Nick Piecoro is the Arizona Diamondbacks beat writer for the Arizona Republic. He's a pretty good one, too. Piecoro was one of the 30 voters for the NL MVP award, two per market, and he voted Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates first and Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks second. It was a tough choice, and Piecoro justified his vote (not that he needed to). McCutchen ran away with the award, receiving 28 of the 30 first place votes, and Goldschmidt was a distant second.
Piecoro is now getting smashed from all angles for his vote – because he didn't support the hometown guy.
Diamondbacks pitcher Brad Ziegler went on a now-deleted rampage about his teammate not winning, getting in jabs at Piecoro for really no reason.
Re: nick piecoro. Hahahah RT @BradZiegler: @BerchetHall @nickpiecoro and he was wrong too – he usually is
— Carlos Flores (@ccaarrllooss) November 15, 2013
Another Diamondbacks pitcher, Brandon McCarthy, took issue with the vote but didn't kill Piecoro for it.
@AJMarson_ypr @nickpiecoro I think he's wrong, but I don't like arguing with thought out and fair points.
— Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) November 15, 2013
@JoCo3737 @nickpiecoro need to get a grip John. If you want a cheerleader, read articles by DBaxter. Professionalism>homerism
— Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) November 15, 2013
Then, because everyone demanded it, Arizona senator John McCain got involved (side note: what is it with him and constantly interjecting himself into the sports world?)
Hard to believe anyone wouldn't vote for one of AZ's finest. @NickPiecoro: "Explaining my MVP ballot" http://t.co/o4UTV2zEuZ #Goldy #dbacks
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) November 15, 2013
To his credit, Piecoro stayed professional in the face of this silly flaming by players, fans, and politicians. But what has the world of beat writing come to when a writer not even employed by the team is being accused of not being *enough* of a homer? Isn't objectivity the most important thing here? Apparently not. At least he didn't go celebrate in the Diamondbacks pool when his pick won the MVP.