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If New York Mets starter Justin Verlander had retired before the start of the 2023 MLB season, he would be a Hall of Famer. But at this point in his career, Verlander, 40, is still suiting up for two reasons: to win another ring and to cross a few more milestones off his lengthy list of career accomplishments.
Verlander managed to do the latter during Wednesday's start against the Cincinnati Reds. Verlander threw seven strong innings against Cincinnati, giving up just one run on two hits. He issued two walks, struck out seven and helped the Mets pick up a 2-1 win.
With that win, Verlander became the 21st pitcher in MLB history to be credited with a win against all 30 teams. Prior to Verlander, Gerrit Cole was the most recent pitcher to accomplish the feat when he picked up a win against his former club, the Houston Astros, in 2021. That game gave Cole at least one win against all 30 MLB teams.
Being a member of this exclusive club doesn't guarantee a player will make the Hall of Fame. Verlander is a lock, and Cole is well on his way, but other players who did it, such as Javier Vazquez and Woody Williams, didn't come close.
The list does, however, indicate a few positive things about a pitcher. In order to notch a win against all 30 MLB teams, you have to be pretty decent, and you have to have longevity. Vazquez, for example, pitched 14 seasons in the majors and had an ERA better than the league average in eight of those seasons.
Cole and Verlander make up two of the four active pitchers who have beaten all 30 MLB teams. Kansas City Royals starter Zack Greinke did it in 2019. Greinke was with the Houston Astros at the time and notched a win against the Royals to accomplish the feat. Max Scherzer managed it in 2016, when he beat his former club, the Detroit Tigers.
There's a pretty obvious reason the list of players who accomplished this feat is littered with more recent names. MLB expanded to 30 teams in 1998, and the first player to beat all 30 MLB teams was Al Leiter, who started his MLB career in 1987. Free agency was decades old by that point, but it is also a necessary piece of the puzzle here.
There's a chance the list of pitchers with wins against all 30 MLB teams lengthens in the years to come. MLB introduced a balanced schedule in 2023, which enables teams to play more games outside their divisions.
Daniel Weinman was crowned winner of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event on Monday, taking home a record breaking $12.1 million in winnings. Weinman had to outlast the other 10,043 entrants to take home the prize and get his hands on his share of live poker’s largest ever prize pool – a staggering $93,399,900. As well as taking home the prize money, 35-year-old Weinman also got his hands on the WSOP Main Event bracelet. The huge bracelet contains 500 grams of 10-karat yellow gold, as well as 2,352 various precious gemstones.
Daniel Weinman won the World Series of Poker's main event world championship on Monday in Las Vegas, earning $12.1 million along the way. Playing in the tournament for a 16th year, Weinman was tops in a deep pool of 10,043 players vying for $93.39 million. His victory came after just 164 hands at the final table. "I was honestly on the fence about even coming back and playing this tournament," the 35-year-old Atlanta native told reporters afterward. Weinman's final table featured Jan-Peter Jachtmann, who landed in fourth place and took home $3 million, as well as Toby Lewis, who finished seventh and secured $1.42 million. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the main event's entry pool far outpaced the previous record of 8,773 set in 2006. "I've always kind of felt that poker was kind of going in a dying direction, but to see the numbers at the World Series this year has been incredible," Weinman said. "And to win this main event, it doesn't feel real. I mean, [there's] so much luck in a poker tournament. I thought I played very well." Steven Jones finished second, securing $6.5 million. And Adam Walton settled for third and a $4 million prize.
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