Always a sad day when the regular Baseball season ends, especially when either of my teams (Tigers and Cubs) are not in the playoffs. But I also miss all the other teams who don't advance and miss having Baseball EVERY DAY.
I have an article to share about that start and his retirement ceremony plus videos of everything.
Good bye Tigers until next year.
Tigers' emotional Justin Verlander leaves final career start to hugs
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/50035748/tigers-emotional-justin-verlander-leaves-final-career-start-hugs
Sep 26, 2026, 04:20 PM ET
DETROIT -- Justin Verlander had just retired the leadoff batter in the sixth inning of his major league finale when Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch walked from the dugout toward home plate. The pitcher's 7-year-old daughter suddenly sprinted to the mound.
"That completely blindsided me, and it hit me like a ton of bricks," Verlander said.
A stellar career for the 43-year-old right-hander ended with a 4-3, come-from-behind win against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday. Verlander's emotions will be remembered far more than the score in a meaningless game on the next-to-last day of his 21st big league season.
"That was amazing. I was sobbing and had to make sure that she understood I was happy," Verlander said. "She's never seen me cry like that."
Genevieve Verlander, wearing a Tigers jersey with her dad's name and No. 35, saw her cue from Hinch and ran. When she reached the mound, she hugged her father, who reached down to embrace her and started shaking.
Hinch joined them about 25 seconds later for another hug, and then Verlander was surrounded by Tigers teammates who came to the mound.
Hinch had planned Genevieve's mound trip with Verlander's wife, model Kate Upton.
"It's hard to surprise a guy who has everything planned and mapped out more than any human I've ever been around," said Hinch, who managed Verlander to the 2017 World Series title with the Houston Astros. "We wanted to come up with something special, and his family means everything to him."
A 10-time All-Star and three-time American League Cy Young Award winner, Verlander left the field from his final mound appearance grasping his daughter's hand as the Comerica Park crowd gave him a standing ovation.
Upton, holding 1-year-old son Bellamy, joined Justin and Genevieve for a group hug in front of the Tigers' dugout, and Justin high-fived teammates and doffed his cap to the crowd before descending the dugout steps with his family.
"I've obviously talked a lot about how my life has changed and how my family is what I'm looking forward to most in my retirement," he said. "Walking off the field with them to end my career is as good as I could have dreamed."
Hinch brought Miguel Cabrera's family onto the field when he came out of his final game in 2023.
"They don't normally let non-uniformed people onto the field," Hinch said. "But they make exceptions for guys who are going to be first-ballot Hall of Famers."
In all, there was a 5½-minute wait until reliever Tyler Kinley threw his first pitch.
Verlander allowed two runs and five hits in 5⅓ innings with one walk and six strikeouts in his 91-pitch outing. He was making his second start of the year and first since March 30 in a season derailed by a sore hip and hamstring injury.
"He didn't want a cameo. He wanted today to be a competitive outing, and we could tell in the third and fourth innings that he wasn't laboring," Hinch said. "He certainly left us with a reminder of why he's one of the best of all time."
Eduardo Valencia's walk-off homer in Detroit's victory meant Verlander didn't take a loss in his finale. He ended 266-159 with a 3.33 ERA and 3,560 strikeouts, eighth on the career list.
"That was a great finish to a great day," Hinch said. "There was no way Justin Verlander was going to take the loss in his last game as a Tiger."
Pittsburgh's fifth batter, 20-year-old shortstop Konnor Griffin, had not been born when Verlander made his debut for the Tigers on July 4, 2005.
Verlander received a standing ovation when he headed to the bullpen to warm up and a longer one when he returned to the dugout before the first pitch. Academy Award-winning actor J.K. Simmons, a longtime Tigers fan, announced him as part of Detroit's starting lineup.
Verlander took the field for the first inning to another ovation. He was alone on the field as his teammates stayed in the dugout to give him the spotlight.
"That blindsided me, too," he said. "I probably should have expected it, but I was trying to stick with my routine, so I ran out onto the field. I was ready to go before I realized everyone else was still in the dugout."
Pittsburgh took a 2-0 lead against Verlander on solo homers by Lowe in the fourth and Nick Gonzales in the fifth, the first on an 89.7 mph fastball and the second on a curve.
Verlander pitched for the Tigers from 2005 to 2017, then returned this year after time with Houston, the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants.
"All the ovations today brought back a lot of fond memories of the old days here, when this park was raucous every night," Verlander said. "My body, though, didn't remind me of those days at all."
Justin Verlander: What A Ride
• 557 career starts with 266-159 record and 3.33 ERA.
• One of two players all time to win Rookie of the Year, MVP and Cy Young Award in their careers (Don Newcombe).
• One of 11 pitchers all time to win at least three Cy Young Awards; one of seven to win Cy Young in both leagues.
• In 2022, led MLB with a 1.75 ERA at the age of 39, becoming second-oldest pitcher behind Roger Clemens (42 in 2005) to do so.
• Only pitcher to win Cy Young Award in first season back from Tommy John surgery.
• One of six pitchers in MLB history with at least three no-hitters.
• Eighth in MLB history in strikeouts (3,560).
• 10-time All-Star, tied for 6th most all-time among pitchers.
• 266 career wins, most of any pitcher in wild-card era (since 1994).
• Two-time World Series champ (2017, 2022) with Astros.
• All-time leader in postseason strikeouts (244) and second in playoff starts (37) and wins (17).
-- ESPN Research
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- Days ago: MOM = 4107 days ago & DAD = 761 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I post Hey Mom blog entries on special occasions. I post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day, and now I have a second count for Days since my Dad died on August 28, 2024. I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of Mom's death, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of her death and sometimes 13:40 EDT for the time of Dad's death. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
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