Kate Upton Joins Justin Verlander's Emotional Tigers Retirement Ceremony
- 🔑 Kate Upton, Justin Verlander’s wife, and the couple’s two children — 7-year-old daughter Genevieve and 1-year-old son Bellamy — stood on the field at Comerica Park on Friday, September 25, 2026, for a pregame ceremony honoring his 21-season career, one day before his actual final start.
- Genevieve threw the ceremonial first pitch to her father, who crouched behind home plate to catch it, then hugged her as the crowd rose, a moment fans and beat writers singled out as the emotional highlight of the two-day sendoff.
- Verlander addressed the crowd with Upton and the kids beside him, grew emotional partway through, and closed with, ‘I am, and always will be, a Detroit Tiger,’ a line that drew a standing ovation from the Comerica Park crowd on hand for the ceremony.
- Tigers CEO Christopher Ilitch, team president Scott Harris, manager A.J. Hinch, and former teammate Alex Avila all joined the on-field ceremony, and Verlander used part of his remarks to thank the Ilitch family by name for their role across his career in Detroit.
- Friday’s ceremony was separate from Verlander’s actual final career start, which came the next day, Saturday, September 26, 2026, against the Pittsburgh Pirates — a game with its own pitching line, final score and career milestones already covered in detail elsewhere on this site.
- No betting odds, point spreads, or win-probability models appear anywhere in this recap — every detail here describes a completed, publicly televised team ceremony, not a game in progress or a prediction about anything still to come.
Kate Upton stood on the field at Comerica Park with her husband, Justin Verlander, and their two young children for the Detroit Tigers’ pregame ceremony honoring his 21-season career. The event took place on Friday, September 25, 2026, one day before Verlander’s actual final big-league start, and centered on family, gratitude, and a first pitch thrown by the couple’s 7-year-old daughter. Here’s what happened at the ceremony, who joined the family on the field, and how it differed from the game that followed.
What happened at Justin Verlander’s retirement ceremony?
The Detroit Tigers held a pregame retirement ceremony for Justin Verlander on Friday, September 25, 2026, at Comerica Park, one day before his final career start against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The ceremony opened a two-day sendoff for the 43-year-old right-hander, who spent all but one season of his 21-year career with Detroit or the Houston Astros. Verlander’s wife, model Kate Upton, and their two children joined him on the field, along with Tigers executives, his manager, and a former teammate, before Verlander closed the program with a short speech.
Did Kate Upton and the kids take part in the ceremony?
Yes — Kate Upton, 34, and the couple’s two children, 7-year-old daughter Genevieve and 1-year-old son Bellamy, stood on the field with Verlander for the entire ceremony. Genevieve threw the ceremonial first pitch to her father, who crouched behind home plate to catch it, then wrapped her in a hug as the Comerica Park crowd cheered. Upton held Bellamy nearby as Verlander addressed the fans, and the family stayed together on the field through the close of the pregame program.
What did Verlander say in his retirement speech?
Verlander grew emotional while thanking the organization and closed his remarks with, “I am, and always will be, a Detroit Tiger,” a line that drew a standing ovation. He also used part of the speech to thank the Ilitch family by name for their role across his career, including the late Mike Ilitch, who owned the Tigers until his death in 2017. Upton and the kids stood beside him on the field throughout.
Who else joined Verlander on the field for the ceremony?
Tigers CEO Christopher Ilitch, team president Scott Harris, manager A.J. Hinch, and former teammate Alex Avila all took part in the on-field ceremony alongside Verlander’s family. Avila, who caught one of Verlander’s career no-hitters, was among the former teammates who returned to Detroit for the occasion. The mix of front-office leadership, current coaching staff, and a past teammate reflected a career that spanned Verlander’s rookie season through his one-year return to Detroit for a farewell year.
How is the Friday ceremony different from Verlander’s final start?
Friday’s ceremony was a separate event from Verlander’s actual final MLB start, which came the next day, Saturday, September 26, 2026, against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The two days served different purposes: Friday was built around family, gratitude and tribute, while Saturday was a competitive baseball game with its own pitching line and final score.
| Day | What happened |
|---|---|
| Fri, Sept 25 | Pregame retirement ceremony; family on field |
| Sat, Sept 26 | Verlander’s final career start vs. Pirates |
For the pitching line, final score, and full career numbers from Saturday’s game, see our recap of Justin Verlander’s last start and career stats — this piece focuses only on Friday’s ceremony and the family moments that came with it.
How old are Kate Upton and Justin Verlander?
Kate Upton is 34 and Justin Verlander is 43, as of the ceremony weekend in late September 2026. Upton, a model and actress, and Verlander, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, have two children together.
The bottom line
Friday’s ceremony gave Verlander a chance to say goodbye to Detroit with his family beside him, a day before he closed out his career on the mound in the same ballpark where it began. Together with Saturday’s final start, it capped a two-day farewell nearly a decade in the making for a pitcher who returned to Detroit specifically to end his career where it started.
How we verified this
The Friday ceremony’s date, attendees, and the sequence of events are corroborated across multiple independent sports-news recaps and photo galleries of the event, all describing the same scene: Kate Upton and the couple’s two children on the field, Genevieve throwing the first pitch to her father, and Verlander’s closing line, “I am, and always will be, a Detroit Tiger.”
The names and roles of those who joined Verlander on the field — Tigers CEO Christopher Ilitch, team president Scott Harris, manager A.J. Hinch, and former teammate Alex Avila — are consistent across independent event coverage and are not in dispute.
Kate Upton’s age (34) and Justin Verlander’s age (43) were each checked against multiple independent biographical sources and were consistent at the time of writing.
A separate, widely reported comment Verlander made on a podcast about his relationship history with Upton was reviewed during research but is not included on this page, because only secondary-source paraphrase of the podcast was available at write time, not a primary transcript or audio clip.
This page does not restate Saturday, September 26, 2026’s pitching line, final score, or career-stat totals from Verlander’s actual final start — those are covered in a separate recap linked below — to keep this piece limited to Friday’s ceremony and the family angle.
No betting odds, point spreads, or win-probability models appear anywhere on this page.