Yearbook Cover Derby Round 1.32 1984 vs 1995

[Benjamin Grimm]

1984



1995

[Benjamin Grimm]

The 1984 cover is a little weird. The thing I most remember about it is a pimple on Keith Hernandez's nose. (Not noticeable in this image.) But a cover that just depicts equipment is, as we've seen, a sign of a team without stars. I'll vote for people (plus pimple) over bats.

[Guest 41Forever]

I like the bats. I like when they give us a close up of a uniform element or equipment. It's something different. The 1984 cover looks like three separate photos combined into one. I get the idea of focusing on Keith, who came over the year before, and Darryl, the Rookie if the Year. But something is off with the lighting, too.

[Edgy MD]

Yeah, Keith is squinting into sunlight but the other two aren't.

It's pretty sloppy.

[MFS62]

A picture of bats doesn't remind me of any specific year without the year being branded on it.
The three players at least get me to the right decade.

Later

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

The bat branding is in the wrong spot on the bat -- too high.

Have a soft spot for all things 84 and I liked that they got Jesse in there. He didn't exactly have a front-cover mug.

[Lefty Specialist]

Boy, I don't like either one.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Took '84, even though it's kinda Let's Go Meh...

[Guest cooby]

Hate to vote against anything with Jesse on it, but I chose the bats. I like wood

[G-Fafif]

There's a reason the 1995 cover looks like it could generically replace any Mets yearbook cover if you adjusted the year (or any team's yearbook cover if you switched out logos). It was created for the season when the Mets didn't know who would be Mets. Remember, they, like everybody else in MLB (save for the Orioles), was ready to play real games with replacement players. No chance they'd show off Kent, Vizcaino, Brogna, Franco, Bonilla, Saberhagen or any striking brand-name Met. No names, no faces, just the idea that players who wore Mets uniforms would be enough for you, the undiscriminating fan, never mind that they literally picked them up off the street the month before last. When replacement baseball was ruled out of order by Judge Sonia Sotomayor, the cover was apparently judged good enough to stick around, even if the likes of Bubba Wagnon weren't.

Feh on principle.

The 1984 cover is not an artistic triumph (they didn't waste a lot of resources designing that nameplate), but I like the statement it makes. For the first time in some time, they have three legitimate stars on the roster. The reigning Rookie of the Year from whom more is expected soon. The veteran Gold Glove first baseman with the proven lethal bat and plenty of prime left. And the closer who shut down everybody in 1983. It's a throwback to the Heads of '69, in a way, except with chests and shoulders included. Darryl, Keith and Jesse are looking to the future. Little did we know how soon it was about to start. All we had to do was turn the page.

1984 was my first presidential election as a voter and is my final vote in the first round of this tournament. SymMETry, indeed.

[Edgy MD]

Straw won Rookie of the Year in 1983. Hernandez won his sixth consecutive Gold Glove.

Orosco, though, was a living object lesson in the ambiguities of awards and honors. He finished third in Cy Young Award voting (deservedly, to this observer), and 17th in MVP voting (ahead of Hernandez or Strawberry), but lost out on the Rolaids Relief Award to Al Holland.

I'd cry bias for the Wheeze Kids Phillies, but the RRA wasn't based on voting, but rather on a crude formula (two points for a save, two points for a relief win, minus one point for a relief loss). This allowed Holland to edge Orosco, 62-53, despite an ERA .79 runs higher and 19 1/3 fewer innings pitched.

[Guest 41Forever]

G-Fafif wrote: There's a reason the 1995 cover looks like it could generically replace any Mets yearbook cover if you adjusted the year (or any team's yearbook cover if you switched out logos). It was created for the season when the Mets didn't know who would be Mets. Remember, they, like everybody else in MLB (save for the Orioles), was ready to play real games with replacement players. No chance they'd show off Kent, Vizcaino, Brogna, Franco, Bonilla, Saberhagen or any striking brand-name Met. No names, no faces, just the idea that players who wore Mets uniforms would be enough for you, the undiscriminating fan, never mind that they literally picked them up off the street the month before last. When replacement baseball was ruled out of order by Judge Sonia Sotomayor, the cover was apparently judged good enough to stick around, even if the likes of Bubba Wagnon weren't. Feh on principle. The 1984 cover is not an artistic triumph (they didn't waste a lot of resources designing that nameplate), but I like the statement it makes. For the first time in some time, they have three legitimate stars on the roster. The reigning Rookie of the Year from whom more is expected soon. The veteran Gold Glove first baseman with the proven lethal bat and plenty of prime left. And the closer who shut down everybody in 1983. It's a throwback to the Heads of '69, in a way, except with chests and shoulders included. Darryl, Keith and Jesse are looking to the future. Little did we know how soon it was about to start. All we had to do was turn the page. 1984 was my first presidential election as a voter and is my final vote in the first round of this tournament. SymMETry, indeed.

I had completely forgotten about the uncertainty at the start of 1995! Good call!