Justin Verlander made the final start of his MLB career today.  If you’re not a baseball fan, know that Verlander will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer (and should be unanimous but probably won’t be because baseball writers are weird jerks).  I could write a book about the memories and feelings going through my head right now; Verlander’s career started just after I became an adult and I can still remember the highs (World Series appearances!) and lows (almost setting the MLB loss record after trading him away!) vividly.  But for tonight…there are two moments from this weekend I want to highlight.

The Tigers got the speeches and ceremony out of the way yesterday, so Verlander could focus on pitching Saturday.  As part of Friday’s celebration, his daughter threw out the first pitch – and had much better form than a lot of celebrities who have done it over the years.

And from today’s game…Verlander leaving the mound for the final time.  I can’t imagine a better sendoff than this.

The Tigers eventually won the game on a walk-off home run.

Have fun posting!