Justin Verlander

by Greg Bach

"Justin Verlander's arrival for spring training with the Detroit Tigers in 2006 was accompanied with questions galore. His only previous major league appearances were his first two big league starts during the 2005 season, in which coughed up a combined nine runs and 15 hits in less than 12 innings of work while throwing a wild pitch and hitting a batter, too. The second overall pick in the 2004 draft had lots to prove when he stepped into the Lakeland, Florida, sunshine. And boy, did Verlander ever deliver in resounding fashion. Verlander seized a spot in Detroit's starting rotation when the 2006 regular season began. He went out and won his first start in Texas with a dominating seven shutout innings, allowing just two hits while whiffing seven. The 89 pitches he threw that evening provided a glimpse of his greatness and was the starting point of his hike through baseball's record books. Verlander won 17 games that season, tied for most on the Tigers' staff, and captured the American League's (AL) Rookie of the Year award. Those 17 wins were also the most by an AL Rookie of the Year pitcher since Mark "The Bird" Fidrych won 19 games back in 1976, also with the Tigers. During nearly 13 seasons in the Motor City, Verlander led Major League Baseball (MLB) in strikeouts and innings pitched three times and in wins twice. In 2011, he put up monster numbers rarely seen, going 24-5 with 250 strikeouts and a 2.40 earned run average to win the Cy Young Award. In fact, he was so good he won the American League's MVP award too, just the 10th time in major league history a pitcher has pulled off that double"--

80 pages, Library Binding

Published January 1, 2020