Kate Upton has cheekily admitted she cried ‘tears of joy’ over Justin Verlander’s retirement – due to the fact she will never have to sit through another baseball game.
The 34-year-old supermodel joined the legendary pitcher on the Today show to reflect on his storied 21-season MLB career coming to an end.
When co-anchor Savannah Guthrie asked Upton how she was feeling about her husband hanging up his cleats, the model didn’t hesitate to offer an honest verdict.
‘I’m so excited,’ Upton candidly replied with a laugh. ‘I am never watching another baseball game again,’ she chuckled, adding: ‘It was tears of joy for me.’
Her tongue-in-cheek admission comes just days after Verlander took the mound for the final time on September 26, suiting up against the Pirates at Comerica Park.
The 43-year-old right-hander was overcome with emotion during the sixth inning when his seven-year-old daughter, Genevieve, walked onto the diamond wearing a Tigers jersey bearing her dad’s name and number to pull him from the contest.
Kate Upton has cheekily admitted she cried ‘tears of joy’ over Justin Verlander’s retirement – due to the fact she will never have to sit through another baseball game
Verlander’s daughter ran on to the field to hug him after his final MLB start ended
The pair shared a tearful embrace on the mound as the home Detroit Tigers crowd erupted into a thunderous standing ovation, before his teammates surrounded him to say their goodbyes.
Speaking on Good Morning America, the three-time Cy Young Award winner admitted the milestone moment completely overwhelmed him.
‘There was so much emotion all weekend,’ Verlander told co-anchor Michael Strahan. ‘Obviously, your life as you know it is coming to an end, and I feel like I ran my race and gave everything I had to the game.’
Verlander added that his sole focus on the mound was reassuring his daughter: ‘I just wanted to make sure she knew that I was in a good place and I’m so happy she was out there with me. So I whispered in her ear, ‘I’m just so happy.”
Upton and Verlander first began dating in 2012 before tying the knot in a lavish ceremony in Italy in November 2017, just days after he won his first World Series with the Houston Astros.
The couple welcomed Genevieve in November 2018 and expanded their family with the birth of their son, Bellamy Brooks, in June 2025.
With his playing days behind him, the two-time World Series champion insisted his top priority is being fully present at home.
‘My family means the world to me,’ Verlander said. ‘And I’m just so happy that I get the opportunity to make up for lost time.’
Upton and Verlander first began dating in 2012 before later tying the knot in 2017
Verlander’s wife Upton, was waiting to hug him as he left the field after his final MLB game
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Is it fair for family members to openly celebrate the end of a loved one’s career in sports?
Verlander has enjoyed a glittering MLB career as a two-time World Series winner, 10-time MLB All-Star and three-time Cy Young Award winner but announced earlier this year he would be retiring at the end of the season.
He leaves with 266 major league victories, and some felt he might become the next 300-game winner in the sport at one stage, something he admits he is disappointed he didn’t quite accomplish.
He reflected: ‘I think it’s all how you look at it, right? I could be sad for what maybe I didn’t do. I didn’t make 300 wins. That was a goal.
‘I’m not going to go home and lay my head on my pillow tomorrow night, no matter how the game goes, and be like, I left something out there. I think that gives me some ease.’
