Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander is laughing all the way to his first World Series Championship. In his 13 Hall of Fame seasons in Detroit, he pitched in four American League Championship Series and two World Series and he always did his job. Unfortunately his Tigers squads were not built for ultimate championship victory.
They always found a way to come up short or squander a classic performance by one of the games best pitchers like the 2013 postseason when Verlander was 11 with a 0.39 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 23 postseason innings, but the Tiger offense was shutout in two of his three starts.
Verlander is a six-time All-star, 2011 MVP and Cy Young Award winner with two no-hitters to his credit. One could easily call him MLBs best pitcher in the last 15 years. Especially when you take into consideration how Verlander has performed throughout a playoff career that has produced an 11-5 record with a 3.07 ERA and 141 Ks in 129 innings pitched.
Justin Verlander Career Highlights
Here’s a little project I worked on for a few days. JV is by far my favorite pitcher. So glad to see he’s back throwing mid 90’s again this year. Hopefully you all enjoyed! This video was made for entertainment purposes only. I make no profit off of any of the content posted to this channel.
The dude is clutch in everything he does. He even managed to get engaged to model-actress Kate Upton engaged to model-actress Kate Upton in 2016 in 2016 and despite delayed wedding plans, she continues to appear by his side at every significant moment in his baseball career.
Tonight, Verlander takes the mound for the Houston Astros with a chance to turn the wheels of fate in his favor. All he has to do is pitch like hes been pitching in these playoffs, clinch a Game 6, World Series-winning victory for Houston over the LA Dodgers and 2017 will go from the lowest point in his illustrious career to the defining moment of his sports existence.
MLB Roundup on Twitter
Justin Verlander will take the bump on Halloween with a chance to deliver a World Series Championship to the city of Houston. https://t.co/sMp7VL8Whl
A legend in Detroit, minutes before the waiver trade deadline on August 31, 2017, the Tigers sent Verlander to the Houston Astros for prospects, believing that his best days were behind him. It was a disappointing end to a marriage that had produced some impactful and winning results. The anchor of one of the most successful runs in Tigers history was now gone and thought to be on the decline.
Justin Verlander introduced as an Astro
Justin Verlander holds his first official press conference as a member of the Astros Check out http://MLB.com/video for more! About MLB.com: Former Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig announced on January 19, 2000, that the 30 Major League Club owners voted unanimously to centralize all of Baseball’s Internet operations into an independent technology company.
Its not like Detroit sent him to Siberia. With the Astros, Verlander would be able to contend for a championship and add some more veteran guidance to the young, talented nucleus percolating in Houston. With no excuses and no media plea-copping needed (See Clayton Kershaw Playoffs), Verlander seized the moment and when called upon he set the veteran example like a Hall of Famer is supposed too. During a furious seven-game ALCS against the Yankees, Verlander went 20, with a 0.56 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 16 innings pitched. He won the ALCS MVP and became the most popular person in Texas this side of Jerry Jones.
Matt Young on Twitter
Jose Altuve is still wearing his Justin Verlander shirt during batting practice.
On October 14, he started Game 2 and threw a 13-strikeout, 21 complete game victory and then came back in a critical Game 6 and hurled seven shutout innings, before the Astros took the Bronx Bombers down in Game 7 to advance to the WS.
It was an effort that we had seen before from Verlander, a fiery leader and dogged competitor.
David Scott on Twitter
Near as I can tell Justin Verlander was yelling at kids “Quit playing on my lawn!” #WorldSeries https://t.co/649j3AE2bZ
In the 2012 ALDS against the Oakland Athletics, Verlander started Game 1 and won a 31 decision. In the deciding fifth game of the series, he pitched a complete-game shutout as the Tigers advanced to the 2012 ALCS. The victory marked the first time in MLB history that a pitcher recorded more than 10 strikeouts in a winner-take-all postseason shutout.Verlander’s 22 strikeouts in the series set a record for an ALDS.
In Game 2 of the 2013 ALDS, Verlander struck out 11 Oakland Athletics hitters in seven shutout innings. In fact, In the 2013 postseason, Verlander was 11 with a 0.39 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 23 postseason innings. The Tiger offense was shutout in two of his three starts.
In Game 5 of the same series, Verlander pitched eight shutout innings with 10 strikeouts in a 30 victory and flirted with a no-no. The win sent the Tigers to the American League Championship Series for the third consecutive year.
A true closer, Verlander is one of four starting pitchers in Major League history to have multiple wins in elimination postseason games, joining Bob Gibson, Chris Carpenter and Matt Cain
Verlander has done it year after year, despite having no World Series hardware to show for his brilliance.
Wall Street Journal on Twitter
After losing Game 1 of the World Series, Houston really needs star pitcher Justin Verlander to continue dominating https://t.co/TKgPqUC5RT
After a less-than-stellar Game 1 performance in which he surrendered two homers, if Verlander gets back into his playoff groove, Houston will be World Series champs for the first time in franchise history. Verlander will be enjoying the offseason of his life with plenty of suitors as Detroit’s calculated loss became the Astros’ incomparable gain.
