Justin Verlander, the former Goochland High and ODU star, made his final start of the 2025 season on Sept. 27 for the San Francisco Giants, who had already been eliminated from postseason play.
And it was an historic outing – on several counts.
The right-hander went six innings to get the win against the lowly Colorado Rockies. It was only his fourth win of the season but the 266th of his career, as he tied Hall of Famers Bob Feller and Eppa Rixey on the all-time wins list.
Tying Rixey did not get much attention from the national media, but Verlander and Rixey are now tied for the most victories by a pitcher born in Virginia. A lefty, Rixey was born in Culpeper, grew up in Charlottesville and starred at the University of Virginia before turning pro.
Verlander has told reporters that he wants to play again next season. And he has said in the past he would love to reach 300 wins – though that may be a pipe dream.
“I think if I can go out and make 29, 30-plus starts and give our team a chance to win for a few more years, then it’s possible,” Verlander told reporters Saturday. “I’m not going to say it’s not. It’s definitely harder, though. If you make 29 starts, you’d like to win 10, 15 games. It wasn’t in the cards this year. But maybe this year wasn’t meant to be for wins. Maybe this year was meant to be kind of for health and kind of re-finding myself and getting used to taking the ball every five, six days and just kind of going out there and being able to log some innings. Maybe that will carry me where I need to go.”
The 42-year-old gave up a home run on Saturday to Brenton Doyle, who grew up in Northern Virginia and played for New Market in the Rockingham County Baseball League while in college at Division II Shepherd in West Virginia. The Colorado center fielder won a Gold Glove the past two seasons. He was one of three RCBL alums to play in the majors this regular season, joining Will Wagner (the son of Hall of Famer Billy Wager) of the Toronto Blue Jays and Brenan Hanifee, the Turner Ashby High grad who appeared in the bullpen for the Detroit Tigers.
Rixey went into the Hall of Fame in the summer of 1963, a few months after he passed away near his long-time home near Cincinnati. He pitched for the Philadelphia Phillies and Reds from 1912-1933.
Verlander was 4-11 this year in 29 starts – the Giants were 10-19 in games that he pitched.
The right-hander pitched in bad luck some of the times, as the Giants had a penchant for not scoring when he was on the mound. Other times, frankly, his numbers were awful – he allowed six earned runs on July 4 against the A’s and five on Aug. 10 against the Washington Nationals.
But he did pitch much better in September. If he does return in 2026, that would give him a shot at surpassing Rixey. He was on a one-year deal with the Giants, who fired manager Bob Melvin on Monday.
Rixey is one of six natives of Virginia honored in Cooperstown, along with 2025 inductee Wagner and former Negro League stars Leon Day, Ray Dandridge, Pete Hill and Jud Wilson.
Verlander is likely to be No. 7 five years after he announces his retirement.
It would be fitting if Verlander and Rixey ended in a tie for most wins by a Virginia native. That is what happened for career homers, as Arno native Willie Horton and Norfolk native Justin Upton both ended up with 325.
A late-season teammate of Verlander was Fairfax native Bryce Eldrdge, the top prospect in the Giants’ system. Eldridge, a first baseman, began the year with Double-A Richmond and was called up to the Giants in mid-September from Triple-A. His first hit in the Majors was a bases loaded double on Sept. 20.
He became the fifth grad of James Madison High in Vienna to make the majors, following Mike Wallace, Jay Franklin, Bob Brower and Jim McNamara. That is the most alums of any public high school in the state to make The Show, per baseballcube.com. Brower was a baseball and football standout at Duke, and Franklin was the second overall pick in the 1971 draft by the San Diego Padres.
Eldridge ended a drought of more than 30 years for Madison High, after catcher McNamara played for the Giants in 1992-1993. Madison High has won six state titles and now has a total of 11 when combining Virginia crowns and MLB players – breaking a tie with Turner Ashby, which has won seven titles and has three alums who made the majors.
Cal Raleigh shines
Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh was born in Harrisonburg on Nov. 26, 1996, when his father, Todd, was in his first academic year as an assistant coach at JMU.
Many websites have him being born in North Carolina, where he went to high school. But his mother confirmed to this reporter via a JMU spokesman a few years ago that her son indeed was born in The Friendly City.
Raleigh had 60 homers this year – the most ever for a switch-hitter (passing Mickey Mantle), the most by a primary catcher and the most by a Seattle player, breaking the mark of Ken Griffey Jr.
“It’s crazy. Sixty is — I don’t know what to say,” Raleigh told reporters after hitting two homers to reach 60 against those same Rockies in late September. “I didn’t know if I was going to hit 60 in my life. Just tonight, what a way to do it.”
Raleigh, in May alone, had 12 homers. That is the same combined as the other seven MLB players born in Harrisonburg in their entire careers.
Turner Ashby High grad Alan Knicely had 12 homers in his MLB career. None of the others born in The Friendly City went deep; that lists includes infielders Brian Bocock (TA) and Doug Neff and pitchers Nelson Chittum, Travis Harper (JMU), Daryl Irvine (Spotswood High) and Brenan Hanifee (TA).
Notes
*Former Waynesboro High pitcher Hal Walck, who pitched in the minors for the Chicago Cubs, has been involved with alumni events with ODU baseball – where he played. Walck was on hand last year when former ODU baseball coach Tony Guzzo, who passed in October 2024, was honored in Norfolk. Walck got to meet former TA slugger Adam Knicely, who starred at VCU under Guzzo.
Walck was teammates in the early 1980s in the Cubs’ system with former Washington Nationals manager Davey Martinez. “I live in Norfolk, Virginia, and yes, I did play with Dave Martinez in Geneva, New York. I got to know a lot of other great guys such as Rick Sutcliffe and Ryne Sandberg. Playing with the Cubs was a great experience,” Walck wrote to AFP. Hall of Famer Sandberg died earlier this year.
Sutcliffe and Sandberg were former Cubs’ stars.
Walck also played for Harrisonburg American Legion Post 27.
*Seven natives of Virginia made their MLB debut in 2025: Zach Agnos (Haymarket, Colorado Rockies); Nic Enright (Richmond, Cleveland Guardians); Zac Kent (Henrico, Guardians); Noah Murdock (Richmond, Athletics); Ben Williamson (Fairfax, Seattle Mariners); Connelly Early (Midlothian, Boston Red Sox); and Bryce Eldridge (Fairfax, San Francisco Giants).
Enright of Virginia Tech was 2-1, 2.03, for Cleveland, and Early of Virginia was 1-2, 2.33, for Boston.
In 2023, eight Virginia natives broke into The Show. That was the most in one year in more than 25 seasons.
*Former Staunton Brave Graham Ashcraft was 8-5, 3.99, with the Reds this year, and Lynchburg native and former Cav Andrew Abbott was 10-7, 2.87 in regular-season play. Former Brave Connor Norby had eight homers for the Miami Marlins in 2025 and had two hits in the last game of the season to deny the Mets a playoff spot. Former VMI pitcher Reed Garrett was 3-6, 3.90, in 58 games for the New York Mets but ended the season on the injured list.
*Former JMU star Chase DeLauter was added to the Cleveland roster for the Tuesday playoff game. He was the 2020 MVP in the Rockingham County Baseball League. DeLauter started and was 0-for-2 with a walk in three plate appearances, and an error and assist in the outfield, in the 6-1 Guardians win, becoming the fourth RCBL alum to appear in the Majors this year and the first position player/DH from JMU to appear in The Show since Rich Thompson in 2012.
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