This was John Stearns' second season as the starting catcher for the New York Mets. John had career highs in home runs, RBI, and runs scored in 1978.
John broke the NL record (held by Johnny Kling in 1902) for stolen bases by a catcher by stealing 25 bases.
John started 134 games behind the plate in 1978. Stearns spent most of April and the first part of May below the Mendoza line but he heated up in mid-May and ended up batting .264.
1978 Stats: .264, 15 HR, 73 RBI in 143 games
1978 Highlights:
May 27 - Appeared as a pinch hitter in the 8th inning and hit a 2-run game-tying double. He stayed in the game and had a sacrifice fly in the 9th inning to add an insurance runs in the Mets' 9-7 victory over the Houston Astros.
June 30 - The box score is nothing special, but this was the game where John broke Dave Parker's jaw in a home plate collision.
Aug 9 - Had three hits and scored three runs as the Mets beat the Montreal Expos 10-3.
John Milner went from the New York Mets to the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 4-team trade that also involved the Texas Rangers and the Atlanta Braves. The Pirates also acquired Bert Blyleven as part of the deal. Milner platooned with Bill Robinson in left field in 1978 and also occasionally spelled Willie Stargell at first base.
Milner had trouble getting untracked early in the season -- he didn't get over the Mendoza Line until May 29. John heated up in June and hit well for the rest of the year.
1978 Stats: .271, 6 HR, 38 RBI in 108 games
1978 Highlights:
June 4 - Went 4 for 4 and knocked in two runs in Pittsburgh's 4-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds.
June 24 - Had four hits, including two doubles and a home run, and knocked in four runs as the Pirates beat the Mets 7-4.
Bruce Boisclair was mostly a pinch hitter and backup right fielder in 1978. Boisclair started 40 games in right field, mostly in April and May.
After another year as a backup outfielder in 1979, Bruce was released during spring training in 1980 and played in Japan for a year.
1978 Stats: .224, 4 HR, 15 RBI in 107 games
1978 Highlights:
April 9 - Hit a 2-run home run in the first inning and went 2 for 3 with 2 runs scored as the Mets beat the Montreal Expos 6-5.
April 19 - Knocked in the only two runs of the game in New York's 2-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals
May 19 - Appeared as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the 9th inning of a tie game and doubled off of Tug McGraw. Later scored the winning run when Willie Montanez singled. The Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3.
Leo Foster's major league career was over when we were pulling his card from 1978 packs. Foster was traded to the Boston Red Sox for pitcher Jim Burton on March 29, 1978. Leo played sparingly for AAA Pawtucket in 1978 and then played in Puerto Rico in 1979.
1978 Stats:
Pawtucket Red Sox (AAA): .239, 3 HR, 15 RBI in 48 games
Nino Espinosa was the #2 starter for the New York Mets in 1978.
Espinosa was 5-2 with a 3.33 ERA at the end of May, but he had two rough stretches during the season. Nino lost four straight starts in June and then took the loss in five straight starts in late July and in August.
1978 Stats: 11-15, 4.73 ERA in 32 starts
1978 Highlights:
May 17 - Allowed one run on six hits in a complete game 3-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves.
June 20 - Pitched a shutout against the Montreal Expos.
Pat Zachry's good 1978 season was shortened by an injury on July 24. He was angry after being removed from a game, kicked a batting helmet, and caught his spikes in a wooden step in the dugout. At first the injury wasn't considered to be serious, but Pat suffered a hairline fracture in his foot and was out for the rest of the season.
Lee Mazzilli had the first of three good seasons in a row as the starting center fielder for the New York Mets in 1978. Lee's best year would be in 1979, but his 1978 season was a preview of things to come.
1978 Stats: .273, 16 HR, 61 RBI in 148 games
1978 Highlights:
Apr 8 - Doubled and homered to help the Mets to a 6-5 victory over the Montreal Expos.
May 21 - Had three hits and scored three runs as the Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-5 in 10 innings. Mazzilli scored what would prove to be the winning run in the top of the 10th.
Aug 30 - Went 4 for 6 with a home run, three runs scored, and three RBI in the Mets' 10-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants.
Steve Henderson was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in 1974. Steve progressed through the Cincinnati farm system and put up good number, but he wasn't able to break into the Big Red Machine outfield.
Henderson was hit with the sophomore jinx in 1978. Steve played in 157 games but his batting average was down to .266. Henderson did have a career high with 30 doubles.
Steve was headed for a good bounceback season in 1979, but his season was cut short by an injury on July 30. Henderson played in one game in late September, but he missed over two months. Steve batted .306 in 98 games.
Henderson reclaimed the starting left field spot in 1980 and batted .290 with 8 home runs and 58 RBI. After the 1980 season Steve was traded to the Chicago Cubs for Dave Kingman.
The 1981 season was shortened by the strike. Steve played in 82 games and batted .293 with 5 HR and 35 RBI.
Steve had his toughest season in 1982. He lost his starting LF job in late May and had only one hit in June and one hit in July. Henderson batted .233 in 92 games. After the 1982 season Henderson was traded to the Seattle Mariners for Rich Bordi.
The 1983 season was Henderson's last as a full-time starting player. He batted .294 with 10 HR and 54 RBI in 121 games. In 1984 Steve became a fourth outfielder and DH and batted .262 with 10 HR and 35 RBI in 109 games. Henderson filed a grievance against the Mariners because he felt the team was colluding to curtail his freedom of movement after the 1983 season.
Henderson became a free agent after the 1984 season. He didn't sign a contract during that winter and finally signed with the Oakland A's during spring training in 1985. Steve was a pinch hitter, DH, and extra outfielder during his time with the A's. In 1985 Henderson batted .301 in 85 games.
In 1986 Henderson was the odd man out in a crowded Oakland outfield. He played in only 11 games in April and May and went 2 for 26 (.077). At the end of May Steve was released. He signed with the Chicago White Sox and played in AA for the rest of the 1986 season.
After the 1986 season Henderson was released by the White Sox. He signed with Oakland and started the 1987 season in the minors. He was brought up in July and spent the rest of the year with Oakland. Steve batted .289 in 46 games for the A's in 1987.
Henderson became a free agent after the 1987 season and signed with the Houston Astros. Steve wasn't getting much playing time with the Astros and spend some time in AAA. In his final season as a major leaguer Henderson batted .217 in 46 at bats.
Henderson became a coach after his playing career. He has had various assignments, mostly as a hitting coach, since 1990. Steve's latest job was as the Philadelphia Phillies hitting coach in 2013 and is still in that position as of April 2014.
1978 Stats: .266, 10 HR, 65 RBI in 157 games
1978 Highlights:
April 9 - Appeared as a pinch hitter in the 6th inning and hit a grand slam.The Mets beat the Montreal Expos 6-5.
May 18 - Had four hits and knocked in the winning run in the 10th inning of the Mets' 8-7 win over the Atlanta Braves.
Sept 8 - Had two hits and scored all three New York runs as the Mets beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2.
Joe Torre didn't inherit a good situation in his first managing job. The New York Mets had traded away a lot of good players (especially the great Tom Seaver) and were struggling to field a decent team. Joe became a player-manager on May 31, 1977. That lasted only a few weeks -- Torre retired as a player in late June.
The Mets weren't a good team during Torre's tenure with the club. They overhauled their entire pitching staff in 1977 and in 1978, and by 1979 they had only two experienced starting pitchers.
Torre was let go as the Mets' manager at the end of the 1981 season. They had two last place finishes and two fifth place finishes during Torre's 3 1/2 seasons managing the club.
Joe became the manager of the New York Yankees in 1996. The team had a great run of success during Joe's tenure as manager. They won four world championships, six AL pennants, and made the playoff every season from 1996-2007. Torre had the second longest managerial tenure in team history. Only Joe McCarthy managed the team for a longer period of time.
Ed Kranepool was mostly relegated to pinch hitting duties in 1978. Kranepool made only 15 defensive appearances during the season. It was Ed's penultimate season -- he would retire after the 1979 season.
1978 Stats: .210, 3 HR, 19 RBI in 66 games (81 at bats)
1978 Highlights:
June 30 - Pinch hit for Tom Grieve in the 9th inning with the Mets behind 3-2 and singled in John Stearns with the tying run. Ed later scored the go-ahead run. The Mets scored a couple more times in the inning. The Mets needed those extra runs as the Pirates scored twice in the bottom of the 9th. The Mets won the game 6-5.
Sept 14 - Pinch hit for pitcher Mardie Cornejo in the bottom of the 6th inning and hit a 3-run home run. The hit put the Mets ahead 7-6. The Mets beat the Expos by the same score.
Mike Vail split the 1978 season between the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago Cubs. Vail got off to a slow start (.143) in spring training and was sold to the Indians in late March. Mike started the season in AAA Portland, but he was soon back in the majors after batting .393 in 14 games. On June 15 Mike was traded to the Cubs for Joe Wallis. Vail got more playing time and hit well in Chicago.
1978 Stats:
Portland Beavers (AAA): .393, 4 HR, 19 RBI in 14 games
May 9 - Went 2 for 2 and knocked in the winning run in the bottom of the 9th in his first game back from the minors. The Indians beat the Seattle Mariners 5-4.
July 3 - Went 2 for 5 with 2 RBI in Chicago's 6-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Jon Matlack was traded to the Texas Rangers in a big 4-team trade after the 1977 season. Jon bounced back from his off year in 1977, but it was his last big year as a pitcher. Matlack continued to pitch through the 1983 season, but he wasn't as successful after 1978.
Here is an interview Jon did in July 2013:
1978 Stats:
Texas Rangers: 15-13, 1 save, 18 complete games, 2.27 ERA in 35 games (33 starts)
