Reflecting on his last MLB pitch, Detroit Tigers icon Justin Verlander gave credit to his wife, Kate Upton, for organizing the moment with his young daughter that “totally blindsided” him.

Appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Verlander conceded that he was “totally blindsided” by the moment with his daughter, who called him off the mound.

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“Our manager, A.J. Hinch, and my wife, Kate, set it up,” he explained. “Totally blindsided… The whole weekend leading up to it [was] very emotional for me, knowing my whole life is changing; it's coming to an end, the baseball chapter anyway. And so, I see A.J. walk out there, and out of the corner of my eye, I see my daughter start running at me.

“The culmination of all these emotions just hit me. I mean, you saw the reaction,” he added.

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He said that his daughter had never seen him cry like he was in the moment. Verlander whispered that he was “happy” to her. Whether or not she believed her father is another story.

Verlander called it a career on Saturday, Sep. 26, pitching for over five innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He returned to the Tigers for the final season of his career. He was selected as a Legend Pick for the MLB All-Star Game.

The 43-year-old retires after a long MLB career that began in 2005. He made it to 10 All-Star teams and was named the AL MVP once. Additionally, he won two World Series with the Houston Astros.

During his legendary career, Verlander played for four different MLB teams. He played for the Tigers for over a decade to start his career. Verlander then played for the Astros for several years before joining the New York Mets in 2023. He would rejoin the Astros in 2023 before playing for the San Francisco Giants in 2025. His career concluded in 2026 with the Tigers.