Por Renan Filho · 2026-09-29**Lead**
Justin Verlander’s baseball career may be over, but his connection to the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit brand is getting one final moment in the spotlight. SI Swimsuit has published a tribute to the future Hall of Fame pitcher following his retirement announcement, using the occasion to revisit his role in one of the franchise’s most talked-about photo shoots: the 2017 cover featuring his then-girlfriend, now wife, model and actress Kate Upton. The tribute lands as Verlander closes the books on an 18-year major league career that included two World Series titles, three Cy Young Awards, and a reputation as one of the most durable and competitive pitchers of his generation.
**Context**
The relationship between Verlander and the SI Swimsuit franchise dates back years before the couple ever appeared together in the magazine. Upton first graced the SI Swimsuit cover in 2011, when she was just 18 years old, and quickly became one of the most recognizable figures in the issue’s history. She returned for multiple covers and features, cementing her status as a recurring icon for the annual edition. Verlander, meanwhile, was establishing himself as one of baseball’s premier arms with the Detroit Tigers, throwing a no-hitter in 2011 and winning the American League MVP and Cy Young in 2011 before taking home another Cy Young in 2012.
The 2017 shoot was different. For the first time, Upton and Verlander appeared together in front of the SI Swimsuit cameras, with photos taken in a setting that blended her signature glamour with his athletic, laid-back presence. The cover image, which showed Upton in a white one-piece while Verlander stood nearby in the water, was released in early 2017 during Miami Swim Week. At the time, the couple had been dating for roughly three years, and the shoot generated headlines not only because of Upton’s status as a SI Swimsuit regular but because Verlander became one of the few active professional athletes to participate in the franchise’s editorial story, rather than simply appearing as a guest at related events.
During the same period, Verlander’s career was at a crossroads. He had spent his entire career with Detroit, but after the Tigers entered a rebuilding phase, he was traded to the Houston Astros in August 2017. Just weeks later, he helped lead Houston to a World Series championship, the first of his career. The cover shoot was published in February 2017, months before that trade, meaning Verlander posed for SI Swimsuit while still a member of the Tigers. The timing would later take on added significance as he and Upton married in November 2017, just a month after Houston’s title-clinching Game 7 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
**Analise**
Verlander’s retirement tribute from SI Swimsuit underscores how athletes’ identities have expanded far beyond the playing field. For decades, a pitcher of his stature would have been honored exclusively through baseball highlights, statistics, and championship moments. But by featuring him alongside Upton in a retrospective that spans both sports and pop culture, SI Swimsuit is acknowledging the crossover appeal that defined Verlander’s public image during the latter half of his career. The 2017 shoot remains one of the most-viewed and most-shared covers in recent SI Swimsuit history, in part because it captured a rare moment of vulnerability for an elite athlete in a setting typically reserved for models and entertainers.
The tribute also arrives at a moment when legacy projects are becoming increasingly important for both athletes and media brands. Verlander leaves the game with a statistical portfolio that places him in elite company: more than 250 career wins, nearly 3,300 strikeouts, and a resume that includes the 2019 American League Cy Young with the Astros, a second World Series ring in 2022, and a notable late-career resurgence after undergoing Tommy John surgery. For SI Swimsuit, which has spent recent years diversifying its casts and narratives, revisiting the Verlander-Upton shoot serves as both a nostalgic draw for longtime readers and a promotional reminder of the franchise’s ability to merge sports, fashion, and celebrity. It is a fitting send-off for a player whose legacy was never confined to the mound alone.
**Fontes**
This report is based on the official Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Instagram tribute and accompanying feature acknowledging Justin Verlander’s retirement, published following the pitcher’s announcement. Career statistics and biographical details about Verlander and Kate Upton are derived from publicly available MLB records and the couple’s widely reported history, including the original SI Swimsuit cover release in February 2017 and their November 2017 marriage.