5 Justin Verlander moments that solidified his place as an all-time Tigers great

Justin Verlander will pitch his last major league start at Comerica Park today. It's the end of an era not only for the Tigers but for the game as a whole. With Clayton Kershaw retired, Verlander following, and Max Scherzer not far behind, the game has lost three of its greatest pitchers, arguably the last three representatives of a golden age for starting pitchers.

Verlander has meant more to the organization than words can possibly express. He is, far and away, the greatest pitcher the club has ever produced. In honor of his retirement, let's take a look back on five standout moments in his Hall of Fame career.

July 4, 2005: MLB debut

After being taken by the Tigers as the second overall pick in the 2004 draft, Verlander blew through High-A and Double-A the following year, posting an incredible 1.29 ERA in 118 2/3 innings across both levels. It was all the Tigers needed to see, and they called him up on the Fourth of July, allowing him to skip Triple-A entirely. 21 years would go by before the team allowed another prospect to come to Detroit without a stopover in Toledo.

The vaunted top prospect ended up taking the loss that day, pitching 5 1/3 innings and giving up four runs on seven hits and three walks. His next and last outing of the season went only a little better — six innings, five runs — but it opened the door to his 2006 Rookie of the Year campaign, won with a 95% share of first-place votes.

June 12, 2007: First career no-hitter

He really started to hit a stride in 2009, when he led MLB in wins and innings pitched, but 2007, his first All-Star season, gave the Tigers even more of an indication that they were on the cusp of witnessing true greatness.

He threw his first career no-hitter against the Brewers, striking out a then-career-high 12 batters on 112 total pitches. It was the first no-hitter at Comerica Park since its opening in 2000, and the last the Tigers would see by a guy not named Justin Verlander until Spencer Turnbull's flash-in-the-pan in 2021.

Verlander's next and last no-hitter for Detroit was in some ways even more dominant — he needed four fewer pitches to get through nine innings — but it took almost two years for him to surpass that 12-strikeout mark.

2011: First Cy Young, MVP, and Triple Crown

2011 was the year when Verlander really started building a case for his now-inevitable Hall of Fame induction. It's hard to choose one specific moment to encapsulate his entire body of work that season, which earned him his first Cy Young, a Triple Crown, and an MVP award.

He became the 10th member of that elite club, joining Tigers greats Denny McLain and Willie Hernandez. The Tigers and Dodgers are the only two teams who have three pitchers on that list, and Clayton Kershaw is the only pitcher since Verlander to join.

Verlander pitched four complete games with two shutouts and 250 strikeouts in 251 innings that season. Though the most in baseball, it wasn't even a career-high K number up to that point, as he'd already posted 269 in 2009 (and he'd later go on to post a startling 300 with the Astros in 2019).

That year was also the beginning of the Tigers' run of domination in the AL Central. They ended the regular season at first place in the division for the first time since 1987 and would stay there until 2015.

October 11, 2012: Postseason complete game shutout

Through two postseasons with the Tigers, Verlander had something of a monkey on his back. His struggles in 2006 were more understandable — it was his first trip to October and still his rookie season — but Triple Crown, Cy Young, MVP winner Verlander in 2011 had fewer excuses.

Although he pitched eight innings against the Yankees in Game 3 of the ALDS to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead in the series, he faltered in the ALCS before Detroit eventually fell the Rangers in six games. All told, he had a 5.57 ERA in 42 innings across 2006 and 2011.

2012 Verlander gave us our first look at the monster he could turn into in October. In Game 5 of the ALDS, he pitched a complete game shutout with 11 strikeouts to punch Detroit's ticket to the next round and set them up to win their only AL pennant of that golden era. It remained his only start of the kind in 10 trips to the postseason (he pitched another complete game for the Astros in 2017, but gave up a run).

He was even better in 2013, giving up just a single earned run in 23 innings against the Athletics and Red Sox. Even though the Tigers' offense faltered in the ALCS and handed the AL championship over to the eventual World Series champs in Boston, it was one of the best postseason pitching performances in the franchise's history.

September 10, 2018: Return to Detroit

Tigers fans are plenty accustomed to heartache, but trading Verlander at the final buzzer in 2017 began a mourning period that some never fully shook out of. The Tigers were well past their best years. Verlander and Miguel Cabrera were the last bastions of that dominant age, and Cabrera was getting past his prime.

Though multiple teams were involved in discussions around Verlander, the Astros eventually won out after fellow Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel made a call to petition Verlander to waive his no-trade clause.

We won't get into everything Verlander managed to accomplish with the Astros even as he got deeper into his 30s, but his first start in Detroit after being dealt was the perfect representation of how much the city has always loved him.

The crowd that day was sparse, but Verlander still took a moment to watch the highlight package the Tigers put up on the jumbotron and was clearly emotional as he tipped his cap to the fans and Comerica treated him to "Till I Collapse."

There are so many other moments in Verlander's 21-season MLB career, that might deserve a place on this list but still can't entirely encapsulate what he's meant to the city and the team. There won't be a single dry eye in the house on Saturday, even if he only lasts an inning.

As frustrating a year as it's been for him and for fans, there's no place anyone would rather see him close the book on his career.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow