'The Legend of 266 Wins and 3,560 Strikeouts': Justin Verlander Retires from Active Duty, Still Threw a 95 mph Pitch in His Final Start; As He Walked Off Holding Hands with His 7-Year-Old Daughter, Younger Teammates Gifted Him a Walk-off Homer

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(Photo) Justin Verlander (43), who is highly likely to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, has cemented his status as an eternal legend of the Detroit Tigers.

(Photo) On the 27th (Korean time), Verlander made a start against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan, USA, during the 2026 MLB regular-season home game. He pitched 5⅓ innings, allowing five hits and one walk while striking out six batters, giving up two earned runs. There was no decision. The Tigers secured a dramatic 4-3 comeback victory with a walk-off two-run homer by Eduardo Valencia (26) in the bottom of the ninth inning.

(Photo) Verlander's illustrious career statistics were finalized on this day. He started all 557 games of his MLB regular-season career, compiling 266 wins and 159 losses with a 3.33 ERA over 3,576⅔ innings and 3,560 strikeouts. His WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched) was 1.14. The 3,560 strikeouts rank eighth all-time in MLB history. This year, due to injury, he appeared in only two games over nine innings, finishing with a 0-1 record, a 7.00 ERA, and seven strikeouts.

(Photo) He was a pitcher whose numbers alone could define an era. Verlander joined the Detroit Tigers as the second overall pick in the first round of the 2004 amateur draft and made his major league debut in 2005. The following year, he won 17 games to claim American League Rookie of the Year honors and led Detroit to a World Series appearance.

(Photo) His peak came in 2011. In 34 starts, he recorded 24 wins and five losses with a 2.40 ERA over 251 innings and 250 strikeouts, sweeping the league titles in wins, ERA, and strikeouts. He simultaneously won the American League Cy Young Award and Most Valuable Player (MVP).

(Photo) Time did not easily break Verlander thereafter. Even after being traded to the Houston Astros in 2017, he continued to perform as a top-tier ace. He won his second Cy Young Award in 2019 and, at age 39 in 2022, secured his third Cy Young with an 18-4 record and a 1.75 ERA. His career includes three no-hitters, three Cy Young Awards, ten All-Star selections, and two World Series championships. As MLB officially described it, this is a career highly likely to see him inducted into the Hall of Fame on his first ballot.

(Photo) Last year, he played alongside Lee Jung-hoo (28) for the San Francisco Giants, posting a 4-11 record with a 3.85 ERA over 29 games, 152 innings, and 137 strikeouts. Having dreamed of extending his career into his mid-40s, he signed a one-year, $13 million contract (approximately 17.7 billion won) with his original team, Detroit, returning after nine years away.

(Photo) However, his final season did not go as planned. Due to a hamstring injury, he did not take the mound in the majors since March and ultimately announced his retirement during the season. Still, he wanted to conclude his career at the place where he began.

(Photo) Verlander took the mound at Comerica Park for this start after 3,324 days. Proper preparation was also difficult; his recent work consisted almost entirely of bullpen sessions and one inning of live pitching. According to MLB.com, even Verlander himself was unsure how many innings he could endure or what kind of stuff he would show.

(Photo) But the "vintage Verlander" remained. He retired the first four batters in order on routine groundouts and struck out the leadoff batter in the second inning with a slider, reaching his 3,555th career strikeout. In the third inning, he finally threw his desired 95 mph (approximately 152.9 km/h) fastball, which he had been seeking since spring training, and on his 66th pitch of the game, he again hit 95 mph.

(Photo) Although he allowed solo home runs in the fourth and fifth innings, he did not crumble. In the sixth inning, after Verlander got the first batter to fly out to foul territory, manager A.J. Hinch (52) walked out from the dugout.

(Photo) At that moment, a special pitching change began. Verlander's 7-year-old daughter, Genevieve, ran onto the field and climbed onto the mound where her father stood. As his daughter embraced him and teammates surrounded the mound chanting his nickname "J.V.," Verlander finally shed tears. He walked into the dugout with his family, ending his 21-year major league career that began in 2005.

(Photo) And then, his younger teammates prepared a final gift. After Verlander left the mound, Detroit trailed 1-3 but scored one run in the bottom of the ninth. With two outs and the loss looming, Eduardo Valencia stepped to the plate. Facing an unfavorable 1-ball, 2-strike count, he lined Mason Montgomery's inside curveball over the left-center field wall. It was his seventh home run of the season and a walk-off two-run homer that completed Detroit's 4-3 victory.

(Photo) Verlander had personally created countless victories throughout his life, but this final day was different. After the legend walked off the mound holding his family's hands, young teammates wrote the word "victory" on the last page of his 21-year career in place of him.

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*This content was translated by AI.