Justin Verlander to miss Astros’ parade for wedding weekend

The Houston Astros’ championship parade is scheduled for Friday, but one of the team’s most valuable contributors in the playoffs is not expected to be in attendance.

WXYZ in Detroit confirmed that Justin Verlander is getting married to longtime girlfriend Kate Upton this weekend in Italy. They say that he will miss the team’s parade on Friday.

Verlander and Upton probably had this planned for a while. After all, the two have been engaged since at least last May, and who would have expected baseball events to be on Verlander’s calendar this late in the year? He was probably a member of the Detroit Tigers, who finished tied for the worst record in the league, when the plans were made. And it also took both the ALCS and World Series going seven games for the season to go all the way into November.

Verlander was traded to Houston at the last second before the calendar turned to September. All he did was go 5-0 with a 1.06 ERA for them in the regular season, and then 4-1 with a 2.21 ERA in the postseason. He may not be there on Friday, but Verlander will not be forgotten.