Magazine Cover Derby Round 1.04

[Benjamin Grimm]

http://leaptoad.com/mets/covers/images/magazines/MCD.png>



Vote for the cover that you like the best. Voting will run for seven days.



Mets' New Phenoms

Baseball Digest, June 30, 1968.

http://leaptoad.com/mets/covers/magazines/19680700_BD.jpg>





Why "The New" Tom Seaver is the Diamond's Top Money Pitcher

All-Star Sports, November 1975.

http://leaptoad.com/mets/covers/magazines/19751100_AS.jpg>





Mr. Long Ball

Sports Illustrated, July 11, 1988.

http://leaptoad.com/mets/covers/magazines/19880711_SI.jpg>





Opening Day

The New Yorker, March 30, 2009.

http://leaptoad.com/mets/covers/magazines/20090330_TNY.jpg>

[Edgy MD]

I went with Seaver. I like that follow-through. Do you think he's throwing the (rare) changeup, or did he let his fingers fly open on all his pitches to keep from tipping?

[whippoorwill]

I always loved Jerry koosman

[Lefty Specialist]

You Can't Beat Gamblers! (But you can horse-whip them!)



Went with Seaver. Great pic even if it's surrounded by lots of words.

[Centerfield]

I went with the cover that I removed from my bedroom wall as a kid. I guess I'm over it now.

[kcmets]

The New Yorker kinda Yucky. I could easily vote for the either of the remaining

three. First round I need more time to decide.

[MFS62]

Baseball Digest

Classic.

Later

[batmagadanleadoff]

Lefty Specialist wrote: Went with Seaver. Great pic even if it's surrounded by lots of words.

This. Exactly this, word for word. This is my favorite Seaver mag cover photo and I've known this for a long while.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Straw looking pretty menacing, tho.



The "Mr. Long Ball" nickname never really stuck.

[HahnSolo]

The Seaver cover to me is a little too busy; I do like the photo.

The Kooz cover is kinda blah, but I do love the Shea backdrop.

Don't love the New Yorker one.



I'm going with Straw, with Kooz a close second.

[Edgy MD]

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: Straw looking pretty menacing, tho. The "Mr. Long Ball" nickname never really stuck.

That's what I was thinking. Coinages that don't stick can make for goofy covers in retrospect.



"The Greatest Infield Ever" kinda stuck. Even if it's a disputable designation, they remain in the conversation, in a large part due to the cover.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

The other odd thing is, the Strawberry cover isn't really a match for the content of the accompanying story. later in this series I assume we'll see the Darryl-Doc "Dead End Kids" cover that this was sort of a poorly staged predecessor to: https://www.si.com/vault/issue/702598/65https://www.si.com/vault/issue/702598/65



I changed my vote!

[kcmets]

I don't think of Straw as Mr. Long Ball so much as remembering the seemingly-

yearly spring quotes predicting a Monster Year that often fell short of monstrous?

[Edgy MD]

So you're not on board for Eric Langill's monster season prediction, I guess.

[kcmets]

That's pretty funny, I hadn't visited Eric's H19 thread yet.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

The Strawberry quote I remember was after signing with the Dodgers "Now you'll see the REAL Darryl Strawberry."



Yup ®

[Benjamin Grimm]

I voted for Darryl because I prefer the uncluttered cover, but that really is a great photo of Seaver.

[A Boy Named Seo]

Looks like Seaver just pushed away a knuckle ball. Cool photo, but too much text on the cover. I went with Straw over frozen in-pose Koosman.

[Edgy MD]

My favorite quote from the Strawb was from a war in the press between him and Wally Backman. Backman dropped some shit about how Darryl was letting the team down to a reporter. The next day, every reporter in town gathered around Darryl's locker for a comebacker and he didn't disappoint: "He thinks he's like Mex but he doesn't have Mex's game. That little redneck. I'll bust him in the ass."



It was great because he didn't say the common street threat that he'd bust Wally's ass, but that he'd bust him in the ass. It somehow made him sound more country than Wally.

[Benjamin Grimm]

As I recall, somebody had to explain to Wally what "redneck" meant.

[whippoorwill]

LOL that's funny because Wally always seemed like a picture perfect example

[kcmets]

Went with Straw in a photo finish over Seaver...

[Guest 41Forever]

I like how Koosman looks like he's in full delivery mode, yet standing in the outfield instead of the mound!

[G-Fafif]

These would each be splendiferous covers except for the dreaded MFYS III popping out of the New Yorker box. Cute idea, though.



I went with the venerated title All-Star Sports, getting the edge not just for The Franchise but because I didn't really expect to see a pulpy mag with no particular pedigree (no offense, Dell) show up here. I loved running into these things, usually in Baseball Preview form. Plus, geez, look at Tom on the mound.



You don't usually see the left field stands abrupt cutoff at Shea from that side angle, especially on a magazine cover. I can feel the wind howling through there now. Kooz was presumably warming up with Dave Racianello (yeah, that guy's been here a long time).



I'm guessing Mr. Long Ball would have been anybody on the cover who hit home runs. No, not much of a sobriquet. Always a little weird seeing those road uniforms. Never liked the block NEW YORK. Always liked Darryl. He was definitely carrying the club that summer, he and the pitchers.



Coming sometime this year to Citi Field: Mr. 'Lons Ball.

[MFS62]

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: The Strawberry quote I remember was after signing with the Dodgers "Now you'll see the REAL Darryl Strawberry." Yup (R)

My favorite was when he was being scouted in high school and someone told he reminded him of Ted Williams.

Strawberry replied, "Who's Ted Williams".



Later

[Edgy MD]

Is that Koosman cover a composite made to look like a single photo?

[Benjamin Grimm]

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Rankings so far:

1. Casey of the Mets (Sports Illustrated)

2. The Movin' Mets (Sports Illustrated)

3. Mr. Long Ball (Sports Illustrated)

4. The Baseball Battle for New York (Sports Illustrated)

[Edgy MD]

I never notice how sexy Darryl's feet were.