baseball?

FH: There's uh, I mean, walking around Bellevue because I live in Bellevue (laughs). Really just spending time with my family. I don't get a whole lot of time to do that during the season, so that's all. Spending as much time with my family as I can. It's really relaxing.

Trade Rumors

TK: It seems that every trade deadline and every winter your name pops up in trade rumors. What do you think when you're constantly hearing rumors about yourself? How do you pitch through it?

FH: Actually, I don't think about that. I don't let it bother me. Honestly, I just, I don't care about the rumors. I just gotta go out there, I play for the Seattle Mariners and that's that.

TK: Does that mean you plan on staying here?

FH: Of course, man.