In the unlikeliest turn of events, Yu Darvish has secured the 2019 World Series MVP award without actually playing in the 2019 World Series.
No, not really ... but the fact of the matter is that the award should belong to Darvish after the incredible burn he delivered to Justin Verlander during Game 2 of the Fall Classic on Wednesday night.
To fully comprehend the beauty of the roast we have to go all the way back to April of last year, when Verlander took to Twitter to poke fun at Darvish following an amusingly awkward base running blunder by the Cubs pitcher. After Darvish wiped out while rounding second base on a double, Verlander expressed concern that the blooper would reflect poorly on the public's perception of pitchers as true athletes.
Yu.... 🤦♂️. Not doing a lot here to help us dispel the pitchers aren’t athletes thing. https://t.co/685zoAJzXf
— Justin Verlander (@JustinVerlander) April 27, 2018
It seemed like a bit of good-natured ribbing on Verlander's part -- just one pitcher teasing another after a pretty goofy blooper. But apparently Darvish did not forget. Instead, he was willing to wait in the shadows and just bide his time until he had the opportunity to strike back.
That opportunity came Wednesday night, when Verlander did this:
Justin Verlander tried to make a play while falling down and ended up throwing the ball into his own leg 😂 pic.twitter.com/skNCND0NTE
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 24, 2019
Another angle of the Verlander leg throw pic.twitter.com/QxjnmNN5ot
— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) October 24, 2019
It was a valiant effort by Verlander and you've got to give him credit for trying, but throwing a baseball into your own leg is going to end in you being mercilessly mocked 100 percent of the time. As such, it should come as no surprise that Verlander became the butt of many jokes.
But the best response came from Darvish, who simply fed Verlander a carbon copy of his own medicine.
Justin.... 🤦♂️. Not doing a lot here to help us dispel the pitchers aren’t athletes thing.https://t.co/Ne5E1FXEe2 https://t.co/5UyZlpLyg9
— ダルビッシュ有(Yu Darvish) (@faridyu) October 24, 2019
It took nearly a year-and-a-half but Darvish finally got his sweet revenge and it couldn't have come in a bigger spot. He seemed quite pleased with how the tables turned.
— ダルビッシュ有(Yu Darvish) (@faridyu) October 24, 2019
As for Verlander, the return volley from Darvish likely stung a little bit but, unfortunately, it's the least of his problems at this point. The Astros pitcher gave up four runs in six innings on Wednesday and was tagged with the loss to remain winless in six career World Series starts. More troubling is that the Astros dropped back-to-back home games to open the World Series and will have to head to D.C. in a 2-0 hole.