Discussing Verlander retiring at the end of 2026

Verlander spoke at length about all of this and Stoney on the other side of this soundbite will bring you in but it's definitely not the scenario he envisioned and it's definitely not the season that Verlander envisioned either. So let's hear from him on that. I feel like I pulled the rug out twice and it really gutted me. I hated doing that and it's something that I've envisioned from the moment I signed back here is being back on that mound in a Tigers uniform and and I want it I want it just as bad as anybody else so it's definitely it's definitely part of the the motivation to continue to put the work in as necessary even though I know it's at the end of the season I think maybe you know maybe there's a world where that's more motivating you know to know that you know it's all or nothing. Yeah it definitely could be more motivating knowing that it is an all or nothing scenario for Verlander but Stoney you know what let's be honest his career in one word for this the franchise I mean what would you say there? Incredible yeah he was incredible and let's not forget the other thing he brought us K-Dot is back. Yeah you know everybody's talking a lot about that but you know the things that baseball fans are looking at are of course you know the rookie of the year it started with that back in 06 and then the Cy Young awards he's got three of them AL MVP I mean World Series with the Tigers he got him there but won two with Houston I mean in 2017 and 2022. Stoney what about the idea that he's added as a legends pick this year in the all-star game what does that say about his his career and his standing in Major League Baseball? I think it's great it's well deserved we saw the same thing happen with with with Miggie I wish he'd be able to like pitch a half integer or pitch to one batter that would be that would be great but unfortunately that's not the way it's going to happen. You know will do you think he'll pitch again he I mean he wants to come back he says he's going to come back but we've heard that twice before now this season. Well you know as as Rich Luderman knows I am a definitely a doctor and I can tell you that he will pitch again especially you know if he's okay and if the Tigers are out of it they'll get a swan song at the end of the season definitely I think. Could you imagine the ticket price for that huh like if he if he's going to throw what would that ticket cost? Wait a minute Mike I've got a bunion here I need your advice on my Luderman bunion here I'm going to show it to you later on. Yeah yeah we can we can get away from that but I mean as far as as far as Verlander goes Stoney as you well know this town it comes with a positive and it also comes with a negative and we were hearing quite a bit of the negative earlier around town saying that oh you know Verlander didn't pitch this year it's another uh you know Alex Cobb situation or something like that where you bring a guy in you pay him a lot of money and he doesn't pan out I mean there is that side of it but still is that maybe outweighed by the you know sentimental and emotional side of Verlander? It's not even the sentimental and emotional side it's the fact that the matter is you know for I'd say half the season last year he looked like he was kind of washed up but the last two months for San Francisco he was really good it wasn't an Alex Cobb situation I don't feel because he was healthy going into the season and then he came out didn't pitch well and he's had his you know his issues obviously. Yeah it's tough when uh you know he gets the hip inflammation and then is in a bullpen session and then it's a hamstring I mean that is uh you know like uh almost snake bit yeah Rich. You know I was just thinking about these injuries uh you know obviously these players who who play for all these many years they're gonna have injuries you know I mean with with very few exceptions but but I think we were all cheering when when he was in the World Series with Houston you know when he got the put the ring on I think there was a lot of us here in Detroit rooting for Verlander not so much the Houston Astros but it was great to see him out there celebrating with his teammates. Oh I totally agree I mean you know success has followed that guy I mean uh you know it's uh not surprising that he uh has all of these accolades on his ledger uh for the his for his career because uh he's performed well and uh he deserves it um you know now with this announcement uh Stoney he said that uh he had been hinting at this for a little little while and you know talking to guys in the clubhouse but you know those clubhouse conversations are usually kind of private but uh I thought Verlander was pretty forthcoming with his teammates especially Tarik Scuba let's hear that right now. I told the team uh that I was going to announce this today because I wanted them to hear it from me before it went out but Scoob was pitching and I didn't say I didn't say anything to him but he found out secondhand and he was mad at me um um but I today I was sitting there talking with him at the locker he was not really mad well I don't were you really mad or kind of mad I'm still disappointed disappointed even worse disappointed um um but like he was starting so I was like the way I would I wouldn't want anybody to distract me so I was you know doing what I would want but apparently I handled it wrong um but so as I was talking to him today and we you know he was giving me a hard time about it and I was just saying come on man I've been alluding to this for like a month now like we've been having these conversations he's like yeah you're right I didn't really want to bring it up but so yeah I I think just even like uh like I think you start uttering words like you know this might be it or um you know my body's telling me you know that I think when you start saying those things that mentally I I've never said things like that before or even admitted uh anything like that to myself internally so the fact I'm saying externally I think that's it's different now you know what he said right there I mean especially the tarik school school's in the listening to that too so you know it's kind of fun uh to see the both of them play off it but you know what uh when you look at verlander and you see his uh career and you look at his stats tony what's the favorite stat you have or is this a case where maybe memories mean more than numbers memories definitely mean more than numbers it's unfortunately unfortunate woody that the way the game has changed and he alluded it also today as well uh not that it would make a difference but he'll never he and obviously nobody else might never get the 300 you know victories again right because the pitchers uh are are used these days uh I I think the actual the one that's probably the most impressive is winning the cy young and the mbp in the same year yeah I had that I think like what only three maybe uh three guys have done that maybe uh I'm not sure it could be even less than that but you're right I mean it is such a special event and for him to do it in the same year was uh stellar yeah absolutely he was incredible I noticed a couple years when it was you know him and scherzer it was pretty damn awesome yeah there were quite a few years you know what hey you know what you talk about the past and rich you can get into this too um which verlander moment would deserve its own statue I mean we see a lot of statues of tiger players out there at comerica park if there was one for justin verlander what moment would it be I think it would just be his his follow-through I mean pitch if you're with a high leg at the back yeah that would be strong what do you think that's a good one yeah that that big leg I mean he's a big guy you know I mean he's he's been here at fox too over the years so we've got to you know see him up close and personal he's just a big guy and he can fire the ball but you mentioned it uh stoney you know those years when it was scherzer and verlander I mean that was a dynamic duo yeah you know it's a shame that the tigers fell short a couple of those years but boy it was exciting for fans oh it was very exciting because we all remember I mean four straight division titles stoney I mean from 2011 to 2014 this was the place to be for baseball where every summer was like oh yeah we're gonna be there and we're gonna win it but unfortunately while we got there a couple times we did not win it that might be the only blemish on verlander's uh card because he didn't get it done here and I think if you ask him stoney he might admit to that himself yeah I mean every time he would pitch we'd use the you know the expression must see jv and uh he was he was thrilling he was a box office hit and he was he was great there's no doubt about it he was incredible all right listen hey don't forget you fans can also get involved in this you can zoom in or text the show the number is right there at the bottom of the screen right here so get in let me hear what you got to say about jv's announcement and what the tigers are going to continue to do later on this year because as you know the season is not over even though verlander has announced his retirement at the end of the year hey there's plenty more to come on the sports office like I mentioned looking for you fans we'll have stoney here we'll have rich luderman here it's all next on the sports office right here on fox 2 we'll be right back welcome back to the sports office your texts are coming in i'm getting them hot off the presses let's get to one right now i thought from the beginning that verlander intended to retire with detroit a no-hitter legend i agree with that uh did you think that uh at the beginning of the year uh well i don't know it'd be nice if he stays on as a tiger in some capacity you know what i'm saying i mean that would i think that's where they're getting there uh that would be exciting if he does stay on or you know maybe stoney knows what his future plans i'll throw this next question to stoney because from judy and warren it says do you think justin will remain with the tigers organization after he retires maybe as a coach stoney what do you think my guess would be no i just think he wants to spend so much time with his family maybe he'll help out in spring training i mean he'll maybe have the same role as miggy maybe which who knows what what exactly that is i don't know i think he's you know when they got him i thought it was going to be for a one-year thing and i thought maybe you know what maybe he could be a reliever for one inning but he doesn't want to do that obviously no no no i don't see him as a reliever but uh wait a minute i got something i'm gonna jump in there you know you like tom brady you know he got his spot what if like verlander you know becomes a big you know a baseball owner well what are you going for you you know i don't know i mean i've never seen him uh you know angle himself that way before so you know i don't know i just i just don't know but his future is bright he could do pretty much anything he wants yes he's a smart guy you know when he's interviewed during the games they do sometimes he's pretty good i mean way way way way back maybe his second or third year he used to weekly and then uh he got so good he priced himself out that'll happen with guys who are that good you know uh speaking of good verlander also said that he feels good and he wants to contribute this season in fact it's not all gloom and doom thank you uh he wants to give it a go this year let's hear that one ironically i'm starting to feel the best i have all year right now i'm um you know i i think uh i don't want to get ahead of anybody announcement wise but i'm supposed to bullpen tomorrow and kind of start the process of getting going again so um that is something i'm absolutely looking forward to um like i said this isn't me just saying goodbye and like just sitting on the bench the rest of the year i'm i'm that's not who i am that's not how i got to where i am um you know i'm watching these guys go out there and have fun and watching our staff just absolutely dominate and i want to be part of that love to hear him talk like that i mean he wants to be part of it that tells me stoney that his uh season isn't over and that he will be back uh to pitch uh this year and it's uh pretty gonna be pretty good i got a text here it says jv was must watch tv i remember taking paid time off days just to watch him pitch because i didn't want to miss the perfect game he's the first ballot hall of fame pitcher and the best tiger to ever be enshrined that's from craig and clarkson i totally agree with what craig is saying and yeah i uh know a lot of people who took time off go ahead stoney go ahead i think ty cobb is probably a little better than berlander but oh you do but you know what you were probably the only guy alive to see ty cobb right now because uh that's the that that's the area that you live in my friend of course you know what i'm saying exactly yeah right right and besides uh berlander at 43 he's like what 50 years younger than you all right you know i want to say having fun with stoney just having fun go ahead rich uh you know berlander that name i mean you know you think of the great names in the last 20 years you know you got mike trout i mean everyone knows mike trout but equally across the baseball world everybody knows justin berlander you know so when he was you know having those great years with houston and with detroit obviously you know he was a i got another one for you stoney fill in the blank verlander wasn't just a pitcher he was a blank wow that's a great see i got the great question i got the great one the what a stud i like that you know if this is any way you want if this was the nfl you might hear guys say he was a dude and uh rightly so because let's be honest the numbers speak for themselves uh you know the memories are there i mean you know the all the iconic parts of justin berlander the stare the fastball even the high socks stoney i mean you know to go back even even from a uniform perspective this guy was all old english d and uh it's great to see him uh kind of wrapping up the uh career with it you know i wonder for stoney uh this is for you you know you know you got the young guys like troy melton who's pitching tonight and it must mean a lot for the young guys to have the the justin verlander's in the dugout you know in a part of the the regiment you know day in and day out to be around it has to be a positive thing oh absolutely i mean guys like melton you know and montero people like that i mean they're probably like five six years old when verlander started his career so yeah when you can have a legend as a teammate and if he's a good guy and and gives you some advice that's pretty damn good yeah no doubt and a lot of the tigers guys are getting advice from verlander i think before the game they had a list of the lineup and the ages of the players now when verlander first came into the league and i think mcgonigal was 10 months old how you leave is two years old so yeah there's a lot of conversation that goes on in the clubhouse and usually we're not privy to those kinds of conversations but they do happen and guys do learn from them and guys do take lessons from them and these are the things where the memories the baseball memories are made as a player am i correct stoney or am i just talking out of my hat well you both you always talk thanks stoney you know it'd be exciting if if the tigers make a run i mean if they get it going and they can win some games and well that's that would be that would be spectacular not just for justin verlander but for the city of course but wouldn't it be exciting if they get hot i mean that is the next thing i mean we have seen this team you know come back with maybe a few wins here a loss here and then some more wins stoney can they get it done by the deadline they can get it they can get close by the deadline they keep on playing like they're playing but to me you know the big question is you know trading the free agents obviously the big one is scooble and i don't think they can win the world series so i think you have to trade scooble no matter what scooble said today yesterday i was hearing a lot of things on bye bye bye you know hey i do know i was hearing a lot of things on sports radio about how the tigers could maybe buy and sell do you buy that yeah i mean they could if if you're if scott harris does a great job and they know deep down in the bottom of their soul that he's not coming back you trade in you get some prospects to some hopefully some better you know a major league bat or whatever and then you can maybe you know trade some of your really good prospects that you have and get somebody as well yeah this is definitely it remains a fluid situation stoney because each piece that you introduce becomes a whole new variable in this thing so you don't know which way it's going to go and you're really hard to predict how it's going to wind up but uh you know um i think uh i think the tigers can do it i'm i'm kind of on the fence with stoney but i don't know if they have enough to do it you know three and four weeks ago it was looking bleak yeah but now all of a sudden there's some more energy so go tigers well you know what rich we're gonna see how it looks on the other side of this break because i gotta pause for another one we'll be right back you're in touch with the sports office right here on fox 2 he's the man of the hour we've been talking about justin verlander and his retirement announcement today that happened down at comerica park tigers in action against the a's right now and winning three nothing i got some texts right here when verlander gets inducted into the hall of fame do you think he'll go in as a tiger or an astro good question stoney that that's the great question um i i would say it's a tiger because of years served what about you rich argument that you know he wins world series with with houston so that might take precedent but i would say plus here's the other thing what looks better on a hat the old english no question old english d is up there i love that i do too you know what hey we've got more texts here as much as i like verlander i say hank greenberg is the greatest tiger and that's a valid point right there i got another one here verlander is a real good solid pitcher will hate for him to leave hopefully he will be a pitching coach and mold the new guys to becoming great we'll see if that happens stoney i don't think you think that's going to happen you mentioned it earlier and uh the last uh text that we have here finally woody is on point love that oh you can hear that all day long oh more than that wow your wife watches the show yes she does isn't it great hey listen hey stoney uh while i got some time remaining let me shift gears quickly to the piston summer league is starting they take on the 76ers tomorrow uh what expectations with so much left to do yeah well hopefully they're not talking about summer league because i think summer league is basically you can't take too much from summer league but yeah with all the trades that they made i think they upgraded a little bit you got to see what happens with the durin situation i think they'll probably bring back they need to make another move if they're they need that cliche robin for k's batman and i don't know if they're going to get it right now but the offseason it's not over you know i mean no it was traded you know in october when they made that deal so it's definitely not over but everybody seems to be still looking at trey murphy uh well would that would there be a situation stoney where actually joe dumars and troy weaver would maybe decline trading something to detroit because of their exit well i think that would be short-sighted if they believe that they would make their team better in the long run that they should they don't know they shouldn't worry about the pistons so uh look i don't think the pelicans are going anywhere they have a few good players you know who knows what zion you're gonna get that derrick queen on that team i know trey murphy's a really terrific player but who the hell knows what's gonna happen yeah well you know dumars he was an executive of the year i believe and hopefully detroit can be in on it because that would be one of the best things ever let's hope that they uh can get things done this uh summer and bring in that next piece that needs to come on with his team in order for them to do i'm going to say one thing off the the the the current uh topic we're going to be talking lions football soon yeah we are i mean that's coming very very quickly yeah it is and i can't wait i mean uh we're ready we'll see if the team is ready there's plenty of questions and of course we'll be talking about that down the line let me say thank you to mike stone oh yeah stoney can be found on 97 won the ticket thanks a lot to rich luderman and thanks a lot to you fans for coming in don't forget the sports office you can text the show join any time but right now stay tuned for a special edition of the pulse the republican gubernatorial debate it is next right here on fox