Justin Verlander Tees Off at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am

Generally, when we think of athletes performing off the field we think of a lot of awful acting cameos (e.g. Kazaam, Space Jam, most episodes of Entourage), some weird commercials, and excessive collections of mumblings that said athletes try to pass off as “rap albums”.

However, today is different. Today Detroit Tigers’ ace Justin Verlander joins forces with golfer Robert Garrigus to complete in the 2013 Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Verlander is a more than capable golfer, with only a four-stroke handicap for the weekend tournament. He’s no Kenny G or Tony Romo, playing with a two-stroke handicap and a zero-stroke handicap respectively, but once the weekend is over, Verlander doesn’t have to go back to a career where he is hated by as many people as those two are. Life is just a series of trade-offs.

I’m excited to watch Verlander play. Namely, it will be awesome to see his beautiful face in a competitive environment for the first time since October. Unlike that waste-of-time World Baseball Classic, I have no problems with Verlander participating in this. After all, it’s just golf – Verlander’s more likely to sustain an injury from driving a car, watching an exciting episode of Homeland, or merely living in Southeast Michigan than he is playing golf for a weekend in California.

And, you know, beating San Francisco Giants’ pitcher Matt Cain at this tournament would be a tiny be retribution for that World Series sweep those Giants put on the Tigers last fall.

My prediction is that over the weekend we’ll get to watch Verlander dominate at yet another sport while also having to collectively cringe through yet another insufferable performance by Ray Romano with his sixteen-stroke handicap and obnoxious voice.