Benjamin Grimm

Our tiebreaker thread has ended, and Newsday's HAMMERS & THOR has defeated MATZ BETTER of the Daily News by a score of 12 to 8. The eight polls from Group 1 have resulted in five wins for the News, two for Newsday, and one for the New York Post.

Jon Heyman (you know, that guy from "Today's Knuckleball") says that the three teams against whom the Mets are competing for Cespedes are the Giants, Dodgers, and Nationals. The Daily News and the Post can recycle these covers:

I guess it would have been more clear if, when a poll closed, I would post an update saying this poll has closed and this is the winning cover. But with a new poll being added to the forum every day, I don't want to add further clutter by bumping each poll as it closes. The polls that expire just fade gracefully to the back pages. Instead I periodically update the main thread as I did the other day.

Yes, that's right. Only the winner moves on. There are 32 first-round polls, to determine 32 finalists. After that, starting with the second round, it's NCAA-style one-on-one single elimination.

That's true. Lots of deGrom, Harvey, Matz, and Syndergaard. And Cespedes, of course. Some Wright and Granderson, but not much of anyone else.

Bumping this for the final time. If it's still tied tomorrow morning, I'll post a tiebreaker poll.

I have a feeling that Nancy Seaver has been walking around with that stick up her ass for a while now.

Well, that's a relief!

Lefty Specialist wrote: Nobody, but nobody, rocked a floppy beret like Nancy. Not even Mary Tyler Moore. I have to respectfully disagree. I'd pick Mary Tyler Moore over Nancy Seaver twelve days per week.

Maybe I could have given it three and a half. But definitely not four. I go to these movies faithfully, as a favor to the ten-year-old boy that I used to be, who would have been beyond thrilled at seeing these characters on the big screen. But they're rarely as good as I'd like them to be.

Vote for the tabloid covers that you like the best. You may select up to three choices. Voting will run for seven days. WAY, JOSE! New York Daily News, June 21, 2016. HELP! New York Post, June 21, 2016. SIGH OF RELIEF Newsday, June 22, 2016. SHAME OF THE CITI New York Daily News, June 22, 2016. WILPON'S GUY New York Daily News, June 22, 2016. BRING ME HOME New York Post, June 22, 2016. REED IT & WEEP Newsday, June 24, 2016. MATZ CONFUSION Newsday, June 25, 2016. ROLLER COASTER Newsday, June 26, 2016. 2ND CHANCE New York Daily News, June 26, 2016. STRICTLY BUSINESS New York Daily News, June 26, 2016. NAILED! New York Post, June 26, 2016. "'I'M COMING HOME" New York Post, June 26, 2016.

If you're paying a million dollars for a clam, then you're shopping at the wrong supermarket.

Definitely. The contract will average at least $25 million per year. Maybe as much as $30 million.

I voted fedora too. It kind of has a bit of an Annie Hall charm to it.

Don't they typically leave a spot or two open? For if they draft or sign anybody?

I'm not sure if this is what you mean, but you can adjust your votes if you'd like.

Familia's wife apparently called 911 a few times but then hung up. A dispatcher called back and she eventually described what was happening. The Fort Lee Patch wrote: A New York Mets pitcher was "drunk" and "going crazy" on the night he was arrested for alleged domestic violence in New Jersey, according to the 911 call of the incident. NJ.com obtained an audio copy of the 911 call reporting the alleged domestic violence involving Jeurys Familia, an All-Star pitcher for the New York Mets. Familia was charged with domestic violence just days after he was featured in an anti-domestic violence advertising campaign, a complaint authorities filed in Fort Lee Municipal Court shows. Police said in the complaint that Familia caused "bodily injury to another" and that they saw a bruise on the person's right cheek and a scratch on the individual's chest, according to northjersey.com. Familia's wife, Bianca Rivas, made several 911 calls to Fort Lee police on Oct. 31, beginning at 2:18 a.m., before finally responding to a dispatcher, according to the nj.com report. "What's the problem over there?" the dispatcher says in the call "My husband had a little bit of alcohol and he's going crazy," says Rivas. "Your husband is drinking and you're in a dispute with him?" the dispatcher asked. "Yeah. He's drunk," Rivas responds. I listened to the audio of the 911 call, available at http://patch.com/new-jersey/fortlee/911-call-mets-pitcher-drunk-going-crazy-n-j-arrest-audio Despite some of the descriptions that I've seen in some articles, the tone doesn't sound "frantic" at all. If you decide to listen, you can pretty much skip ahead to the 3:30 mark.

Okay, by bumping this I've allowed this poll to go from a two-way tie to a three-way tie!

I guess I'll celebrate by cheering for Madison Bumgarner.

I thought I had posted that Gary Templeton was the 1984 shortstop? EDIT: I did, but I was incorrectly given credit for 1980 instead.

Kate Upton has been tweeting like Donald Trump over Verlander's second-place finish.

I'm bumping this poll because it's currently tied. Voting will end on Saturday morning.

I'm bumping this poll because it's currently tied. Voting will end on Sunday morning.

Vote for the tabloid covers that you like the best. You may select up to three choices. Voting will run for seven days. GET WELL SOON New York Daily News, June 13, 2016. TERRY BAD DAY New York Post, June 13, 2016. MOOD SWINGS Newsday, June 14, 2016. WALK THE BLANK Newsday, June 15, 2016. MEEK THE METS New York Daily News, June 15, 2016. CITI SNICKERS New York Post, June 15, 2016. THOR & MORE Newsday, June 16, 2016. FROM MEEK TO MIGHTY New York Daily News, June 16, 2016. OFF KNIGHT Newsday, June 18, 2016. IT'S BRUCE LAME! New York Daily News, June 18, 2016. PANIC CITI? Newsday, June 21, 2016.

It is surprising. But the Cespedes covers were defeated in Round 1.1.2 by the AMAZIN' OFFSEASON cover featuring Mike Piazza. I was expecting that the Daily News' CES WE CAN would win, but it finished in second, two votes behind the Piazza cover.