Justin Verlander Reveals He Was Unaware of Kate Upton's Infamous Cy Young Tweet
The pitcher learned of his wife's strong reaction to his 2016 Cy Young Award loss after it was already posted.
Approaching the 10-year anniversary of Kate Upton's widely discussed tweet aimed at Major League Baseball, pitcher Justin Verlander has revealed he was unaware of the post until it was already live. Upton, now Verlander's wife, directed her frustration at the league and the writers who did not vote for her husband in the 2016 American League Cy Young Award race.
Verlander, who was a finalist for the award that year, lost to Rick Porcello by a narrow margin. Upton's response came on November 16, 2016, when she tweeted, "Hey @MLB I thought I was the only person allowed to f— @JustinVerlander ?! What 2 writers didn't have him on their ballot?"
During an interview on the podcast "On Base with Mookie Betts," Verlander recounted that he was participating in an MLB Network interview with the three Cy Young finalists when Upton's tweets began to emerge. He learned of her social media activity after his interview concluded.
"She’s like, 'You're not going to like it.' And sure enough, she had fired off a bunch of stuff, and she had another one preloaded, ready to go," Verlander said. He recalled that Upton had another tweet prepared but ultimately decided against sending it after Verlander's own reaction.
Upton, who had already established herself as a prominent model with multiple Sports Illustrated Swimsuit covers, used her platform to publicly question the voting process. Her tweet is considered a notable moment in the history of MLB WAGs (Wives and Girlfriends).
