Justin Verlander | Larry Brown Sports

Justin Verlander’s ‘Bringing it’ License Plate, Cocky Much?

They say the car you drive indicates who you are as a person. I say that statement has some truth but it isn’t always correct. One thing about a car that does tell you a lot about a person is their license plate. In the case of Justin Verlander, the Tigers found out his rookie year that he was a cocky mofo. The latest edition of Sporting News Magazine (with Kansas on the cover — we know how that turned out), features a lengthy conversation with Verlander and a sidebar written by Tigers pitcher Jeremy Bonderman who is best friends with Verlander. Bonderman shared this classic story about Verlander:

“His first year with the Tigers, he showed up to spring training and the license plate on his car said “BRNGN IT” — oh, man, we rode him hard for it. He really got an earful from Kenny Rogers and a bunch of our other veterans. That’s one of those things that, as a rookie, you just don’t do.”

Imagine that, here comes some kid with a career record of 21-18 for Old Dominion and no wins to his name at the Major League level, showing up to camp letting everyone know he’s “Bringing it.” Five years, 65 wins, two All-Star games, and 746 strikeouts later, there’s no doubt that Verlander is bringing it. You also get the sense that Verlander’s very serious about his stated goal of making the Hall of Fame. As long as his arm doesn’t fall off you have to figure his chances are pretty fair. For another story about that, Verlander only needs to turn to his buddy Bonderman.

Of course, this story wouldn’t be complete without a picture of the infamous car. Based on some searching around the net, I believe this is it:

Classic!

Ned Yost Should Take Blame for No-No

I’m not one to take a leak on another man’s greatest accomplishment, but that’s exactly what I’ll be doing here. Justin Verlander’s good, actually really good. But he did not have to be no-hitter good on Tuesday night. The probability that he would have held the Brewers to no hits could’ve been lowered. And dare I say avoided. See, when I look at the boxscore for the game, something stands out to me almost as much as the actual no-hitter — the Brewers lineup. Take a look at it:

Sorry to say it, but Milwaukee can field a better lineup than that. Come on, Craig Counsell and Tony Graffanino hitting one and two? Phil Garner’s 7th and 8th spot of Adam Everett and Brad Ausmus are laughing at that top of the lineup. Plus, Yost gave third baseman Ryan Braun the day off. Braun has been arguably Milwaukee’s best hitter since his callup a few weeks ago, making Tuesday night’s day off ill-timed. Additionally, Yost used Gabe Gross for the DH spot, leaving the great Kevin Mench on the bench, another poor choice if you ask me.

Hey, it may seem like I’m nit-picking here, but I really feel like this whole situation could’ve been avoided if Yost did a better job of choosing his lineup. Then again, if every important baseball decision were left up to me, then these poor men would be out of jobs. So I guess it’s kind of like my community service or something. In the end, I’ll say it was an impressive no-no for Verlander that could have been avoided.

Oh, what do you know? It’s Doug Melvin on the phone for a conversation. Sorry guys, don’t expect the morning paper and usual posts until later today, I have an interview to prepare for.