There are pitchers who go through the Major Leagues and leave behind numbers. Others leave an era. Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer fall into the second category. For more than two decades they were synonymous with intensity, resistance, dominance and competitiveness. Two old-school arms, made for the most demanding scenarios.
Verlander said goodbye on Saturday from the mound of the Detroit Tigers, the organization that selected him with the second pick in the 2004 draft. Scherzer could have done the same on Sunday with the Toronto Blue Jays, although he still left the door open to a decision about his future.
Verlander had the closure that a legendary career deserved. At Comerica Park, he threw 91 pitches, allowed two earned runs and struck out six batters. His fastball reached 94 miles per hour and averaged 92.6. When he left the field, he did so accompanied by his daughter Genevieve, under an ovation that summarized 21 years of history.
Detroit won 4-3 with a home run by Eduardo Valencia, but the result was in the background. Verlander had decided to put an end to a career that began when he was five years old and that led him to become one of the best pitchers.
The right-hander couldn’t hold back his tears when talking about his family and remembering the sacrifices of a career that kept him away from his daughter and loved ones.
His legacy includes three American League Cy Young Awards, an MVP in 2011, Rookie of the Year in 2006, three no-hitters, two ERA titles, a pitching Triple Crown and 10 All-Star selections. He also won two World Series with Houston, in 2017 and 2022. He finished with 3,560 strikeouts, eighth in history and owner of the record for most strikeouts in the postseason.
The next day, Scherzer starred in another farewell full of emotion. The 42-year-old right-hander pitched into the eighth inning for Toronto against Cincinnati, with just three days’ rest. He allowed one run, six hits and one walk, while striking out seven in 114 pitches.
At the Rogers Centre, fans stood to see him off. After the match, Scherzer jumped into the stands to hug his family. “An incredible day in every way,” he said, excited to see his children and wife.
It was also a final demonstration of what defined his career. When manager John Schneider attempted to visit him in the seventh inning, Scherzer refused to leave the game. The public even booed the leader. “You could hear it and it makes you want to keep going,” Scherzer explained. It was the perfect farewell to “Mad Max.”
Verlander and Scherzer shared a locker room in Detroit. Scherzer came to the Tigers in 2010 and remained there until 2014, while Verlander was already the great figure of the organization. Afterwards they took different paths, but they maintained one characteristic: assuming responsibility when the party demanded the maximum.
They were pitchers from another school. Competitive until the last pitch, aggressive in the zone, capable of working deep in games and accumulating strikeouts without sacrificing duration. When October arrived, they were the arms that any team wanted to have on the mound. One of those pitchers who, in a hypothetical seventh game of a World Series, seemed destined to receive the ball.
Scherzer won three Cy Young Awards, was an eight-time All-Star and won two World Series, with Washington in 2019 and Texas in 2023. He finished with 224 wins, 3,557 strikeouts, a 3.29 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP in 3,047.2 innings.
The destiny of both now points towards Cooperstown. Their numbers, awards, championships and postseason performances place them among the great starters of this generation and heading to Cooperstown.
But his legacy will not be only in the statistics. Verlander and Scherzer represented a way of understanding pitching that required taking the ball and competing until the manager said otherwise. They were pitchers with enormous personalities and strong temperaments, convinced that big games were made for big arms.
Now, one says goodbye hugging his daughter in Detroit and the other, perhaps for the last time, after throwing 114 pitches in Toronto.
Two different races. Two different personalities. The same generation.
And a legacy that already has a fixed course towards Cooperstown.
