Detroit Tigers fans watched as fan favorite and long-time Tiger Justin Verlander battled once again for a World Series title. Only this time, he was not wearing the Detroit D.

Back in September, the Tigers traded the Cy Young award winner to the Houston Astros and, in return, gained three new prospects.

“I wasn’t really upset with the trade,” Oakland student Zack Johnson said. “The trade was made with the best intentions and I’m so happy to see him win a ring and be a part of such an insane World Series run.”

Verlander got off to a great start with Houston as he won his first five starts. In his debut outing as an Astro, he struck out six and only allowed one run.

As the Astros moved on to playoff season, Verlander helped to lead the Astros to victory by pitching seven shutout innings in a 7−1 win over the Yankees in game six. He was also named the MVP of the American League Championship Series (ALCS).

This year, the Houston Astros (American League) took on the Los Angeles Dodgers (National League) for baseball’s most coveted title. The World Series was a battle until the end. The Dodgers took game one followed by the Astros taking the next two. The Dodgers were not to be counted out, though, winning game four.

Sunday, Oct. 29 was what I think was the most intense game of the series. Both teams went back and forth both on the field and in the batters box. The Dodgers tied up the game in the ninth inning with Chris Taylor hitting a single to center field thus scoring Austin Barnes, who had previously hit a double. With the Astros not scoring in the bottom of the ninth, this pushed the game to the tenth inning where the Astros barely got the win when Alex Bregman hit a single to left field that was deep enough to bring home Derek Fisher, who was pinch running.

The Dodgers then tied the series in game six pushing the series to the brink by going to game seven.

Verlander had a chance to clinch the world series title in game six. However, he gave up three hits and two runs. Even though he struck out nine batters in six innings, Verlander was given the loss with the final score of 3–1. This was his first loss as a member of the Astros.

Houston won the World Series in game seven, finally giving Verlander a World Series title and the World Series ring. 

“I can’t even put it into words,” Verlander said. “The experience is everything I dreamed it would be. But I didn’t take a second of this for granted because having been here twice and falling short, I know how hard it is to win the World Series.”

The Tigers even sent a special congratulations in a tweet to Verlander saying:

“For someone who has earned several honors over his career, we know this one is special. Congrats @JustinVerlander.”