Max Scherzer comes home to Mizzou to have number retired
The first day pitcher Max Scherzer walked into Mizzou’s locker room, he found No. 31 on his jersey. When he signed with the Washington Nationals in 2015 — over a decade later — he asked to wear his college number once again.
The right-hander said he made a name for himself at Missouri, and he could carry that time with him by claiming 31.
No Missouri player will ever wear it again. The Tigers retired Scherzer’s 31 at their First Pitch Banquet on Friday evening, giving the pitcher an honor he never envisioned growing up.
“You don’t wake up as a kid and say this is what you want, but when you get to this point and the recognition comes, you have to take a step back and be appreciative of all the people that have had an impact on you,” he said ahead of the banquet.
Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, helped the Tigers to three NCAA regionals during his collegiate career. He became the program’s first first-round draft pick when the Arizona Diamondbacks selected him No. 11 overall in 2006.
“As soon as he figured some stuff out, he was phenomenal,” said Tim Jamieson, Scherzer’s head coach at Missouri. “He’s still that guy.”
As a freshman with the Tigers, Scherzer posted a lackluster 5.85 ERA. Jamieson only used him in 20 innings, and the coach said his former pitcher is still angry at the lack of playing time.
“You know that story, Michael Jordan is still pissed at his (high school) coach who cut him?” Jamieson said with a smile. “That’s not much different.”
Scherzer’s struggles continued early the next season, and Jamieson talked to him after Scherzer failed to make it out of the fifth inning of the team’s second game. The coach wanted Scherzer to focus more on his command and less on blowing fastballs by hitters.
A switch flipped. Scherzer finished the season with a 1.86 ERA and with the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year award.
“He was probably as good as any college pitcher I’ve ever seen,” Jamieson said.
Scherzer, now 34, learned his number would be retired earlier in the offseason. He said he immediately agreed to return to Columbia for Friday’s banquet.
The Nationals ace hasn’t hid his love for Missouri since leaving Columbia. He said he hated Kansas, Missouri’s rival, in a 2018 interview on ESPN, and he tweeted a photo of his daughter in a Mizzou onesie last February.
Scherzer’s most clever expression of pride might have come when the Tigers’ football team upset No. 7 Georgia in 2013. The pitcher showed up to a playoff press conference with the final score embroidered on his sweatshirt.
“That kind of is a microcosm of how he feels about this place,” Jamieson said.
Scherzer credits Missouri with helping him pitch into the late innings of games. Since he started once every seven days in college, he could manage higher pitch counts. He’s taken that with him into pro ball: He led baseball in innings pitched in 2018.
“I think pitching that deep into a ball game, throwing that many pitches at one time, you really learn something about yourself,” he said. “You really learn how to go third time through the order. You really learn, ‘Hey, I can’t just throw all fastballs.’ You really have to develop other offspeed pitches as well. And that’s something I think that’s getting lost in today’s game.”
Missouri’s baseball program has only retired three other numbers: outfielder Phil Bradley (No. 15), coach Gene McArtor (33) and coach John “Hi” Simmons (34).
Jamieson, who coached Missouri from 1995-2016, said Scherzer’s success helped the Tigers with recruiting. The team displays a replica of his 2013 Cy Young Award in its facility, which recruits see on campus visits.
Scherzer said he felt honored to have his number retired. Returning to Columbia gives him the chance to look around the school, see old friends and — of course — eat some Shakespeare’s Pizza.
“This was really the ground zero of what it took to become a Major League Baseball player,” he said. “For me, that’s what means the most.”