Lee Mazzilli has returned home. Well he won’t be wearing a uniform but he is part of the family again. Appearing last night on Mets Hot Stove, Lee Mazzilli was welcomed to the Mets broadcast team as a studio analyst. He will work in the SNY Manhattan studio with Matt Yaloff prior to and after up to 85 Mets telecast next season. Looking rather dapper in a suit and tie, Mazzilli stated that he was excited about the opportunity.
Lee Mazzilli was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He was drafted by the Mets, went through their farm system, and broke in to the Major Leagues at the end of 1976. He was an instant hit with Mets fans. He was good looking, young, and looked great in those sprayed-on uniforms of the 70’s era. Mazzilli was a talented young man playing one of the most cherished positions in New York baseball, center field. He could hit, play decent defense and run well. He hustled all the time and was very fan friendly. The fans loved him especially those that were female. In the era of Saturday Night Fever, Lee Mazzilli was the latest New York heart throb. He had everything going for him except one thing, a winning team.
The Mets of the Mazzilli years, the late 70’s were awful. It was the darkest period of New York Mets history. The year Mazzilli became a starter, 1977, the Mets traded the franchise, Tom Seaver, to Cincinnati for Pat Zachery, Steve Henderson, Dan Norman, and Doug Flynn, that about says it all. The ownership of M. Donald Grant had taken the storybook franchise so far down the wrong path it would take years to rebuild. Ultimately, Grant’s leadership resulted in having to sell the team. With Joe Torre as manager, Mazzilli was in the lineup every day. He was about the only bright spot on the team, the only reason to go to Shea Stadium. The big ballpark was like a ghost town night after night. The Mets were the laughing stock of baseball but unlike the loveable losers of the 60’s, these Mets were horrible. And with winning now part of the Mets past, fans stayed away from Shea. The highlight of Mazzilli’s career during these early years came at Seattle during the 1979 All Star game. In the eighth inning as a pinch hitter in his first All Star at bat, Mazzilli homered to the opposite field to tie the game. Then in the 9th, Maz walked with the bases loaded to put the NL in front for good. He should have been named the game’s MVP. Dave Parker won the award going 1 for 3 with an RBI but he also had two outfield assists.
After the team was sold to Doubleday and Wilpon, Mazzilli was eventually traded in 1981 to the Texas Rangers for pitching prospects Ron Darling and Walt Terrell. How ironic that Lee will now share analyst duties with Darling who is becoming a master of the craft. During Lee’s first tenure with the Mets the team never won more than 67 games. He must have really loved playing for the Mets because he was devastated when traded. You have to wonder why considering how bad the Mets were back then. Mazzilli went to Texas where he played part of the 82 season before being traded back to New York but this time he played for the Yankees. Lee signed a free agent contract with the Pirates in 1983 and played for them into the 1986 season where he was eventually released and signed a minor league contract with the Mets. Lee was sent to Tidewater (Norfolk). After George Foster was released, Mazzilli was brought up in August and once again got the chance to wear a Mets uniform (the racing stripe style). Perhaps Mazzilli was given his just reward for being a part of those terrible teams of the late seventies. Mazzilli played an important role off the bench for Davey Johnson and of course got to participate in the Mets post season run to the World Series title that season. Mazzilli stayed with the Mets into 1989 before being traded to Toronto. He retired as a player after the '89 season concluded. Mazzilli ended his career with a .259 batting average having hit 93 homeruns and knocking in 460 RBi. Certainly not great numbers for someone as popular has Mazzilli was. But never the less, Mazzilli remains one of the more popular Mets in team history.
Mazzilli was very close with Joe Torre when Torre managed the Mets during the late 70’s and very early 80’s. Because of their relationship, Torre hired Mazzilli as a coach with the Yankees. Mazzilli finally got a chance to manage at the Major League level when he took the helm of the Orioles in 2004. That lasted a little more than a season. After being fired for Baltimore’s poor play which had to do more with the Orioles dysfunctional family than anything Lee did, he returned to the Yankees to be Torre’s bench coach in 06. But during this off season, Maz was fired from the Yankees and Don Mattingly was given the bench coach duties.
Without a job I was hoping the Mets would reach out to Lee and give him something. I have been a proponent of the Mets taking care of their own. I was kind of hoping he would have been part of the coaching staff but I can’t argue with the signing of Howard Johnson either. HoJo is also a fan favorite and he really had much more of an impact on the Mets then Maz ever did. Never the less, it’s good to see Mazzilli back with the Mets and wearing the correct color pin stripes, at least figuratively.
