More on Joe 'Homer' Cowley's Ridiculous AL MVP Ballot
By Jason McIntyre
As the characters at sportsjournalists.com point out (worth clicking on the discussion; it’s interesting), Cowley got on the phone with two nattering nabobs of negativity, Mike & the Mad Dog, this week, and you can hear the interview here. Cowley attempts to maintain a tough-guy persona throughout the questioning, but falls apart repeatedly.
Clearly, Cowley is hypnotized by the home run. He also keeps harping on being ‘in-contention’ (hence voting Jermaine Dye and David Ortiz ahead of Jeter), but what does being in contention matter if your team doesn’t make the postseason? Then he talks about ‘carrying the team on his back’ (Frank Thomas), and when Mike & the Mad Dog counter with the injuries to Sheffield, Matsui, Robinson Cano, and the yearlong Alex Rodriguez distraction, Cowley gets in a huff and shifts the subject back to power. Reading between the lines, he also seems to be some fundamental dislike for Jeter, and that’s just fine.
But we ask, is this really someone who should be voting for the MVP award? Clearly, he allows personal interests to get in the way, and to us, that’s just wrong.
As one blog points out, this isn’t the first time Cowley has handed in a disputed ballot:
"While working for the Daily Southtown in 2003, Cowley left Carlos Delgado and Vernon Wells off his ballot altogether. Delgado finished second that year to Rodriguez after hitting .302 with 42 homers and a league-leading 145 RBI. Cowley also voted Rodriguez fifth that season. Cowley was suspended the following year from voting by Chicago chapter chairman Paul Sullivan, who felt he did not take the voting seriously and ’embarrassed’ the Chicago chapter."
Hopefully, the powers that be will wake up and yank his vote next year.
Joe Cowley: The most hated man in Yankeeland (after A-Rod) (Pinstripe Alley)
Was Derek Jeter robbed? (Monster and Critics Sports)
Drive (Canyon of Heroes)
MVP! MVP! MVP? (Aaron Gleeman)