Justin Verlander is a professional pitcher. Verlander attended Old Dominion University (ODU) and played college baseball for the Monarchs. He broke the Monarchs' and Colonial Athletic Association's career records for strikeouts. At the 2003 Pan American Games, Verlander helped lead the United States national team to a silver medal.

The Tigers selected Verlander with the second overall pick of the 2004 MLB draft. He made his major league debut with the Tigers in 2005 playing there for 12 years as the ace in their starting rotation, as a key figure in four consecutive AL Central division championships and two AL Pennants. After, he would be traded to the Houston Astros. He is among the career pitching leaders for the Tigers, including ranking second in strikeouts, seventh in wins, and eighth in innings pitched (records hold as of 2021). The Tigers traded Verlander to the Astros before the 2017 trade deadline, and he went undefeated in his first five starts heading into the postseason. In 2019, Verlander became the sixth pitcher in MLB history to throw three career no-hitters and struck out his 3,000th batter, becoming the 18th pitcher in major league history to do so. 

In 2016, Verlander started the "Wins For Warriors Foundation" for veterans of the United States Military. The "Wins For Warriors Foundation" campaign raised $246,311 to help Houston recover from Hurricane Harvey in 2017. To date, Verlander has donated over 1 million dollars to this cause.