Verlander one of several baseball vets retiring
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Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer were together on some memorable Detroit teams before moving on and winning championships elsewhere.
Will they eventually enter the Hall of Fame as part of the same class?
The first question is whether both will retire after this season. The 43-year-old Verlander has already announced this is his final year. He’s made only one start in a reunion season with the Tigers, although Detroit fans are hoping he can return for another this final week of their season.
Scherzer’s future is less clear. The 42-year-old right-hander is slated to start tonight at Baltimore as the Blue Jays try to keep their flickering playoff hopes alive, but Scherzer has posted ERAs over 5.00 both this season and last. He’s on a one-year contract with Toronto.
Some other prominent players may also have made -- or might be making -- their last appearances in the major leagues. Trey Mancini signed a one-day contract to retire with the Orioles and was celebrated this past weekend in Baltimore. Andrew McCutchen and Carlos Santana, both 39, were released last month. Craig Kimbrel, now 38, has pitched for 10 different big league teams in the last six seasons.
Paul Goldschmidt is 39, but his team -- the New York Yankees -- is heading to the playoffs. And he may be more important than expected if Aaron Judge is out.
With a lockout possible after this season, there could be some retirements we don’t anticipate. Rick Sutcliffe, Bo Jackson and Hall of Famer Goose Gossage, for example, never played again after the 1994 strike but didn’t actually retire until the following year.
Trivia time
Who is the most recent player voted into the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA whose primary team was the Tigers? (The drought is likely to end soon with Miguel Cabrera and then Verlander.)
Best comeback
Detroit was down 8-2 in the fifth inning Friday before scoring nine unanswered runs to win 11-8 over the White Sox. Kevin McGonigle hit a three-run triple, and both Hao-Yu Lee and Riley Greene added two-run homers during the comeback. Detroit’s win probability was down to 3.2% in the fourth inning, according to Baseball Savant.
That’s the only game the Tigers have won of their last five. They’ve been eliminated from the playoff race, the end of a frustrating
season in which nothing seemed to go as planned.
Pitcher Justin Verlander watches from the dugout as the Tigers play the Houston Astros on June 27 in Detroit. (AP file photo)
Trivia answer
Al Kaline, who was inducted in 1980.
George Kell, Hal Newhouser, Jim Bunning, Sparky Anderson, Jack Morris and Alan Trammell have been elected since then with the Tigers as their primary team, but they weren’t voted in by the BBWAA.