Twenty years later, the two happen to be the most junior and senior members of the Giants.
Sharing a clubhouse with Verlander is quite the kick for Eldridge, but the pair actually crossed paths long before they became teammates in the big leagues.
When Eldridge was 9, he had the opportunity to visit Camden Yards with his Little League All-Star team from his hometown of Vienna, Va. As part of the trip, Eldridge and his teammates were invited to come down to the field for batting practice, where they got a chance to interact with Verlander, a fellow Virginia native who was the ace of the visiting Tigers at the time.
Eldridge snapped a selfie to commemorate the moment, which recently made the rounds on social media after he earned his first call-up with the Giants last week.
“We had a connection to [Verlander] to get on the field for an Orioles game with my Little League All-Star team,” Eldridge said. “We got on the field for batting practice, and he came around and he signed a bunch of autographs for us and took pictures with us. I think I was nine years old for that. He was with the Tigers then, so full-circle moment.”
Has Verlander seen the photo?
“He’s seen it,” Eldridge said. “I know he’s seen it. I think [Christian] Koss sent it into our group chat the other day and was making up stories about how he big-leagued me, which isn’t true. He was very respectful. I remember that day perfectly. As a nine-year-old kid, that was really cool for me. As a 20-year-old kid, it’s really cool for me to be here with him.”
“It doesn’t really feel like it’s real,” Eldridge said. “Sometimes I kind of have moments where I’m like slapping myself in the face.”
