Mr. Met Up for Hall of Fame

There's one member of the Mets that is up for the Hall of Fame today. The Mascot Hall of Fame, that is. The round-headed ball of a mascot is trailing by about 5,500 votes in the race for popularity on the Mascot Hall of Fame website. He trails The Coyote, the mascot of the San Antonio Spurs. The Post pulls out all the stops to make sure Mr. Met is the top vote getter. Pulling out the stops like the Mets did in an attempt to get Paul Lo Duca into the All-Star Game.

Mascots can only be nominated if they've been in service for at least 10 years and have "a major impact on their sport, and/or community." Uh huh. The other nominees for induction are: Hugo The Hornet (New Orleans Hornets), The Mariner Moose (Seattle Mariners), The Oriole Bird (Baltimore Orioles). Even if Mr. Met wins the online popularity contest, we're unsure what he would get. The Hall makes no mention of Internet voting in their voting process:

After the ballot has been officially released the voting process begins. Any mascot receiving votes on seventy-five percent (75%) of the ballots cast shall be elected for induction in the Mascot Hall of Fame. Candidates receiving less than 5% of votes on ballots cast are not eligible for future Mascot Hall of Fame elections for the next three years. A member of the Executive Committee and a representative of the Raymond Entertainment Group shall certify the results of the election. Raymond Entertainment and the Mascot Hall of Fame Executive Committee will jointly release the results for publication. Raymond Entertainment Group, LLC and the Mascot Hall of Fame Executive Committee reserve the right to revoke, alter or amend these rules at any time.

Even so, it's clear that Mr. Met should be inducted this year by the committee, which is composed of an executive selection committee, voting members (current mascots for at least 3 years or promotional director for at least 2 years), and inducted members.

Some stats on Mr. Met from the New York Mets: born - April 11, 1962; debuted - April 14, 1964; height - 6'10" (A stitch taller than a standard doorway); weight - Top Heavy. You can cast a vote for Mr. Met online until noon when voting closes.

Photo of Mr. Met and his minions by Neil Epstein on flickr