One last night in the Kings Court

You never know who you’ll find in the King’s Court, which was a part of the attraction in immersing myself among all the yellow shirts and equally-bright placards Thursday at T-Mobile Park.

The first people to catch my eye? The royal family, of course.

Mosiah McCormick, his wife, Angela, and their four children were decked out in their regal attire for this special occasion – sequin-adorned robes for the boys, tiaras, jewelry and gowns for the girls. “I thought if I’m going to do it … I’m going to do it big,” Angela McCormick said. “So we went with the formal everything. And we started calling ourselves the royal family.”

Nothing but their best for the King — their King.

Félix Hernández, making what’s expected to be the last start of his storied career with the Mariners Thursday night against the A’s, was the central figure of a raucous party that started early, got rolling in the middle and finished with a robust kick before the attendees begrudgingly headed home.

“It was so amazing to watch — the strikeouts, everyone standing up,” said McCormick, who said he has missed only two home starts for the King since 2012 despite living in Lynden, a town about 15 minutes from the Canadian border and just a shade under two hours from T-Mobile Park.

“Even now, when people say he’s not as good as he once was … and how slowing down, there’s still that energy here. Everyone here is always behind him.”

The royal family (Corey Brock / The Athletic)

The King’s Court hit an all-time high on Thursday. The Mariners sold 10,000 tickets, accounting for nearly half of the announced 20,921 fans who came to watch the final series opener of the season. The court covered 28 different seating sections down the third-base line over three levels for this special occasion.

“When you’re in here … everyone around you is like family,” Angela McCormick said. “It’s something that’s bigger than us. You are not strangers if you’re sitting out here.”

One of them was AJ Mazzolini, who flew in Thursday afternoon from his home in Nashville to meet up with a good friend — The Athletic’s Oregon writer Tyson Alger — for the game. The two went to the University of Montana together years ago, but actually met at Sea-Tac Airport on their way back to Missoula following a Mariners game years ago.

Earlier this week, Alger texted Mazzolini: “You should probably be here for Félix’s last game.”

“I said, “I need to be there,’” Mazzolini said. “This is literally the only reason I’m here today.”

Mazzolini and Alger smartly positioned themselves in front of the home bullpen area out beyond the left-field wall to catch the King as he went through his typical pregame routine. But nothing about this day was typical.

Hernández fought back tears during pregame warmups punctuated with cheers from his subjects. After he finished with his warmup tosses, he made his way down the ramp that leads from the bullpen directly to a door that opens to the outfield. He stepped through it alone, and the King’s Court engulfed him with cheers.

More tears again for Hernández, who was running on empty by the time he talked with reporters after the game.

“No sentimental questions tonight,” he joked as he entered the team’s interview room following the A’s 3-1 victory. “Forget I was crying in the middle of the field.”

The tears weren’t confined to Hernández. There were plenty in the King’s Court. There were also cheers, especially when Hernández did what he’s done best for the better part of his 15 seasons with the Mariners — strike out a batter.

When Hernández punched out A’s catcher Sean Murphy for the second out in the second inning, he turned his body toward the King’s Court and raised his glove in their direction.

People lost their shit. A man who came to the ballpark on crutches raised them in delight. Another man jumped up and down with an infant in the Baby Bjorn attached to his chest. (Hernández would point to the section again one inning later when he fanned out Chad Pinder.)

“Felix wears his emotions on his sleeve, and I think that is why he’s endeared himself to the fans,” said Seattle manager Scott Servais. “He likes to be the center of attention. He has carried that load for a long, long time.”

On Thursday, he got a little help.

With the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth, Pinder who sent a line drive to the gap in left-center field. Left fielder Dylan Moore didn’t get a great jump on the ball, but closed fast, making a diving grab to end the inning.

From the mound, Hernández howled with delight.

(Joe Nicholson / USA Today)

Very few athletes get to script their own finish, and even though Hernández didn’t win Thursday after allowing three runs in 5 1/3 innings, he went out on a high note. After getting a fly ball out to start the sixth inning with the last of his 106 pitches on the night, Servais came for him.

“I said, ‘It’s time … and that I’m proud of the way you handled everything,’” Servais said. “And I said that, ‘You will always be the King in this town.’ And he will.”

Kathleen Carosi, from Whidbey Island, was there to see it — but just barely. She had a ticket to see a concert across the street at the WAMU Theatre but ultimately decided that being a part of the King’s Court one last time was a better use of her time, even if the thought of Hernández never pitching for Seattle again caused a few tears of her own.

“It’s hard not to get emotional,” Carosi said. “I was tearing up in the car when they were talking about it on the radio … and that’s just me as a fan. So I can’t imagine what he is going through.”

A lot, as it turns out.

Hernández, who insists he’s not retiring, doesn’t know what his future holds beyond this season. But his past is secure with the Mariners, the only team he has ever played for, and for whom he holds nearly every notable pitching record.

“It means a lot,” Hernández said when asked what his legacy in Seattle is. “I got the first opportunity to chase my dream here. I loved every part of it.”

When lying in bed Wednesday thinking about how his final start might go and how he might feel, Hernández’s thoughts shifted to his subjects.

“When I’m done pitching (Thursday), what if I went out and sat in the King’s Court?” Hernández said.

That didn’t happen, but a long goodbye after the game was maybe the next best thing.

“It was a fun night,” Hernández said after the game. “This is my house. This is my home.”

It started with Hernández fighting back the tears as he made his way to the bullpen for his warm-up tosses amid cheers from the King’s Court. It ended with a veritable victory lap down the third base line, where the King got to thank fans who stuck around for their loyal, royal support since the inception of the King’s Court in 2011.

“It’s the best section in baseball,” Hernández said. “It was rocking tonight. It was popping.”

(Top photo: Lindsey Wasson / Getty Images)

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