Justin Verlander: “I’m Not Finished, Neither are the Detroit Tigers!”
Here is a dirty little secret regarding the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press.
Sports columnists were on no-hitter alert any time Justin Verlander pitched for the Detroit Tigers.
If you were at the beach you were on alert. You had to be prepared to jet out of your kid’s birthday party or a hot date with the wife.
If Verlander reached the fifth inning without giving up a hit the cell phones of Bob Wojnowski, Jeff Seidl, Drew Sharp and me began to light up.
The messages came from our sports editors who would bark: “Get your butt to Comerica Park. Verlander is working on a no-hitter.”
Once you got to the park you had to play catch up with the other writers. And if JV completed the no-hitter, which he did twice, you had to write a column as if you were there the entire time.
Those days are coming to an end after Verlander announced his retirement after this season. It is doubtful that columnists will be summoned to the ball park again. Verlander is on his last leg at age 43.
There are no more no-hitters to be spun even though JV vows to grind through the rest of the season.
He knows it.
You know it.
We all know it.
Verlander has pitched 3 2/3 innings this season before going on the injured list. He says his arm feels great. The rest of his body has broken down.
“I’m gonna try my best to enjoy it, but at the same time, it’s not taking away from my competitive edge,” Verlander said. “I always said I wanted to play until the wheels fell off, and it seems they are. But it’s not done yet. And neither am I.”
You should be.
Let me be the bad guy here. The Tigers pulled to within 4 ½ games of a wildcard playoff berth after Wednesday’s 6-1 victory over the Oakland As. If Verlander wants to help the team he must do it from the bullpen.
We all want Verlander to return to the field and lead the Tigers as Willis Reed did on one leg with the New York Knicks in the 70s. But heroic charges like this seldom happen.
It won’t with Verlander who is living on a hope and dream. The Tigers starting pitching staff is too good now to throw him in the mix. Every win counts. Every loss could knock them out of the playoffs.
Verlander is more likely to get shelled as a starter than duplicate what Casey Mize, Jack Flaherty or Troy Melton are spinning. JV is not the same guy who won an MVP award or two Cy Youngs. Baseball will include him in the Hall of Fame based on his past, not his future.
Let him finish out his career with the Tigers, but let the young guns finish out the season.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Foster is the self proclaimed Minister of Words with Woodward Sports and fills in on shows when folks need time off. He worked at the Detroit News and Free Press for 37 years and co-hosted the Valenti and Foster Show for 13 years at the Detroit Lions flagship.
