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Justin Verlander Addresses Tigers Fans Ahead of His Final Career Start · Bleacher Report

• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Thank you. I mean, boy, I wasn't sure how I
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: was going to feel. I'm quite emotional, so I'm sorry
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: if I struggle to get through this a little bit.
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  Speaker 2: First of all, I want to say thank you to
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  Speaker 2: John for coming here and doing this. I want to
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  Speaker 2: say thank you to all my current teammates. This is
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  Speaker 2: a small brotherhood to share a teammate, to share.
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  Speaker 1: A locker room together. And it's been an honor to
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: be able to do that with you guys this year. Cheers.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: Our manager this year, AJ, who I've had the pleasure
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  Speaker 2: of being with, my longest tenured manager behind Jim Leland
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: in Houston. Obviously, we had some great treasures to memory,
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: but also to come back and have you here. as
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  Speaker 2: my manager to cap off my career has meant the world.
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  Speaker 2: So thank you, AJ. To a couple former teammates who
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: are here, who we just heard from, Alex, man, what
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: a speech.
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  Speaker 1: That means a lot, and we've had so many memories together.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, the time that we spent together is something
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  Speaker 2: I'll cherish forever, but having you, the thing that sticks
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: out in my greatest memory the no-hitter in Toronto. You
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: coming out to greet me and the embrace on the
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  Speaker 2: field there was just, it was special for me. And
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: every time I see you, just know that's the first
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: thought that pops in my head. So it's always great,
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: even though I disagree with all the signs sometimes. DK,
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: the Dons with a Z. There's a story behind that,
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  Speaker 2: but you guys don't need to know that story right now.
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  Speaker 2: But Love playing with you, man, and looking forward to
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  Speaker 2: competing against you tomorrow one last time and see how
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: it goes, buddy. I want to thank all my former teammates, coaches,
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  Speaker 2: support staff, past and present. It definitely takes a village
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: to get here.
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  Speaker 1: Couldn't do it alone.
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  Speaker 2: So many people helped support me and play a part
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  Speaker 2: in my journey. I'd like to thank the Illich family,
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  Speaker 2: especially back in my time, Mrs. Marion Illich, and of course,
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  Speaker 2: the late Mr. I, who meant so much to not
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  Speaker 2: only the Detroit Tigers.
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  Speaker 1: But to this entire city.
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  Speaker 2: Another person who's no longer with us that I want
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  Speaker 2: to recognize is Mr. K, Al Kaline. He was an
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  Speaker 2: icon of this city and organization, but more importantly, a
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  Speaker 2: wonderful friend.
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  Speaker 1: When I first came here to Detroit, I was such
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  Speaker 1: a young man.
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  Speaker 2: And I'm so thankful for the guidance of Jim Leland,
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  Speaker 2: the skipper. Now that I have more perspective, I consider
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: myself so fortunate to have had Jim as my first
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  Speaker 2: manager in the major leagues.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I had a couple starts in 05, but we
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  Speaker 1: don't talk about those.
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  Speaker 2: His trust in me early on gave me such confidence
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  Speaker 2: and paved the way for the beginning of my career.
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  Speaker 2: I want to say thank you to all my family
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  Speaker 2: and friends who traveled here to support me and be
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  Speaker 2: a part of this weekend.
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  Speaker 1: I love all of you guys.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you for coming and taking the effort to travel
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  Speaker 2: here and be here with me.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: To Kate, Genevieve, and Bellamy, I'm so grateful for your
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  Speaker 2: love and support. Life for me was just about baseball
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  Speaker 2: for the longest time. You guys showed me that there's
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  Speaker 2: so much more to life. Whether it was a good day,
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  Speaker 2: a bad day, or anything in between, coming home to
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  Speaker 2: you always makes it better.
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  Speaker 1: I love you guys.
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  Speaker 2: And last, but certainly not least, to all the fans.
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  Speaker 2: I want to thank each and every one of you
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  Speaker 2: from the bottom of my heart. We've been through a
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  Speaker 2: lot over the years. I always hoped I'd get the
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  Speaker 2: chance to come back here to Detroit to finish my
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  Speaker 2: career where it all started.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: Thanks.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: And although I certainly did not intend on things going
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  Speaker 2: the way they did this season, your love and support
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  Speaker 2: has meant the world to me and gotten me through
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: what's been a very tough season.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you, sincerely.
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  Speaker 2: That love and support has solidified to me that I
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  Speaker 2: am and always will be a Detroit Tiger.
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: Thank you.