Look: San Francisco Giants Poke Fun at Aging Cy Young Winner’s Birthday

The San Francisco Giants made sure to celebrate the 42nd birthday of one of their free-agent signings in a comical way.

Feb 13, 2025; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Justin Verlander (35) watches players work out in the bullpen during spring training camp. / Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

When the San Francisco Giants signed Justin Verlander in January, they knew they were getting one of the oldest players in baseball.

On Thursday, Verlander turned 42 years old. He’s certainly one of the oldest pitchers in the game. He revealed to media covering the team that he celebrated his birthday with teammates by playing laser tag.

That’s fun. But the fun didn’t end with laser tag.

No, one of his younger teammates, third baseman Matt Chapman, had a surprise for him over the weekend.

Ben Verlander, Justin’s brother and host of the Flippin’ Bats Pod, posted a photo shared with him of what Chapman arranged. It was hilarious.

Oh my god.

For Justin’s birthday Matt Chapman rolled him out in a wheelchair and all rookies and teammates with less than one year of service time sung him Happy Birthday.

😂 pic.twitter.com/1VvXBULIJ9

— Ben Verlander (@BenVerlander) February 23, 2025

Every Giants rookie, or player with less than one year of service time, that was in Major League camp stood in front of Verlander and sang him “Happy Birthday.” While he was listening, he had to sit in a wheelchair.

Funny stuff from Chapman, who happens to be 31 years old.

Verlander hasn’t thrown in a spring training game yet. But he’s been present during workouts since pitchers and catchers reported Part of it has been ramping up for what will be his 20th Major League season. Some of it has been serving as a touchstone for the younger members of the starting rotation.

They would be wise to listen and learn from whatever Verlander has to say, as he’s headed for the Baseball Hall of Fame on the first ballot when he finally calls it a career.

He’s coming off perhaps the worst season of his career. Due to injuries, he only made 17 starts, going 5-6 with a 5.48 ERA with 74 strikeouts and 27 walks.

For his career, he is 262-147 with a 3.30 ERA, with 3,416 strikeouts, putting him among the top pitchers in history in strikeouts.

He’s won three Cy Young award, all in the American League and most recently in 2022 with the Houston Astros, when he went 18-4 with a 1.75 ERA. With 218 strikeouts, he won the AL pitching triple crown.

He also has two World Series rings, both of which came with the Astros in 2017 and 2022.

He is a nine-time All-Star, the 2011 American League MVP, a two-time All-MLB first team selection, the 2006 AL rookie of the year and the 2022 AL comeback player of the year, as he was coming off Tommy John surgery, which led to him missing the entire 2021 campaign.

He is one of only six pitchers that have three or more no-hitters for their career.

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