When Felix Hernandez is inducted into Mariners Hall of Fame, his Everett host family will be watching

SEATTLE – For Kathy Chapman, the indelible moments from her family’s summer with Felix Hernandez 20 years ago had nothing to do with baseball.

Hernandez was 17 years old when he left Venezuela and arrived in Everett for his first season of professional baseball with the AquaSox.

A top international prospect, he had signed with the Mariners for a hefty bonus ($710,000) and became, just two years later, one of the youngest pitchers to start a game in his MLB debut.

This weekend, King Felix will become the newest player to be inducted into the Mariners Hall of Fame.

Chapman didn’t know any of that – would not have predicted any of that – when she agreed to host Hernandez at her family’s Everett home in 2003.

“Nice kid. Very polite. Very quiet,” Chapman recalled, in an interview this week, of her first impressions of the young pitcher.

“I’m sure he was very intimated coming into an English-speaking household, his first time out of his country, away from his mom and dad. But I had no idea the value of this kid.”

For some 25 years, Chapman and her husband, Jim, hosted dozens of AquaSox players during the Class A Northwest League season, at least one player each summer, often two and sometimes as many as three. Kathy called them her “baseball boys,” and she’s remained close with many through the years.

The Chapmans attended many AquaSox games, and Kathy takes pride in her baseball acumen. She could see Felix had talent, of course. He threw almost 100 mph, after all.

Here was the Hernandez scouting report from Benny Looper, then the Mariners’ farm director, as quoted in the Seattle Times that summer:

“He turned 17 this year. He’s got a good pitcher’s body. He’s got a great young arm. He has a plus curve. He just needs to learn how to pitch. His change-up is going to be all right.”

Hernandez started his season with the AquaSox with a 5-0 record and a 0.82 ERA . He wound up striking out 73 batters in 55 innings for Everett that summer.

“He’s pretty exciting,” Looper said. “He could be something special if we can get it out of him. He’s got potential.”

But the baseball stuff isn’t what Kathy remembers most fondly about that summer.

She made sure to have a plate of rice and microwaveable Costco teriyaki chicken ready for Hernandez after every home game.

“His favorite meal,” she said.

And he was great with her two young granddaughters, who lived in the neighborhood and spent a lot of time at their grandparents’ house.

Hernandez grew particularly close with Jazmyn, then 5 years old. Kathy can still picture Hernandez and Jazmyn sitting together reading children’s books. She was learning how to read, and he was learning English. He called her “Baby.”

“Even to this day, when he sees Jazmyn, he’ll call her ‘Baby,’ ” Kathy said.

Kathy’s son, Taylor, is the same age as Hernandez, and they got well along, too. Taylor recalled the time Hernandez had asked to go to the Everett mall, joined by a fellow Venezuelan pitcher, Juan Ovalles, who was also living with them that summer.

Taylor wondered aloud if he should ask his mom for a little spending money. Ovalles paused, looked a little sideways at Taylor and said: “You know (Hernandez) signed for almost a million dollars, right?”

Taylor had no clue, but he had fun tagging along as Hernandez went on a mini shopping spree that afternoon.

Hernandez and the Chapmans have kept in touch periodically over the years. When he made various appearances in Everett – for rehab assignments in 2016 and ’19 – he made sure to alert security crews that the Chapmans would be coming and to let them through.

They, of course, followed his career with the Mariners closely, and they purchased tickets for his Hall of Fame induction the day they went on sale.

A few days after Hernandez made his final MLB start, in September 2019, a package arrived at the Chapmans’ home. In it was a Mariners jersey, “Hernandez” and his “34” on the back, signed by Hernandez with the dates of his Cy Young (2010) and perfect game (Aug. 15, 2012) inscribed inside the numbers.

“My prized possession,” Kathy said.