What a night Thursday night turned out to be for Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander.
After going 24-5 with a 2.40 ERA and 250 strikeouts in 251 innings pitched during the regular season, Justin Verlander was awarded the 2011 MLB Players Choice Award.
This particular award is the top honor voted on by Major League players.
Verlander is also only the second pitcher to take home the award.
He was also awarded the AL Outstanding Pitcher Award.
“I think with all the talk about should a pitcher be able to win an MVP or a top player award, I think it shows a lot of support from my fellow players for them to vote me that,” he said. “I think it means a lot. … When it comes from your peers, when it comes from your teammates, the guys you’re playing with, the guys you’re battling against, I really feel like that adds a little bit something extra special to it.”
In addition to all of this, it was also announced that Verlander would be on the cover of the new MLB 2K12 video game scheduled to be released March 9th of 2012. Verlander who joins Roy Halladay, Evan Longoria, and Tim Lincecum as the most recent players to grace the cover may be the final player to be featured on the cover of the game. According to various sources the third-party license for 2K Sports is scheduled to expire at the end of next season.
Ref: 2K Sports, Mlive.com, MLB.com, PastaPadre.com (image)