LAKELAND, Fla. -- Fans at Joker Marchant Stadium lined up two-deep along the right-field railing just to get a glimpse of Justin Verlander warming in the bullpen below them.
“He’s back,” one proclaimed.
“Let’s hope his arm holds up,” an anxious but hopeful fan said to someone. “If we can get 15 starts out of him, that’s all I’m asking for.”
“I wonder how Jake Rogers feels,” another fan said, looking at the catcher receiving his warmup tosses and catching his outing. “He got traded for him.”
It wasn’t just the fans who were captivated. As Red Sox reliever Jeremy Wu-Yelland walked past the Tigers bullpen towards the Red Sox bullpen in right-center field, he paused, stepped up against the fencing and took a peek for a couple pitches to take in the scene.
As Verlander finished his warmup, one fan summed up the mood.
“Welcome home, baby,” the fan yelled. “Welcome home.”
Verlander heard the greetings. He heard the ovation fans in the right-field party deck and first-base seats gave him as he made the walk from the bullpen through right field and into the Tigers dugout.
"Really cool walking out there and hearing the fans,” he said. “I think I'm going to have to really focus on not being emotional this year. Maybe it will only be the first couple of games, I don't know. Obviously they showed their love and I appreciate it. It was really special.”
And in a change of character, he soaked it in. Not only that, he acknowledged the fans.
But he cautioned not to characterize it that way.
“I think it's more like a conscious awareness to enjoy moments as they come,” he said. “So like, walking in, the ovation, a lot of times in the past, [I would think], ‘Don't let it get in the way. Don't pay any attention. Don't acknowledge anybody. Don't say hi.’ I took a moment to say I appreciated it, because I did.”
Technically, Verlander’s homecoming comes in April at Comerica Park. But his first Spring Training outing here in nine years still has special meaning. Not only was Verlander a Tiger for over a decade to start his career, he was a Lakelander for the vast majority of that time, having made the city his offseason home shortly after being drafted. Memories have been coming back to him over the last few weeks since he signed a one-year deal to rejoin his original club.
Friday's game, an 11-3 Tigers win, as the on-field manifestation.
“I'm an emotional person,” he said. “I don't think it's caught me by surprise at all. Walking on the field today, I think walking to the dugout got me a little bit. That maybe surprised me a tad. I just kind of embrace that. It's who I am. And it's fun. …
“It's nostalgic for a good reason. I don't know how much longer I'm going to play. I'm not sitting here saying I came back here this year and this is it and I want to retire. I don't know. But I know there's not a lot of time left, especially in the great scheme of things. If I play for another two years, three, whatever it is, out of 21, it's like nothing. So I'm just trying to enjoy it a little more.”
That could be a recurring theme.
“I think it's also something I want to carry into the season,” he continued. “To what extent, I don't know. Just being present and just kind of enjoying it. I don't want to sit here and sound like this is it. Like, it could be. One-year contract, if something catastrophic goes wrong, that's it, man, I'm done. All I know is there's not that much time left, so enjoy it while you can. And I've paid attention to what some of the old guys have said that have been around a long time, especially guys that were very intense. I think one of the things that's a common theme amongst those guys is they wish they enjoyed it a little more towards the end. I respect my elders. I respect my peers. I listen to what they have to say.
“I think at this point in my career, what made me be so intense early on, what I needed to get out of that, I got it. I don't need to be that intense anymore to be able to go out and compete. The reason I was so intense on the start day is because I couldn't turn the bell on. Like, it wasn't part of me. I think I've gotten better at that. I don't know. We'll see how it goes.”
Does that mean the classic image of Verlander walking into the clubhouse on his start day with the headphones on, not talking to anyone, is over?
“Oh, no, I'll have my headphones on for sure,” he said. “I just won't be as angry.”