There comes a time in the career of every great athlete where he or she must face criticism. Any sign of being human is means for fans and the media to jump all over one of the most well-known players in the world of sports. One stretch of anything but perfect and it's the end of the world.

For Justin Verlander, this time came in the summer of 2013.

Baseball fans seem to forget the past very easily (unless they are from the Bronx). If someone who has been nothing but dominant falters at any time, even in the prime of his career, they call for his demise.

The man who won the award for Most Valuable Player just two years ago was facing adversity because, well, something was just off. Verlander was still an above-average pitcher throughout the course of the season, but above-average is indeed below-average for a guy like him.

In his eight years in Major League baseball, the guy has done it all. Rookie of the Year in 2006. MVP in 2011. Two appearances in the World Series.

Hell, he even dated Kate Upton.

So even though all players go through slumps, it was just too hard to believe that Verlander's "struggles" were merely the results of nothing more than a slump.

Then again, it was foolish on an unreasonable level to believe that his ability was regressing and that he could never return to being the most dominant pitcher in the game.

But the doubters seemed to outnumber the believers.

People in Detroit were calling in radio stations and writing to newspapers all summer long about how something needed to be done.

He's not an ace, they said.

Don't put him in the playoff rotation, they said.

Make him the closer, they said.

The absurd blabbering seemed to slowly die down once the leaves on the trees did the same. He finished the regular season by pitching twelve scoreless innings combined over his last two starts. Unfortunately, those who believe wins and losses are the end-all-be-all of pitching statistics will still whine that he was "only 13-12 this year." Go look at what the offense did for him this year.

This continued into the postseason, where Verlander met up with one of his favorite kids to bully: the Oakland Athletics.

Verlander haunted the A's last fall, giving up a run on the first pitch of the series on a home run to Coco Crisp and shutting them down more effectively than the U.S. government could for the rest of Game One and the decisive Game Five on the road.

This time, he took the mound in Oakland for Game Two and continued playing around with the green and gold. Verlander threw seven flawless innings, surrendering only four hits and punching out eleven batters without allowing a single run. Once again, the bats failed to give him any help and the Athletics eventually won the game after their Kryptonite was removed.

Verlander again took the mound in this year's Game Five in Oakland. Business as usual.

This time, he threw eight scoreless innings and surrendered just two hits, breaking the hearts of Oakland fans and delivering the knockout blow once again.

When he took the mound in Game Three of the American League Championship Series against the Boston Red Sox, it seemed as if there was nothing left for him to do that could surprise anyone.

Wrong.

Verlander struck out six Red Sox in a row and carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning.

Even despite the fact that his 37 1/3-inning scoreless streak (not a typo) came to an end when Mike Napoli's solo home run sailed over the left-center wall in the seventh inning, he still put up unbelievable numbers. Eight innings, ten strikeouts, four hits, one run.

But guess what? He got the loss.

1-0 Red Sox. The only way to possibly beat Justin Verlander in a playoff game, it seems.

At this point, however, Tiger fans still have reasons to be optimistic. Sure they trail in the series, but they did against Oakland, too. They have two aces, maybe even three. Max Scherzer should easily win this year's Cy Young Award and Anibal Sanchez turned in an incredible performance at Fenway in Game One.

And, oh yeah, what about that Verlander guy? Not only is he back, but he is better than ever and will be taking the mound in a do-or-die Game Seven in Boston if we as baseball fans are lucky enough to get there.

And that's how it should be.