'It's grown': JV prepares to take the hill in Detroit, back where it all began

DETROIT – The drive down Interstate 75 toward downtown felt just like yesterday for Justin Verlander as he made his way to Comerica Park on Friday morning for the Tigers’ home opener. The roads are better, but the route is the same.

“Coming to the park, getting on the interstate and getting off at Mack [Avenue] and doing all the things I used to do, it’s like, ‘OK, this feels normal,'’’ Verlander said.

Once he walked inside, the old-time feeling that had enveloped his commute changed to just feeling, well, old.

“In the locker room, I have no idea where I’m going,” he said, “because it’s brand new. So also, that’s very different.”

All around the park on Friday morning, there were reminders of what Verlander means to this city, complete with plenty of Verlander jerseys that might have been in storage for a few years. So, too, were signs of just how much has changed since he last pitched here as a Tiger nine years ago, including the downtown area that surrounds the ballpark.

“Really just more than anything, I think being part of the city, it’s quite frankly really cool to come back,” he said. “It was already changing when I left, but to see how it’s grown now, and we’ve got guys living downtown, which is not the way it was early in my career.

And just in case the point hadn’t been driven home, the message Verlander received from Friday’s ceremonial first-pitch thrower provided the exclamation point.

“[Brandon] Inge texted me today, said I better catch the first pitch,” Verlander said with a smile. “So I’ll be out there.”

Inge became a fan favorite as a Tigers catcher-turned-third baseman from 2001-12. He played behind Verlander for the last half of that tenure. Inge was the third baseman for both of Verlander’s no-hitters as a Tiger, in 2007 and '11.

“I just have so many memories here,” Verlander said. “I grew up [here]. I was a kid when I came here. I left, and I feel like I’m just a totally different person now. Family, 43 years old, a lot of perspective, and I’m excited to come back and just kind of relive it and embrace the time that I had here and look back fondly and hopefully continue to make a mark.”

Likewise, Tigers fans are embracing his return. The ovation he received during pregame introductions Friday was as expected. Come Sunday night, when he takes the mound at Comerica Park wearing the Olde English D for the first time in nine years, the reception should be raucous.

It should feel like a second home opener in many ways, albeit with much cooler temperatures. Starting the finale of the three-game series gives Verlander a couple of days here to prepare himself for it.

“I think it’s nice to go out there on the field and kind of like get back in the bullpen,” Verlander said. “We’re such routine creatures, starting pitchers, so new locker room, new everything, you kind of get your bearings so there’s no surprises.”

Verlander has had more pressing issues since making his Tigers return on the road on Monday in Arizona. While he has had plenty of reminders of his glory years in Detroit, his five runs on six hits over 3 2/3 innings against the Diamondbacks was a reminder more of last season with the Giants, with whom he got off to a rough start and had to work his way back into his better form over the first half of the season.

“It wasn’t good enough,” Verlander said. “I hope it’s not like last year, where I spent months trying to find it. Hopefully, I can time it a little quicker than that. But I think talking to analysts and those guys, they said the stuff was actually pretty good, so not too far away, I think, I hope.”