Benjamin Grimm

The final two polls of the second round have now closed, and we have officially established our Sweet Sixteen. In Willard Mullin's closest vote yet, his 1966 cover edged the 1987 Revised Edition (featuring a World Championship montage) by a vote of 9 to 8. Meanwhile, Bill Gallo's 1981 cover defeated the 2007 edition by a vote of 11 to 5. The 1981 cover is the sole surviving cover from the Mets' best decade. In addition to the Gallo cover, our Sweet Sixteen consists of seven covers from the 1960s. All six of Mullin's covers remain, plus the 1963 Mr. Met cover. The 1970s are represented five times, by 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, and 1976. After 1981, we skip ahead nearly two decades. The three covers rounding out our group of sixteen finalists are from 2000, 2002, and 2011. Nine of the sixteen covers feature artwork: The six Mullin covers, the two Mr. Met covers (1963 and 1976) and the 1981 Gallo cover. Third-round voting begins tomorrow, Friday, May 18. None of the Mullin covers will face each other in this round, so it's entirely possible that Mullin's cartoons will be featured on six of the eight covers that will advance to the fourth round. ADVANCING TO ROUND THREE: ELIMINATED: ADVANCING TO ROUND THREE: ELIMINATED:

cooby wrote: Now the only hope the Mets have of winning is to score more runs than the Jays. Interesting!

It's pretty common. Mickey sees it as a way to make Rosario a "second leadoff hitter."

I know. It's not like the Mets were on the verge of folding or relocating. If the Doubleday-Wilpon team hadn't bought the Mets, someone else would have. And we might have been better off under Robert Abplanalp. (Anyone else remember that name?)

The Mets' 40-man roster doesn't seem to have the proper balance of positions, does it? Why are they so short on outfielders? This was the case last year too, when they had to bring in Aoki just so they could have three outfielders to close out the meaningless September games.

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On this week's episode of Supergirl, (Season 3, episode 18) Brainiac-5, an alien from the 30th Century, implies that the next 783 seasons won't go so well for the New York Mets. 'Supergirl': Brainiac-5 Throws Shade at the Mets in "Shelter From the Storm" Clip

The 1965 cover has defeated the 1988 cover, 11 to 3, and 1974 has ousted 1999 by a vote of 11 to 4. The 1999 cover was the last surviving entry from the 1990s, making that the first decade to be eliminated from this competition. ADVANCING TO ROUND THREE: ELIMINATED: ADVANCING TO ROUND THREE: ELIMINATED:

Boy, those shirts are hideous!

I remember how everyone was marveling at how he continued to throw 100 MPH at the age of 46 or whatever. Like he's some kind of miracle of nature for which there's no possible pharmaceutical explanation.

No, it's not good news. Hopefully it's just an abundance of caution, but we'll see. It's entirely possible that we won't see him again in a month or more. And that would suck.

I don't know if the Wilpons can afford it. That, of course, is the rub. But it's the approach that a New York team should take. And if the Wilpons can't do it, then they should sell the team. But that's a whole 'nother topic. I suspect they can afford to spend more than they've been spending. I wish they would. So spend more? Or spend more wisely? (Forego the Fraziers, Vargases and Bruces and go for one big ticket FA?) Maybe sign a Frazier and/or a Gonzalez (but skip Vargas and Bruce) and also go for a big ticket guy. Some bargains are okay, but as I said, they're leaning too heavily in that direction.

When we talk about guys who "got away with it" I'd say Nolan Ryan has to be at the top of the list.

I would never advocate for the Mets to do the tear-down thing. I would have them, each year, say where are our weaknesses and how can we best address them? And the option to spend big on a free agent or two has to be on the table. And I think that this is what the Mets have been doing, but in a too wishy-washy manner. They went big on Cespedes, but they mix in too much bargain hunting. Not that there's anything inherently wrong with bargain hunting, but it's been a larger part of the plan than it should be.

I don't want the Mets to ever be in Step One. I don't think it's necessary. They should be always be doing Steps Two and Three simultaneously, like the Braves did so successfully in the 1990s. Under the five-step scenario, those few years that you're in Step Three will probably get you a few playoff appearances, but won't guarantee a World Series win before Step Four takes over. The end result may not be any different from the cycle we've seen with the Mets.

Captain Marvel will eventually move into the 2 slot, from what I hear.

Today's poll closings consist of a 12-7 victory by the 1967 Willard Mullin "stairway" cover over the 1987 cover featuring the World Championship logo and a 15-3 win for the 1972 cover featuring four Mets stars over 1997's Todd Hundley hologram cover. ADVANCING TO ROUND THREE: ELIMINATED: ADVANCING TO ROUND THREE: ELIMINATED:

To me, calling for a complete teardown seems overly masochistic. A smart team (yeah, I know) should be able to improve without taking that big backwards step. Nurture your strengths and get the best players available to fill your weaknesses.

They came to New York in 2015.

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Did the Native American spirits not have an objection to the Shea Stadium parking lot?

Today two more covers advance, and two more are eliminated. In a clash of Shea Stadium images, the 1964 cover logs an 11-5 victory over the 1991 fireworks cover, and Mike Piazza's 2000 cover gets the better of Tom Seaver and his balls, from 1975, 13 to 1. ADVANCING TO ROUND THREE: ELIMINATED: ADVANCING TO ROUND THREE: ELIMINATED:

Two more polls have closed today. The 1968 Willard Mullin cover with the portrait of Gil Hodges defeated the silver 25th Anniversary 1986 cover, 12 votes to 5. And the 1971 action shot of Jerry Grote making a tag at the plate fared better than the similar John Stearns cover from seven years later. The 1971 edition knocked out 1983, 14 votes to 4. ADVANCING TO ROUND THREE: ELIMINATED: ADVANCING TO ROUND THREE: ELIMINATED:

Maybe they'll consider a revised edition after the Mets trade for Bryce Harper in July.

Cast your vote!