Mizzou baseball retires Max Scherzer’s jersey number

The greatest Mizzou baseball player of all time, Max Scherzer, returned to Columbia to receive an honor he called near the top of his lifetime achievements.

Mizzou baseball retired Scherzer’s jersey number. No Tiger baseball player will ever wear the number 31 again.

Scherzer said he was surprised and honored to receive the recognition, because he did not graduate from MU. Typically, graduating is a requirement to have one’s jersey retired.

However, Scherzer’s accolades are impressive to say the least.

The St. Louis native is one of just nine major league baseball players to win the Cy Young Award at least three times. He also has thrown two no-hitters.

“You have to take a step back and be appreciative of all the people who have had an impact on you, especially the people who had an impact on me as a player when I was here at Mizzou. That’s what I reflect on the most is the relationships and the hard work that was built while I was here led to this. This is really the ground zero of what it took to become a major league baseball player,” Scherzer said.

Scherzer pitched three seasons with the Tigers and earned a spot in the Mizzou hall of fame in 2011. It is only a matter of time after his MLB career is over before he earns a spot on the MLB hall of fame too.