PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Justin Verlander used his fingers in this trip to Philadelphia simply to tip his cap toward applauding All-Star Game fans.
He once playfully flipped off Phillies fans when his Houston Astros were in Philadelphia for the 2022 World Series.
There was only mutual respect in this game.
The 43-year-old Verlander was one of the few All-Stars on Tuesday night to receive a warm ovation in Philadelphia from a crowd that reveled in jeering just about any player who was not in a Phillies uniform.
Verlander is set to retire at the end of the season to cap a career that includes three Cy Young Awards.
Up first, one more Midsummer Classic.
“In his 10th and final All-Star Game, please welcome to Philadelphia, Justin Verlander,” the public address announcer noted.
Verlander enjoyed the chance to participate in some final festivities and walked the All-Star red carpet in the afternoon with his wife, model Kate Upton, and their two young children.
The lone bummer for Verlander is that the Detroit Tigers All-Star was unable to pitch in the game as he recovers from a hamstring injury. Verlander, the oldest player in Major League Baseball, signed a $13 million, one-year contract to rejoin the Tigers in February.
He has made only one start in an injury-ravaged season and was named to the All-Star team as a Legend Pick by Commissioner Rob Manfred. Phillies slugger Bryce Harper earned the honor in the National League.
“I’m happy with the body of work,” Verlander said ahead of the game. “I hope I can add to it somehow, someway in the second half. When I look back, I know I gave it everything.”
Verlander went 183-115 from 2005 to 2017 with the Tigers. He won the American League Rookie of the Year award in 2006 and both the AL MVP and Cy Young Award in 2011. He helped Detroit reach the World Series in 2006 and 2012, along with four straight division titles from 2011 to 2014.
Verlander was the 2017 ALCS MVP in Houston and helped the Astros win the World Series that year, and was a key player for them when they won another title in 2022. He won his second and third Cy Young Awards in 2019 and 2022.
Verlander, who also had brief stints with the New York Mets and San Francisco, played coy when asked about which team cap he would choose for his sure-thing induction into the Hall of Fame.
“At least, I was able to narrow it down to two,” Verlander said with a laugh. “I’m not there yet.”
Verlander relaxed against a clubhouse wall next to his locker as he reflected over a career that stamped him as perhaps the best of his era.
Verlander has a career record of 266-159 with a 3.33 ERA in 556 starts across 21 major league seasons with the Tigers, Astros, Mets and San Francisco Giants. He has 3,554 strikeouts while tossing 26 complete games, including nine shutouts.
Not bad for a kid from Virginia who was sent to a baseball academy by his family to help him gain arm strength. His parents knew so little about how to guide a kid that flashed big league potential that his father, Richard, bought a most unique kind of instructional guide.
“My dad bought a ‘How to Pitch for Dummies’ book,” Verlander said to laughter. “I'm not joking. He's like, OK, step one, you step back with your left foot. Step two, you turn this way. We were doing that in my front yard because he learned I could throw a rock pretty far.”
Turned out, with a little help along the way, Verlander learned to throw a baseball pretty hard.
Verlander just hopes in his last season, he hasn't thrown his last one.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Detroit Tigers' Justin Verlander and Kate Upton pose with their kids on the red carpet for the MLB baseball All-Star game Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
BEIJING (AP) — One arm raised and the other lowered, hundreds of people move every morning like birds spreading their wings at the heart of Beijing’s Temple of Heaven.
It’s a movement in tai chi, a physical and philosophical practice developed more than 300 years ago that continues to resonate in China today.
“The environment is great and the air is good too,” said Ye Guirong, 64. “You can see we’re surrounded by trees.”
Most practitioners are retirees in their 60s and beyond. Some exercise in groups while a speaker plays relaxing music in the background. Others move silently on their own.
Ye first encountered tai chi in 2010. Recently retired, she took walks across the city and one day spotted the group she now leads.
“I thought it looked good, so I started practicing,” Ye said.
Once a new member joins a group, its leader teaches the basic moves. The apprentice’s progress is reviewed and corrected periodically until a new level is achieved.
Among tai chi’s basic movements are “White Crane Spreads Its Wings,” in which one arm is raised while the other is lowered, and “Part the Wild Horse’s Mane,” a broad, fluid sequence in which the body weight shifts forward while the arms open gently in front of the chest.
“The movements have been passed down from one instructor to another,” Ye said.
Ye’s tai chi group, Cypress Grove, has around 30 people and recently welcomed its newest practitioner.
Zu Hong, 59, learned a 24-movement routine in about a month. Ye said she’s ready to take on the second set.
“I thought tai chi looked very beautiful,” Zu said. “I wanted to exercise, so I came here to the Temple of Heaven.”
Founded in the 15th century by a Ming dynasty emperor, the site is a complex of religious buildings symbolizing the relationship between heaven and earth.
Its most iconic building is the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. It served as the ceremonial site where emperors acted as intermediaries between humans and heaven, offering sacrifices and prayers for good harvests.
Today it serves primarily as a tourist attraction and its surrounding gardens remain open to the public.
Tai chi carries two meanings in China. It refers both to the martial art, or Taijiquan, and to the philosophical ideas behind it, or Taiji.
One of its key concepts is qi, or vital energy, which is understood as a life breath that flows through the body.
In traditional Chinese medicine, health depends on qi circulating through a network of pathways known as meridians, which are believed to connect the body’s organs, limbs and other parts. Acupuncture and other traditional treatments aim to regulate that flow.
“Practices like tai chi and qigong are all about activating, regulating or improving the flow of qi in the body,” said James Miller, a professor of Humanities at Duke Kunshan University in China’s Jiangsu province. “That’s something very key to Daoism (Taoism), but it’s also part of the broader Chinese conception of the body and of the world.”
Beyond the human body, qi is also believed to exist in nature. Mountains and rivers are understood to be animated by its flow.
“This is also why it’s traditional to establish temples on mountains,” Miller said. “They’re understood not just as beautiful or remote places, but because they’re closer to nature.”
There are several styles of tai chi, each with its own forms.
Ye’s group gathers every morning at 7:40 a.m. to practice Yang-style for about an hour and a half. The group rotates through different sets. Some consist of 24, 42 or 48 movements, while others incorporate swords or fans.
“Through exercising, everyone’s health has improved,” Ye said. “Our spirits are especially good.”
Chen-style is widely recognized as the oldest form of tai chi. It was developed in the 17th century by Chen Wangting, a military commander who later in life changed paths to embrace spirituality.
“He practiced Daoist (Taoist) methods of self-cultivation including meditation,” said Tai Chi master Chen Haitao. “Then one day he experienced a sudden awakening: the meridians throughout his body all opened, his mind became enlightened, and wisdom suddenly emerged.”
Chen Wangting’s experience was life-changing, said Chen Haitao. Dreaming of sharing the sensation with others, he found in movement the means to do so.
Both the martial art and the philosophy behind tai chi are meant to work together, Chen said. The movements provide the method while the philosophy gives them meaning.
“One of the great benefits of Taijiquan is that it is suitable for everyone,” Chen said. “As long as you learn the basic principles correctly and maintain proper alignment, whoever practices it will benefit from it.”
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Chen Haitao, right, the 12th generation inheritor of Chen-style Tai Chi watches his student performs Tai Chi at a class in Beijing, Saturday July 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Women drink after practicing Tai Chi at a park near the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, Thursday July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Women practice Tai Chi at a park near the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, Thursday July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
A man practices Tai Chi alone at a park near the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, Thursday July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Ye Guirong, left, chats with Zu Hong after practicing Tai Chi at a park near the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, Thursday July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
A couple watch a woman practice Tai Chi with a sword at a park near the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, Thursday July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Elderly men practice Tai Chi with swords at a park near the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, Thursday July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
An elderly couple practice Tai Chi with swords at a park near the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, Thursday July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
A woman practices Tai Chi at a park near the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, Thursday July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
A woman practices Tai Chi at a park near the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, Thursday July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
People practice Tai Chi at a park near the Temple of Heaven in Beijing Thursday July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
An elderly couple practice Tai Chi at a park near the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, Thursday July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
People practice Tai Chi at a park near the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, Thursday July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
