Outrage Over Jeter MVP Snub In 2006

Mike and the Mad Dog

Derek Jeter’s best season came in 2006, when he batted .343 with 14 homers, 97 RBIs and 118 runs. But he only finished second in American League MVP voting, being edge out by Minnesota’s Justin Morneau.
Mike and the Mad Dog thought Jeter should have won, and on Nov. 21, 2006, the day the results were announced, they wanted answers.

What was even more perplexing for Chris “Mad Dog” Russo is how one voter put Jeter sixth on his ballot.

Mike and the Mad Dog tracked down that writer, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, and put him on the spot.

“To me, you take Jeter out, are the Yankees as good a team? No. Are they a playoff team? Probably still a playoff team when you look at that lineup,” Cowley said. “So I mean, I base it a lot on that, and I talk to people. You grab some guys from around the American League and tell them: ‘Which guy do you think is the MVP? Which guy do you fear the most in that lineup?’ And I heard more people say they fear A-Rod and Cano more than they fear Jeter.”

“They’re not watching Yankee games,” Russo fired back.

Earlier in the show, the guys talked to Ed Price of the Newark Star-Ledger about why he voted Morneau first and Jeter second.

“Everybody has their own definition of MVP,” Price said. “That’s kind of the beauty of it is that it’s open to interpretation.”