DETROIT -- Years from now, when folks mention Vintage Verlander, this is what they’ll mean.
For days, the Tigers had joked about sending Justin Verlander out like Billy Chapel. Never mind that the latter is a fictional character, an aging, once-great Tigers pitcher portrayed by Kevin Costner in the 1999 movie “For Love of the Game” who throws a perfect game on the penultimate day of the season to conclude his career.
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Never mind that Verlander hadn’t pitched in a Major League game in six months, hadn’t faced an opposing hitter since June, hadn’t fully healed the hamstring that had bothered him all summer, and had just 21 pitches in a simulated game as a ramp-up for his 557th and final Major League start Saturday against the Pirates. This is Verlander, who in his prime, on this same mound at Comerica Park, could win games on pure will.
No, Verlander didn’t get perfection. But with 5 1/3 innings, six strikeouts and two runs allowed, he went out with a performance that looked like it was scripted in Hollywood, complete with the walk off the mound with his family.
“He pitched five [plus] innings. He was throwing 95. Oh my God,” said Eduardo Valencia, whose walk-off two-run homer completed the script and the ninth-inning comeback for a 4-3 win. Valencia was the first Tigers rookie to hit a walk-off home run while trailing since Lou Whitaker on July, 28, 1978.
The scene had been building since the Tigers’ emotional ceremony Friday night celebrating Verlander’s career. Fans flocked downtown early. Many wore Verlander jerseys -- some new, others bought years ago or handed down.
Verlander’s finale was also his first start as a Tiger at Comerica Park since August 2017, before the trade that sent him to Houston. Verlander Day was an event here, and the image of the former Cy Young winner and MVP walking into the ballpark and through the clubhouse with his headphones on and world tuned out was part of the aura.
Saturday was different. Verlander said he wouldn’t have his headphones on for this one, that he would take time to appreciate everything. When he stepped out of the dugout to begin his warmup routine, the sellout crowd roared. He tipped his cap as he walked towards the bullpen, and did it again as he ran the outfield warning track.
“The vibe in the stadium, from the second I walked out there, was just really incredible,” Verlander said. “It brought back some really fond memories of the days when this ballpark was absolutely raucous every single night.”
Bringing back the Verlander from those days was another matter. Nobody, not even Verlander himself, knew how deep he’d be able to pitch, what kind of stuff he would have. More than any other start in his career, Verlander was leaning on guile, his experience of 556 previous starts and 14,636 previous batters faced. He didn’t want just a batter or two; he wanted a real outing.
Turns out, he still had a lot.
Verlander’s former teammate, Pirates manager Don Kelly, stacked Pittsburgh’s lineup with four left-handed hitters at the top to give him a challenge. Verlander retired them all, fanning Oneil Cruz on a slider for his 3,555th career strikeout to lead off the second inning. He gave up a one-out single to rookie Konnor Griffin, who wasn’t even born when Verlander made his MLB debut in 2005.
Griffin was the first batter to face a pitcher who debuted before he was born since Bryce Harper (born on Oct. 16, 1992) faced Miguel Batista (Apr. 11,1992 debut) on June 6, 2012.
Verlander was visibly pumped, though, when catcher Dillon Dingler threw out Griffin trying to steal second base.
“I told [Dingler] before the game that in my sim game, I simulated a runner on first and I couldn’t go fast [in my delivery],” Verlander said. “I told him, ‘Hey, man, I’m going to be a little slower to the plate than usual.’ And he’s like, ‘Don’t worry, man, I got you.’
“So the first time a guy takes off, to throw him out, I’m like, ‘Hell yeah, man. You do got me.’”
Verlander had been searching for his 95 mph fastball since Spring Training. As he reached back for a two-strike fastball to Henry Davis in the third inning, he found it.
“Coming down to it was what his body could do,” Dingler said. “You knew he was going to give it his all. The way he competed, honestly, it was something I’ll never forget. It was awesome.”
Said Verlander: “I was hoping for a little adrenaline. I think the hardest I threw leading up to this was 92 in the sim game.”
Brandon Lowe broke up Verlander’s scoreless outing, jumping Verlander’s fastball on the first pitch of the fourth inning for a home run. Jacob Gonzalez hit a hanging curveball for another solo homer with two outs in the fifth.
In between, Verlander retired five consecutive batters, fanning three of them, including a slider just off the outside corner that drew a called third strike from plate umpire Laz Diaz, also retiring at season’s end. Verlander threw another 95 mph fastball on his 66th pitch.
“Surreal,” Kelly said. “Talk about a competitor, hasn’t pitched since March and going out throwing 90-plus pitches, hitting 95. I think that it was just a microcosm of his career and the competitor that he is.”
Just as Verlander seemed to be reliving his glory days, it was over. Lowe popped out to Dingler leading off the sixth, manager A.J. Hinch emerged the dugout to make the move, then Verlander’s seven-year-old daughter Genevieve – who threw Friday’s ceremonial first pitch to her dad from the mound – ran to the mound to give her dad a hug.
Teammates circled the mound to give their congratulations, then Verlander descended the dugout steps with his wife and kids.
Try scripting that.
“I've never really set an expectation for myself,” Verlander said. “Every time I've taken the mound, I give it everything I have until the manager decides to take the ball out of my hand. I hope that if there's one thing that people remember of me, that's it. And today was no different.
“I know you have visions of how you want things to go, and some games reach that vision, the super special ones. I think I hold myself to probably an impossible standard, but I think when I lay my head on my pillow tonight, I think I'll feel like I did everything that I wanted to do today.”