The Loop

Listen to the bozo who didn't vote for Jacob deGrom to win Cy Young hang up on a New York radio legend

November 15, 2018

Not surprisingly, New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom captured the National League Cy Young Award on Wednesday. It was the lone bright spot in another dismal season for the Mets, although, they still managed to be the brunt of a joke during the announcement. What did come as a surprise, however, is that deGrom wasn't a unanimous choice, receiving 29 of the possible 30 first-place votes by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Enter John Maffei.

For some reason, this San Diego Union-Tribune scribe went with Washington's Max Scherzer. Although, the Nationals ace had another brilliant season, he didn't have the microscopic 1.70 ERA possessed by deGrom. That absolutely absurd stat overweighed all else, including the fact deGrom only had (Shield your eyes, old school baseball people) 10 wins because he essentially plays for a minor league team. And again, it was enough for every writer voting to pick him. Except for one.

Maffei's next puzzling move was to appear on New York's WFAN to discuss his peculiar choice with local radio legend and avid Mets fan Steve Somers. Let's just say it didn't go well. Check out the awkward interview exchange that lasted about as long as it takes to watch one pitch in an MLB game these days:

Here's the transcript:

SOMERS: “There was one baseball writer, and we have him on the line right now. John Maffei — not from Washington, where you would think homerism lives and thrives — John Maffei is with the San Diego Union Tribune. John, can you look at yourself in the mirror? (Silence) John?”

MAFFEI: “Can I? Absolutely.”

SOMERS: “No, no, no, no, you’re looking for 15 minutes of fame and attention."

MAFFEI: “Steve, this interview is over. Thank you, goodbye.”

Somers went on to say he was just trying to have a little fun with Maffei, but clearly, the writer wasn't feeling it. You can understand that, but again, it's hard to understand why Maffei went on Somers' show in the first place. And again, there is no understanding why he was the ONE person to vote for Scherzer over deGrom.

Maffei doesn't have a Twitter account, but Somers does and he certainly doesn't feel bad for how the whole thing went down:

Just a guess, but Maffei won't be joining Somers for any MLB hot stove chatter this winter.