Monday Morning — June 30th, 2003
The Mets begin this week at home with a three game series against the Expos starting today. Then, after Thursday's off day, they travel to Cincinnati to spend the Fourth of July weekend facing off against the Reds at the new Great American Ballpark. After the short three-game road trip, the Mets head back to Shea to face the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies in the week leading up to the All Star break.
Programming Note - The Mets' July 4th game in Cincinnati, which was originally supposed to be broadcast on FSNY, will be shown on the WB11 instead.
Roster News - The Mets called up Aaron Heilman, their top pick from the 2001 draft, to start last Thursday's game against Florida. In order to clear room on the roster for Heilman, Mike Bacsik was sent to Norfolk. Additionally, to make room on the 40-man roster for Heilman, Marco Scutaro was designated for assignment.
Between games of Saturday's day/night doubleheader, the struggling Tsuyoshi Shinjo, who was hitting a paltry .193, was optioned to Norfolk. Raul Gonzalez was called up in Shinjo's place.
Mets Milestone - Roger Cedeño stole the 200th base of his career last Tuesday.
Coming Home - Injured catcher Mike Piazza returned to Shea last week after rehabbing his severely injured groin in Florida. He's hoping to be ready to come off the disabled list by early August.
In The Community - Jae Weong Seo read to children at the Flushing Public Library last Wednesday to help launch the New York City Public Libraries 2003 Summer Reading Program membership drive. He read two popular Korean books in his native tongue, with an interpreter translating the stories into English.
On Thursday, Jose Reyes hosted a clinic for children at the Morris Heights Clinic in the Bronx.
Star of the Future - Catcher Justin Huber, a native of Australia, was named to the World roster for July 13th All-Star Futures game. This will be Huber's second consecutive Futures game appearance. In other Huber news, the 20-year-old catcher was promoted to AA Binghamton last week.
Can You Understand Me Now? - In a move that was long overdue, the Mets hired Daniel Kim to be Jae Weong Seo's translator.
New Job For An Old Friend - Davey Johnson, the winningest manager in Mets history, has been named the interim manager of the Dutch national team. Johnson is coaching the national squad at a tournament this week and will manage the team at the European championships from July 11-19. He'll also be in charge if the team makes it to the European Olympic qualifying event from July 23-27.
Last Chance to Order - Anyone interested in attending the July 21 Mets/Phillies game in Philadelphia and helping out the Cub Scouts at the same time should write to me at s.chapman@kcmets.com. Tickets are being sold at the face value of $22 apiece, and the Phillies will make a donation to local Cub Scout packs and Boy Scout troops based on the number of tickets sold.
Gone Fishing - Well, not exactly. But we'll be taking the next week off. Monday Morning Mets will be back on July 14th. In the meantime, I wish my readers a safe and enjoyable Fourth of July weekend!
Special Feature: Baseball as America
Special Feature: Talkin' Baseball with Terry Cashman
Unless otherwise stated, these stories have been extracted from reports on www.nydailynews.com, www.nypost.com, www.nytimes.com, www.njo.com, www.newsday.com, www.bergenrecord.com, AP , and www.mets.com reports.
