Last Night, Justin Verlander Just Told Alex Cora To "Fuck Off" And Then Promptly Threw 6 Shutout Innings
You don't have to read lips to know what Verlander said here. Verlander's gone through so many different eras. He's like a musical artist who keeps reinventing himself. He'll always be the stud of all studs, but I like this grizzled Hugh Jackman in "Logan" vibe that Justin Verlander's giving off nowadays. He's in his 40s. He's done everything you can possibly do as a pitcher, but he just wants to keep throwing heaters by guys because fuck it, he can. For people wondering, it seemed like there was a PitchCom issue with Justin Verlander here. The Red Sox manager Alex Cora argued that an automatic ball should've been called on Verlander for taking too much time. Verlander took exception to this and told Cora to "Fuck off."
I know there's a connection between these two. I can already read the comments from people saying this video features "two cheaters." I've said this before, but I really don't give a shit about the sign stealing stuff anymore. Verlander has won two Cy Youngs since then. The Red Sox fired Alex Cora, then rehired him a year later. I wouldn't claim to be a conspiracy theorist, but I also believe that every team in Major League Baseball had some sort of cheating system in place. The reason I bring all this up is because I don't believe that there's any bad blood between Verlander and Cora that I know about. Cora was a bench coach for A.J. Hinch during Verlander's first year in Houston in 2017 when they won the World Series. I've heard many a rumor about how A.J. Hinch and Alex Cora didn't necessarily get along during their time in Houston (though A.J. has denied this). Still, I've never heard anything implicating Verlander as being in the middle of that.
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Verlander told Alex Cora to "fuck off" because Verlander is one of the most competitive people ever. He's almost like an actor in that sense. I've seen Verlander in interviews. Shit, the guy's been on late-night TV before. He's a genuinely pretty charismatic guy. You don't end up marrying Kate Upton without having extreme confidence in yourself. But when he's on the mound, he can be a bastard. And I mean that in the best way possible.
Miguel Cabrera has been on his retirement tour for my Tigers this season. I've written recently about how bizarre it will be seeing him not suit up in Detroit next season. And while he hasn't been in a Tiger uniform for six years, the weirdest day of my baseball life will be when Justin Verlander is no longer in Major League Baseball. That'll be one of those moments where I become aware of my own mortality. Justin Verlander has just always been there. He's one of those pitchers who could do anything, and I would still be inclined to defend him.
The Nolan Ryan comparisons have always been there for Verlander, but it seems like with each passing day, he is starting to morph into Nolan Ryan 2.0, except Verlander has actually won a few Cy Young's. Today it's telling Alex Cora to fuck off. Tomorrow, he'll be putting whatever the modern-day version of Robin Ventura is in a headlock. I'll be here for all of it.