MLB star Justin Verlander reveals what he whispered to daughter on mound in final game
Verlander's daughter surprised him on the mound at his last MLB game.
When Detroit Tigers star Justin Verlander's daughter Genevieve surprised him on the field of his last professional baseball game over the weekend, Verlander was visibly emotional in a moment that quickly went viral.
Now, Verlander is opening up about what he said to his 7-year-old daughter as they hugged on the pitcher's mound at Comerica Park in Detroit.
"My whole body is convulsing I'm crying so hard, and I just wanted to make sure that she knew I was in a good place, and I was so happy that she was out there with me," Verlander said Tuesday on "Good Morning America." "So I whisper in her ear, 'I'm just so happy.'"
"It broke me," Verlander, 43, added of the emotional moment.
The three-time Cy Young winner was soon joined on the field by his wife, Kate Upton, and their son, Bellamy. Together with Genevieve, the family of four walked off the field and into the dugout for Verlander's last time after a 21-year Major League Baseball career.
Once out of the public eye, Verlander said he let his emotions out again.
"One of the things I'm looking most forward to after baseball is spending the time that I've missed with them," Verlander said of his family. "So to get to walk off the field and into the dugout ... to walk down the tunnel, and then there's a little foyer down there [and] there's a chair right there, and I just collapsed in the chair and let it go."
In addition to the Tigers, Verlander also played for the San Francisco Giants, New York Mets and Houston Astros over the course of his career.
Verlander said it was "pretty clear" that now was the right time to retire given the injuries he battled throughout the 2026 season.
"I'm just very grateful that I was able to say, 'This is it,' and then work to get back to this last start and make that happen," Verlander said of the Tigers' Sept. 26 game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Reflecting on his career, Verlander said it's not lost on him that he entered professional baseball in his early 20s and is leaving as a 43-year-old father of two.
"I think when I look back and what I'm most proud of is I gave this game everything I had. Every offseason, every time I took the mound, every ounce of effort was given. There's nothing I left behind," he said. "I think that's what I want to be remembered for."