Benjamin Grimm

Dom Smith and Drew Smith make me glad that we're no longer using the original method of Shaefer voting.

But all those candidates are alive. If they really wanted to think outside the box, they'd also consider some dead candidates.

Centerfield wrote: That Ackert piece reads like a commercial for Melvin. I think Fred may have already picked his old guy. Maybe he lit up the room the way that Art Howe did.

In the Daily News, Kristie Ackert includes agent Casey Close as one of the remaining candidates. Also says that Doug Melvin isn't as "old school" as we may think. Doug Melvin appears to be the ideal GM candidate to bridge the old-school vs. new-school divide within the Mets But don’t be fooled; Melvin isn’t just a recycled GM or an old-school baseball guy, according to some who worked closely with him in Milwaukee. “Doug is a fantastic human being and baseball mind,” one young Brewers’ colleague said on the condition of anonymity. “He’s patient. He’s a great listener. He galvanizes the whole group. “I think he has much more of an understanding and appreciation for analytics than (the) public gives him credit for,” he continued. “I think it would be the best thing for the Mets right now, because it sounds like they need leadership and a presence.”

According to the New York Post, it won't be Gary LaRocque and it won't be De Jon Watson. Mets narrowing down GM search as 2nd interviews set to begin Candidates still in the running are Doug Melvin, Kim Ng, Chaim Bloom, Brodie Van Wagenen and Dave Littlefield. The Mets’ plan is to make each finalist for the general manager’s job available to the media after his or her second interview. But the team is not planning to announce the list of finalists all at once. The Mets told The Post that they consider Dave Littlefield a “fringe” candidate for general manager at this point. It’s unclear if if he has officially been eliminated from the search.

We'll have to check with Trina, Cupcake, and Rambo.

I'm thinking McCutchen because he's a right-handed hitting outfielder. If he can't play center, he can play a corner position and Conforto or Nimmo could play center.

I think the hitter is going to be McCutchen.

The Tabloid Cover Derby is back! In a press conference today at the subway station near Citi Field, it was announced that the 2018 Tabloid Cover Derby will get underway on Monday, November 5. This is the fourth year that America has been voting for the best Mets tabloid cover. Attending today's announcement was Hollywood superstar Mario Van Peebles and Mets ace pitcher Jerry Blevins, along with local Mets fans Daphne and Erika, holding a banner commemorating the three previous winning covers. Also attending were the officers of the Mets Canine Corps, from left to right is Trina (President), Cupcake (Treasurer) and Rambo (Vice President). This year's winning cover, as always, will be displayed in the lobby of the CPF's international headquarters, Kran Pool Forum Internationella Huvudkontoret in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2015 and 2016, there were enough covers published to support 32 first-round polls. A dismal 2017 reduced that number to 16 first-round polls. In 2018, the number of Mets covers bounced back a bit, as did the team's won-lost record. This year there will be either 21 or 22 first-round polls, depending on how much off-season news the Mets make in October and November. The ten (or eleven) covers that get the highest percentage of votes in their first-round polls will get a second-round bye, while the remaining covers compete against each other for the right to advance. It all starts on November 5, so stick around after the World Series! You'll be glad you did!

I was lukewarm on Field of Dreams. It wasn't nearly as good as the novel that inspired it.

It could very well be a new way of doing things, but I'm not sure it would be in can-of-worms territory.

Great! Now I have that jingle stuck in my head.

I'm pretty offended.

They can do both diddly and squat. They still have the acting triumvirate in place.

This is what happens when you get mentored by Chase Utley.

I don't think "mulatto" is politically correct. The proper term is "high yaller".

...is outta here, at the behest of whoever that guy is who bought the Marlins. https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/mlb/miami-marlins/article220118635.html

Yes, but I figured that instead of "Mets" they would have a name like "Doorknobs" or "Salt Shakers".

Which are the other teams? Are the Richmond Braves still around?

Daniel Dae Kim, formerly of Hawaii Five-0, has said that he'd love to play the Sub-Mariner. He observed that Namor is a character who looks like he could be played by an Asian actor, and he's right. Kim is 50 years old now, so he might be too old for the part by now, but that doesn't mean that another Asian actor can't play Namor if and when he eventually comes to the screen. It's a very good idea.

That's true. Mickey Callaway pretty much came out of nowhere last year, so the same could happen this year with the GM job.

So what do we know so far? From what I've gathered, they've interviewed five candidates: LaRocque, Melvin, Watson, Ng, and Bloom. I hate to say it, but Watson seems like the guy that they interviewed because they had to. Of the other four, LaRocque and Melvin are the old-schoolers, Bloom is the Young Turk, and Ng is somewhere in between. (I have a hunch that she'll end up being the compromise winner.) It will be interesting to see who the Final Three are, if indeed there will be a Final Three (as has been reported) and if we get confirmation of who they are. If LaRocque and Melvin both advance, that could be a clue towards the Mets thinking. The same if Bloom is eliminated. I hope Bloom and Ng both advance. It might not be long before we learn who the finalists are. At least, I hope not.

Chinese actress Fan Bingbing played Blink in X-Men: Days of Future Past.

There was an Asian character in the New Mutants back in the 1980s. Her name was Karma. And more recently, there was an Asian Hulk, Amadeus Cho.

Front Row Amy for President in 2020. She can't be any worse than what we already have.