How Cubs reliever Ryan Tepera got an MVP vote

Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch is one of the nation’s most respected baseball writers, with a resume spanning baseball spanning over 40 years, a 2007 inductee into the Hall of Fame Writers’ Wing to prove it. and a nickname – “The Commish” – worthy of his stature in the profession.

So what does Hummel know about Ryan Tepera that the rest of us haven’t seen in 2020?

“I’m sure the Tepera family are thrilled, but I wouldn’t have voted for him. It was an accident, ”said Hummel, whose 10th place vote for Tepera was easily shocked by the National League MVP voting results released Thursday night which revealed a 1-2 finish for Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts.

“I had every intention of voting for Trea Turner [10th]. I actually remember wrestling with two guys from a last place team, ”added Hummel, who had Turner’s Nationals teammate Juan Soto eighth on his ballot.

So, what happened? How did a Cubs reliever who did not start the season on the roster and finished with a 3.92 ERA and troubling walk rate in 21 games ended up on Hummel’s ballot ?

Only two other Cubs were named on any of the 300 lines depicted on the 30 10-line ballots: Cy Young runner-up Yu Darvish (named on six ballots) and center fielder Ian Happ (a Miami writer’s 10th place vote.

MORE: Happ included on the NL MVP ballot for the breakout season

Hummel, who retraced his steps Thursday night, found Tepera’s name was only three places above Turner’s in the drop-down menu of eligible players that voters could use to fill out their ballots. vote. He said the only explanation he can assume is that he mistakenly clicked on the wrong name in the window, and then didn’t look closely enough at the confirmation email showing his votes.

He seemed as surprised as anyone that his ballot recorded a vote for Tepera.

“Especially for someone who votes 40 years on this, that would be an amazing development,” he said. “People would think I lost my marbles.

“Trea Turner should have one last point. He’s a good player.

Turner finished seventh in the vote, far enough behind Marcell Ozuna, sixth, that the accidental vote did not change the outcome of anyone’s victory.

This is certainly not a voting controversy. Not like when two writers left Pedro Martinez completely out of their ballots in 1999, which cost him the prize, or when a writer cost Alex Rodriguez the 1996 prize by voting him seventh.

In those two seasons, writers still voted via paper ballots that they filled out and mailed out. A few years later, email was adopted as the BBWAA’s voting method, replaced in recent years by a more formal electronic process that requires the registration of eligible voters and which – perhaps problematically – includes drop-down menus. .

For Tepera, that means he will forever have a scoring in the 2020 margin of his baseball-reference.com page that shows an 18th place in the MVP vote – which could be the perfect postscript for the most MLB season. short and strangest ever played. .

For Hummel, who had Freeman and Betts 1-2 on his ballot, the one thing he seemed certain on Thursday night was that he’ll be sure to check – even double-check – the bottom of his ballot next time around. . .

And that he at least thinks he understands what happened with that damn drop-down menu.

“It’s my story, and I’m sticking to it,” Hummel said. “That’s what happened.”