If you just want to swap the first and second fields then: 
open (LOG, $log) or die "Error: $!";

print sort
      map { s/(\S+)(\s+)(\S+)/$3$2$1/; $_ }
      <LOG>;

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In reply to Re^2: reading a log file and sorting by last name by jwkrahn
in thread reading a log file and sorting by last name by Anonymous Monk

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