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Pirates’ Don Kelly Set for One Last Reunion With Justin Verlander
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- Pirates’ Don Kelly Set for One Last Reunion With Justin Verlander
Pirates’ Don Kelly Set for One Last Reunion With Justin Verlander
DETROIT – Pirates manager Don Kelly and Tigers starter Justin Verlander have shared the same field many times throughout the years.
They were teammates for the first time with Double-A Erie in 2005. The two shared a Major League clubhouse when they were teammates with the Tigers from 2009-14. They teamed up once more with the Astros in 2019 – Verlander as a starting pitcher and Kelly as the team's first base coach.
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Although the two now wear different uniforms, Kelly and Verlander will have one final reunion.
Verlander will make the final start of his career on Saturday afternoon at Comerica Park before retiring at the end of the season. His opponent will be Kelly's Pirates.
"It's really special to be here this weekend, with (Verlander) getting honored tonight and making his last start (Saturday)," Kelly said on Friday. "Certainly want to beat him (Saturday). Really cool to be here and to be a part of it."
Kelly was on the top step of the Pirates' dugout before Friday night's game to witness the pregame ceremony honoring Verlander. During his speech at a podium at home plate, Verlander turned his head towards Kelly as he gave a shoutout to the Pirates manager.
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"DK, the Donz, with a z. There's a story behind that but you guys don't need to know that story right now," Verlander said to the 36,315 fans in attendance. "Loved playing with you, man. Looking forward to competing against you tomorrow one last time and see how it goes, buddy."
Verlander's Cooperstown-bound career will be most remembered for the time spent in Detroit. He was an All-Star for the first time in 2007 and went to five more in consecutive seasons from 2009-13. Verlander won American League Rookie of the Year in 2006. Five years later, he won AL MVP in addition to Cy Young.
Verlander re-signed with the Tigers in the offseason and made one start on March 30 before he was placed on the injured list a few days later with left hip inflammation. The same competitiveness that drove Verlander to return to the Tigers as a 43-year-old is also what drove him to return to the mound one last time, surmises Kelly.
"He's a competitor, man, and he wants to be out there," said Kelly. "The thing that stood out with Justin is you may have beat him but he never lost. He just kept on going. That's the mindset that he took, that he was going to go out there and keep competing. And this year was no different."
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Entering the final start of his career on Saturday afternoon, Verlander will take the mound as the active leader in starts (556), wins (266), innings, (3,571.1) and strikeouts (3,554).
"He always said he wanted to pitch until he's 45, and looks like not going to make it to 45 – but 43 is really impressive. Ridiculous," Kelly said of Verlander's career. "Just the career that he's had, the success. No doubt a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Such an elite competitor, a fierce competitor that had a really tremendous amount of talent and maximized that to its fullest."
Verlander was traded to the Astros in 2017 and spent seven seasons in Houston , where he won two more Cy Youngs and two World Series championships. He also made stops with the Mets and Giants, but Kelly feels it's fitting that Verlander gets to end his career where it all began – made even sweeter that he will be a part of it.
"I get chills thinking about that," Kelly said.
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