Joe Cowley

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Joe Cowley is the Chicago White Sox beat writer for the Chicago Sun-Times. Cowley, a graduate of Kent State University, served the same role for the Sun-Times' sister publication, the Tinley Park, Illinois Daily Southtown, for several years before being hired by the downtown paper before the 2006 season.

Cowley was one of the regular beat writers covering the White Sox during their 2005 World Series championship.

Cowley staged a successful battle against cancer in the winter of 2004-05.

He should not be confused with former White Sox pitcher Joe Cowley, who threw a no-hitter in 1986.

Controversy

In May 2004 while traveling with the White Sox on a road trip to Toronto, Cowley made disparaging remarks about the city of Toronto in a radio interview, calling it “nothing but a city in a third-world country.” [1] Subsequently during the series in Toronto, Cowley refused to stand for the Canadian national anthem prior to a game. Toronto Blue Jays president Paul Godfrey described Cowley as having “bad manners” and had letters of complaint sent to both Cowley and his publisher over the incident. [2]

Cowley gained notoriety nationally when he admitted on Tuesday Nov. 21, 2006 on the Mike and the Mad Dog show, which is heard on WFAN New York, to be the only writer to vote Derek Jeter in sixth place on the American League MVP ballot. It is important to note, however, that if Cowley had placed Jeter first on the ballot, Justin Morneau still would have won.

That was the second such incident for Cowley; after omitting Blue Jays players Carlos Delgado and Vernon Wells, two top-ten overall finishers, from his 2003 AL MVP ballot, the Chicago chapter suspended him from voting the next year. They accused Cowley of not voting seriously, saying he "embarrassed" the Chicago chapter of the BBWAA. [3]