• With Mets leading hitter Lee Mazzilli on the disabled list, and the team in fifth place in the NL East, manager Joe Torre has decided to juggle his lineup and batting order in hopes of sparking some offense: Lenny Randle will now lead off, with catcher John Stearns and rookie Dan Norman alternating in the clean-up spot, and Steve Henderson batting third or fifth, depending on the pitcher. Joel Youngblood will cover for Mazzilli in center, while Norman and Elliott Maddox will platoon in right, in place of an injured Bruce Boisclair.
• New York will go with a 5-man starting rotation in August: Pat Zachry, Jerry Koosman, Craig Swan, Nino Espinosa, and newcomer Kevin Kobel, recently switched out from the bullpen. The Mets will continue to use six relievers, led by Mardie Cornejo and Dale Murray.
• Injured outfielders Lee Mazzilli and Bruce Boisclair will both return from the disabled list this month; Boisclair is back on the 9th, while Mazzilli will wait another week before returning to the Mets roster on the 17th.
• Mike Bruhert, who went 0-6 with a 7.83 ERA as a starter in July, was sent to AAA Tidewater to spend a month working on his mechanics and control, after going 1-13 over the first four months of the season. Paul Siebert was called up to the parent club to supply left-handed help in the bullpen.
• The Mets will meet the Tigers on August 7th in the annual Hall of Fame Game at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, New York. The 7-inning exhibition contest will be designated EXH7.
• Excluding the off-limits Reds, the Mets are the only SP78 team to never have been managed by an opponent.
Statis Pro 1978 Replay 
Hmmm, I may need to consider managing the Mets at some point. They were also the last NL team I ever saw play in person at SD Stadium, with you and Julie in the “Dr.’s” seats, I believe. I think that had to have been in ’92, because Eddie Murray was a Met at the time. I also saw them with my dad, at Dodger Stadium right after our CHI-MIL trip in ’93. That game was the (Mets) Vince Coleman firecracker game.
The game was May 1, 1993 at San Diego Stadium, Field Level, Section 9, Row 12 behind home plate. It was four of us: you, me, Julie, and Scott, and we all four met at Chili’s down the street before the game. The Padres won 5-3 on a Gary Sheffield 2-run HR in the eighth to win it. We got to see Kurt Stillwell get a pinch-single in the game, and it was here where you and Scott and I invented the ‘Padres Welcome Satan’ announcement on the scoreboard. I made reference in my notes that this possibly was your first-ever Mets game, and in the notes I made a note “ask him about this”. And I remember you going to that NY-LA game with your Dad.
If you’re able to make it out to AZ in August or September, and if a Mets game is available, you get first dibs to manage them!