Justin Verlander made his final MLB start in his 21-year career, and it reached an emotional peak thanks to his daughter.
Verlander is retiring at the end of the season, but during his final start on Saturday, his daughter stole the spotlight when Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch sent 7-year-old Genevieve to get her dad from the mound, The Athletic reported.
Hinch worked with Verlander’s wife, Kate Upton, to come up with a fitting end to a two-decade-long career.
“He’s as planned out and mapped out as any human I’ve ever been around,” Hinch explained.
Genevieve had already been on the field Friday night to throw out the first pitch to her father against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
On Saturday, the scene was different when she ran from the gate near the first-base dugout to her father, who had no idea his daughter would be coming to the mound.
“The way it went, with Genevieve running out, I mean, I had no clue,” Verlander said, according to MLB.com. “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.”
She hugged her father, and he tried to stay composed as all eyes turned to the moment.
The Athletic described what happened next: “As Genevieve embraced her dad, the steely demeanor Verlander had tried to maintain throughout a weighty day melted all at once. He bent down and embraced his daughter, the tears pouring out of him now, body trembling while the crowd chanted his initials: J-V!”
Watch it here or below:
Catcher Dillon Dingler also didn’t know what would happen after Verlander’s likely last pitch.
“‘Oh my God, I’d better not drop this,’” he explained, according to MLB.com.
He lunged and snagged the ball.
“That was probably as emotional as I would get on a field,” Dingler said of Genevieve entering the field. “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.”
After leaving the diamond, Verlander hugged and high-fived teammates, then met Upton and their son Bellamy 1 near the third-base dugout. He went down the steps alongside his family.
Not only was the game the last start of his career, but it was also only the second this season. The last was in March, and he couldn’t start games because a hamstring issue flared up.
When his game was over, he had thrown 91 pitches on Saturday, some as fast as 95 mph, dozens more than the 21 he threw in a simulation more than a month ago.
“Every time I’ve taken a ball on the mound, I give it everything I have until the manager decides to take the ball out of my hand,” Verlander said after the game. “I hope that if there’s one thing people remember for me, that’s it. I gave my all every single time I take the mound.”
Now it is time for Verlander, 43, who said he had played the game since he was 5 years old, two years younger than his daughter is, to spend time with family, MLB.com reported.
“There’s just a level of commitment it takes to be great at something, you know? And I hope she understands,” Verlander said after the game. ”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 Tigers beat the Pirates 4-3 and took two of the three games on the final weekend. Verlander pitched for five innings.