Ryan Tepera was an accidental National League MVP candidate thanks to a mis-click.
It came as a bit of a shock when the Cubs reliever earned one 10th-place vote from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Rick Hummel, considering the 33-year-old appeared in 21 games this season and finished with a 3.92 ERA.
But Hummel, a 40-year Hall-of-Fame baseball writer, cleared the air shortly after the reveal.
“I’m sure the Tepera family is delighted, but there’s no way I would have voted for him. It was an accident,” he said, per NBC Sports. “I fully intended to vote for Trea Turner [10th]. In fact, I remember wrestling with putting two guys in from a last place team.”
Hummel added that Tepera’s name happened to be just three spots above Turner’s on the drop-down menu of eligible players voters were able to use to fill out their ballots. He said he must’ve mistakenly clicked the wrong name and then failed to check his confirmation email close enough to catch the error.
Ryan TeperaGetty Images“Especially for somebody voting 40 years on this, that would be a stunning development,” Hummel said. “People would think I’ve lost my marbles. Trea Turner should have one more point. He’s a good player.”
Tepera at least took the accidental vote in stride.
“One man’s mistake is another man’s claim to an NL MVP vote,” the righty tweeted with a crying-laughing emoji. “Thanks Rick! Honored by the vote.”
Turner finished seventh in voting [83 points] and was 84 points behind sixth-place Marcell Ozuna [167 points]. Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman won the award.
