To keep from jinxing himself, Verlander knocked on a clubhouse wall. “So,” Johnson said over the phone recently, “you wanna talk about getting old?” In his age-40 season, Johnson twirled a perfect game and finished runner-up for the National League Cy Young Award. In their 40s, Glavine and Smoltz each appeared in an All-Star Game. At 41 and 42, Maddux won consecutive Gold Glove Awards. Ryan tossed two no-hitters in his 40s and twice finished in the top five in voting for the Cy Young Award. What followed was a masterclass on the art of pitching at 40. To better understand what it’s like to prolong an elite pitching career, and to assess Verlander’s chances of doing the same, The Athletic consulted with five Hall of Famers with first-hand experience: Nolan Ryan, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and Randy Johnson. How long can Verlander keep this up? After all, the league features other aces and other 40-year-old pitchers.
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