DETROIT -- Justin Verlander overcame the rust of six months since his last Major League appearance, the tightness of a hamstring strain that never quite went away, and the simple truth of Father Time and 43-year-old pitchers to deliver one last afternoon of Vintage Verlander. But after 5 1/3 innings and six strikeouts against the Pirates, he couldn’t hold up at the sight of his daughter running to the mound to call it a career.
Nobody could.
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“The way it went, with Genevieve running out, I mean, I had no clue [it was going to happen],” Verlander said after Detroit's 4-3 walk-off win against Pittsburgh at Comerica Park. “I was totally blindsided, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. That was amazing. I was sobbing and I had to tell her, just to make sure she understood, I was happy. She’s never seen me cry like that.”
Verlander had talked before the season, after signing back with the Tigers, about wanting 7-year-old Genevieve to know about what her dad means to Detroit, and vice versa. He wanted her to know what all the hard work over the years was for, what all the time he dedicated to the game was about.
Saturday put that all on display. And as Genevieve ran out to the mound to grab her dad, it was abundantly clear what she means to him.
“I’ve been a baseball player since I was five years old,” he said. “I mean, I gave everything for this. I left home. She’s in school, and I wasn’t there.”
Verlander, sobbing like he had on the mound, needed a few seconds at the podium to gather himself at that point.
“There’s just a level of commitment it takes to be great at something, you know? And I hope she understands," Verlander continued. "She means the world to me. My family means the world to me. And I’m just so happy that I get the opportunity to make up for lost time.”
The scene on the mound was reminiscent of three years ago, when Miguel Cabrera played his final game at Comerica Park. Cabrera moved from DH to first base for the start of an inning, immediately got a ground ball from Cleveland’s Steven Kwan, fielded it and stepped on first base for the unassisted putout, then was pulled from the game as his family took the field.
It was an incredible scene, but it was also one of manager A.J. Hinch’s most stressful days, making sure everything came together and getting a stroke of good fortune with Kwan’s grounder.
As Hinch and the Tigers tried to figure out how to give Verlander an appropriate sendoff, it took some brainstorming to put together the mound visit.
“We really wanted to find a way to give him a moment that he wouldn’t expect,” Hinch said. “He’s a really hard guy to surprise. He’s as planned out and mapped out of any human I’ve ever been around. And so I contacted Kate [Upton, Verlander’s wife] a little while ago, and just tried to think about ways that we could create a special moment for him.
“So for the last seven years, a lot of conversations I’ve had with him, away from the Tigers or away from the field, have been about his pride in being a father. And so, to be able to share that moment with one of his kids -- I didn’t think carrying a 1-year-old was going to be appropriate, nor did I want that responsibility -- as he soaked it all in, it was just an incredible moment for all.”
It was a brilliant idea, but difficult to orchestrate. Nobody knew how long Verlander might last; he hadn’t pitched in a game in six months due to hip and hamstring injuries, and his ramp-up consisted of a 21-pitch simulated game last week. Moreover, it had to be the right moment; pulling Verlander amidst a rough inning wouldn’t have been the same.
That explains why Hinch -- who has managed in World Series, winner-take-all postseason games and All-Star Games -- was pacing the dugout, arms folded, as nervous as he has looked in his six-year Tiger tenure, as Verlander labored through the fifth.
“Usually, I hide all that stuff from you guys,” Hinch said, “but I just wanted it to go perfectly. I didn’t want anything to end poorly. I really wanted his last out to be something positive. …
“That fifth inning, I knew that he was tiring. And I knew that if I went out to get him, it was over for him.”
Right fielder Zach McKinstry saved the day by throwing out Henry Davis at third base on Ryan O’Hearn’s two-out single. Verlander himself was worried he might not make it through the inning, especially if replay overturned the call.
“I went over to [plate umpire] Laz [Diaz],” Verlander said. “I’m like, ‘Laz, I need this to be an out.’ Not that he can do anything about it in New York. He’s like, ‘Brother, I know.’”
Replay upheld the call. Verlander still had to return for the sixth and retire Brandon Lowe, who homered off of him in the fourth inning.
“I’m [thinking], ‘Brandon, please get out, just to make the story better,’” Hinch said. “Punch out if you could. The pop-up to Ding, probably the most stressful popup Ding has caught in a long time.”
Catcher Dillon Dingler knew that was likely Verlander’s last out. He didn’t know what would follow.
“'Oh my God, I’d better not drop this,'” Dingler said he was thinking.
Dingler had to lunge, but he caught it. As Hinch came out of the dugout, the gate near the Pirates dugout opened, and Genevieve ran out to the same mound where she’d thrown Friday’s ceremonial first pitch to her dad.
“That was probably as emotional as I would get on a field,” Dingler said. “That was super special. I didn’t know his daughter was going to come out. I knew he was going to get the slow walk off. He deserves every bit of that.”