8/1: Open Game Thread

It's August, you guys.

It's amazing how long a baseball season is, yet how quickly it seems to fly by. My grandmother used to tell me that the older you get, the faster time goes. Now, I'm only 33, but days like today remind me of her words and each year they seem a little more true. There are only two more months in this current baseball season before we start thinking about 2014 full-time.

All that can be said about Felix Hernandez has either been said or doesn't need to be said. So, I just wanted to use this game thread as an opportunity for us all to reflect on what we have -- not what we don't -- and appreciate it as long as possible. We have Felix, and no one else does. While we've seen nearly nine baseball seasons pass without capitalizing on having such an amazing player, it doesn't minimize who he is, what he's been and how unbelievably loyal he's been to us.

There will come a day -- many, many years from now -- where Felix won't be ours. He'll be an old, former pitcher and we'll be old, current baseball fans relishing in whatever new shiny toy the team has put in front of us. We'll remember Felix, and we'll hold his memories dear. But we won't have that jaw-dropping sensation like we do now.

Appreciate Felix today, folks, and leave the worries about everything else for another day.

Happy Felix Day.

RHP Felix Hernandez

RHP Ryan Dempster