THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: Saturday, November 15, 2014

So Felix Hernandez was a little bit upset he finished second in the American League Cy Young Award balloting.

He should be.

But if you really think about it, he should have seen more votes for the Most Valuable Player.

FOR THE record, Mike Trout is an awesome player, and deserved each and every one of the 30 first-place votes he got for his monster season in leading the Los Angeles Angels to the playoffs.

And since he doesn't play every day, there probably wasn't much of a chance that Hernandez could have actually won the AL MVP.

To be fair, Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers won both the National League Cy Young and NL MVP.

Robinson Cano, who signed with the Mariners during last offseason, finished fifth in the MVP voting, despite having a career low in home runs (14).

Hernandez received more second-place votes (2) than Cano did (1), finishing the season 15-6 with a league low 2.14 earned run average and 248 strikeouts.

Without Hernandez, who knows where the Mariners might have finished this year?

With him, they were just one game away from a playoff berth. Without him, there's a good chance that the team is looking for a new general manager and a few other players to become relevant again.

There is no question that Hernandez is the Mariners' most valuable player, even if he doesn't play every day.

Some of those other guys in that clubhouse might have to up their game for the rest of the country to see that as well.

SUNDAY'S GAME between the Seattle Seahawks and Kansas City Chiefs will be a throwback of sorts to when the two played against each other in the AFC West.

Since Seattle's move to the NFC, the teams haven't played much in Kansas City, with the last meeting at Arrowhead Stadium coming in 2006.

Seattle hasn't played well in Kansas City, and might not again this week, but really, this game isn't even about the teams on the field.

Over the last two years, fans of both teams have battled back and forth setting the Guinness World Record for crowd roar, with Seattle setting the record twice - and Kansas City reclaiming the honor earlier this year against New England.

Chances are - like games in Seattle - noise will be a deciding factor in the outcome of the game.

It has to be.

Both teams are still in the mix for the playoffs in their respective divisions, with the brunt of the schedule against teams in their own division.

With Seattle facing NFC West-leading Arizona at home, as well as a Thanksgiving game at San Francisco, the time is now to start making a move.

And make a little noise.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d'Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at JEPressSports.