@MizzouBaseball Retires #MizzouMade Max Scherzer's No. 31
1/18/2019 10:29:00 PM | Baseball
Former Tiger RHP honored at the annual First Pitch Dinner
Photo Gallery l Watch Scherzer's Acceptance Speech
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Baseball alum and current Washington Nationals star RHP Max Scherzer entered the program records book Friday evening with his jersey retirement at the annual First Pitch Dinner inside the Walsworth Family Columns Club.
Scherzer becomes only the fourth Tiger ever with his jersey retired by Mizzou Baseball. The St. Louis, Missouri, native's former No. 31 jersey at Mizzou now joins No. 34 John 'Hi' Simmons, No. 33 Gene McArtor and No. 15 Phil Bradley.
What a night. @Max_Scherzer - Forever a Tiger!#MIZ #ShowMe ???? pic.twitter.com/B5kRfTu4Rz
— Mizzou Baseball (@MizzouBaseball) January 19, 2019
From 2004-06, Scherzer was one of the nation's most dominant pitchers in Tigers black and gold. The hard throwing right-hander broke out in his 2005 sophomore campaign, pacing the Big 12 Conference in ERA (1.86) and strikeouts (131). Scherzer was tabbed Big 12 Pitcher of the Year and also earned Second-Team All-America honors for his outstanding performance.
Following a strong senior campaign, Scherzer was selected 11th overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2006 MLB June Amateur Draft. Spanning over 11 years with the Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers and Washington Nationals, he has already accumulated a Hall of Fame caliber career.
GALLERY l Check out all the photos from last Friday's memorable #Mizzou First Pitch Dinner
— Mizzou Baseball (@MizzouBaseball) January 21, 2019
?? https://t.co/BmvVQKPOyY#MIZ #ShowMe #C2E ???? pic.twitter.com/BIpZ6xVGWY
Scherzer has captured three Cy Young awards (2013, '16-17) and finished among the award's top 5 in voting for an incredible six consecutive seasons. This past season with the Nationals, he eclipsed 300 strikeouts for the first time in his career, becoming only one of 17 pitchers in the last 118 years (MLB modern era) with 300-plus punch outs in a year.
Scherzer has been selected an All-Star in six consecutive seasons (2013-18), posted 250-plus strikeouts in five consecutive years and a sub-3.00 ERA in five of his past six campaigns. He was inducted to the University of Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011.
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