Justin Verlander was overcome with emotion as his 7-year-old daughter Genevieve ran toward him on the pitcher’s mound after his final Detroit Tigers baseball game.
“I had no idea. I was completely caught off guard,” said Verlander, 43, told reporters after the Sept. 26 game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. “It hit me like a blow, it was unbelievable. I was sobbing and had to make sure she understood that I was happy.”
Saturday’s game was the last time Verlander, who shares Genevieve and 15-month-old son Bellamy with his wife Kate Uptonstarted in an MLB game. (The Tigers ultimately defeated the Pirates 4-3.)
To celebrate her father’s achievement, Genevieve – appropriately dressed in a miniature version of Verlander’s jersey – ran up to the diamond to give him a big hug. After the father-daughter duo hugged, Upton, 34, and Bellamy joined them on the field for a loving group hug.
Kate Upton and Justin Verlander’s relationship has had its share of ups and downs, but overall the couple has come out on top when it comes to romance. The two met through baseball when they worked together on the set of a commercial for the Major League Baseball 2K12 video game in February 2012. Almost a (…)
“She was OK, I think, (but) I just wanted to make sure she was OK,” he added in his postgame press conference with Genevieve. “She’s never seen me cry like that. I think when I left the field with my family, and of course we talked a lot about how my life has changed and what my family means to me, … being able to walk off the field with them, I can’t imagine a better ending.”
Hours before the game, Verlander was honored by the team an official retirement ceremony.
“I feel like I ran my race. I gave it everything I had,” the baseball star said in his speech on Friday, September 25. “I see my daughter, who is now 7, and how quickly it is happening and how much of that time period I have already missed. I have a one-year-old son now. I know that I can be there for him and experience more of that childhood that I unfortunately missed with my daughter (and that I will continue to be there for her in the very formative years to come.”
Justin Verlander poses for a photo with his wife Kate Upton and their children during his career celebration on Friday, September 25.
Gregory Shamus/Getty ImagesUpton, Genevieve and Bellamy were also in attendance at Friday’s ceremony, where Verlander gushed that their family had made a “tremendous” difference in his life.
Justin Verlander had the support of his wife Kate Upton and their two children for a special career moment for the baseball star. The 43-year-old MLB icon was joined by Upton, 34, and her daughter Genevieve, 7, and son Bellamy, 1, at a pregame retirement ceremony at Comerica Park in Detroit on Friday, September 25. (…)
“Thanks to them, I am a different person now and I have enjoyed every moment of becoming a different person,” he added at the time. “There’s a quote I like: ‘What’s the point of living life if you don’t let life change you?'”
Verlander and the model have been married since 2017, having met years earlier in 2012 on the set of a commercial for a Major League Baseball video game.
“She was the greatest wife and mother,” Verlander said told exclusively Us in 2019 as I watched Upton become a parent. “I knew she would be a great example for our daughter no matter what. It’s the person she is, it’s the person I married. I’ve always appreciated her for her strength.”
