Saturday marked Justin Verlander’s final MLB game as he pitched once more for the Detroit Tigers team he debuted with two decades ago. But as he walks off into the sunset, he’s leaving a sizeable donation for a local veterans organization behind.
According to The Detroit News via Yahoo Sports, Verlander and his wife Kate Upton announced a $100,000 donation to Michigan Humane for Military, an organization that helps military veterans and active-duty service members adopt animals more easily. The organization said that the donation will allow them to increase their adoption facilitations from 160 per year, all the way to 250-300 per year.
In a statement, Michigan Humane president and CEO Matt Pepper praised Verlander for how much he cares about the city of Detroit, its veterans and its pets.
“For more than a decade, Justin Verlander has stood behind veterans. I feel that commitment says as much about Justin as his performance on the mound,” Pepper said in a statement. “Our partnership around Michigan Humane for Military combines three things that Michigan Humane and Justin both care about deeply: pets, our community, and veterans.”
Verlander Speaks
Verlander issued a statement of his own explaining why a donation to Michigan Humane means so much to him.
“This means a lot to me — Detroit is where my career started, where I became who I am as a player and a person,” Verlander said. “I’ve always felt a deep connection to the military community and have been fortunate to support service members, veterans and their families throughout my career. Pairing that commitment with Michigan Humane, an organization that’s been showing up for this community for almost 150 years, felt like the right way to close this chapter.”
© David Rodriguez-Munoz / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images.
Verlander played the first 13 seasons for the Tigers and was a six-time All-Star and a Cy Young winner before he was traded to the Houston Astros in 2017, where he helped lead them to two World Series titles.
After bouncing around the league between 2023 and 2025, he returned to Detroit in 2026 for one final season and played in two games.
In his final outing on Saturday against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Verlander pitched for 5.1 innings and recorded six strikeouts in a 4-3 win.
