Happy Birthday Lee Mazzilli

As we all gather with our friends and family to celebrate the birthday of Lee Mazzilli, here’s a long excerpt from my friend’s blog Centerfield Maz.  I chose to ignore that whole Texas/Pirates/Yankees period and focus on the good times.

Mazzilli debuted at Wrigley Field in Chicago going 0-1 as a pinch hitter on September 7th in a game against the Cubs. Mazzilli remembers; “I remember walking into that tiny locker room. I was in total awe of the players. Seaver, Koosman, Matlack, Buddy (Harrelson). Joe (Torre) took me under his wing. He said, “You sit by me today at the end of the dugout.”

The next day, in his second game he hit a three run pinch hit HR off the Cubs Darold Knowles, quickly living up to the hype surrounding him. He was promoted as the home town star prospect ball player, the Mets future outfield star, complete with matinee idol looks for the ladies. The front office called him the next Willie Mays, due to his talent and his basket style catches, ala Mays. It would be a tough bill to live up to for the young man from Brooklyn. Two weeks after his debut he hit a two out, walk off two run HR off Pittsburgh Pirates relief ace Kent Tekulve, bringing a small ecstatic crowd at Shea to its feet. 


In his 1977 rookie year, manager Joe Torre made Mazzilli his everyday centerfielder. Although still a 21 year old, he had good speed and a good batting eye. On Opening Day he got one hit, batting in the leadoff spot at Wrigley Field in Chicago. He struggled his first month finishing April batting .226 with just three RBIs. To start out May he went on a ten game hit streak but then he fell off again. 

He didn’t hit his first HR until June it came in Montreal, a three run shot helping the Mets to a 7-4 victory over the Expos. On June 7th he had three hits driving in three runs helping Tom Seaver to one of his last wins as a New York Met, beating the Reds 8-0. On August 3rd, Mazzilli drove in the game winning run against the Dodgers with a bottom of the 9th inning base hit. He learned to adapt to the big leagues during the year & by September he had his best month of the season. 

Mazzilli had thirty hits during the month, driving in 17 runs while batting around .350. At the start of the month he drove in runs in five straight games & in the middle of the month he drove in runs in five of six games. Overall on the season he played in 159 games batting .250 with 6 HRs, 24 doubles, three triples, 46 RBIs & 24 stolen bases. In the outfield he played the most games of anyone in centerfield in the National League (156 games) leading the league in put outs with 391. He posted the third best fielding % in center at .993% (fourth best of all outfielders) making nine assists (5th best in the N.L.).

In 1978 on Opening Day he had two hits, including a 6th inning double scoring Steve Henderson with an insurance run for Jerry Koosman in the Mets 3-1 win at Shea Stadium. The next day he hit a three run HR off Montreal’s Rudy May in the bottom of the 8th inning, tying the game. Ed Kranepool would win it with a pinch hit walk off two run HR in the bottom of the ninth. Mazzilli would get hot from the start of May thorough the first week of June. He hit safely in 26 of 31 games raising his average to .315 by June 5th. In that stretch he had seven extra base hits, 19 RBIs and a pair of four hit games. 

In a July 4th double header he hit HRs in both ends of the twin bill against the Philadelphia Phillies. In the first game his grand slam in the 8th inning were the only runs scored in the game, as Pat Zachary pitched a two hit shutout against the Phillies. Mazzilli came back to HR the next day & then three games later he hit another against the Chicago Cubs. 

The rest of the season he tailed off, highlighting his September with a pair of HRs in Los Angeles in a game against the eventual NL Champions. In that game he became the first Met to ever hit HRs from both sides of the plate. He finished the year leading the team in batting (.273) & slugging (.432%). He played in 149 games, with 16 HRs, 28 doubles, 66 RBIs, 5 triples, and 20 stolen bases.

In 1979 he began the year with two hits & two runs scored in the Mets 10-6 opener at Wrigley Field. He came back the next day with his first HR driving in three runs with three hits in the Mets 9-4 win. He started out hitting safely in eight of the first nine games, batting .462 with 18 hits & 10 RBIs by mid April. He cooled off but was still batting .310 at the end of April. In May he went on another tear, he hit safely in 23 of 27 games with 215 multiple hit games. By the end of the month he was among the league leaders batting .352.

At the All Star break he was hitting .320 and represented the Mets in the All Star game in Seattle. Although he did not start the game, he ended up being the unsung hero of the 50th All Star game. In the 8th inning he tied the game up with an opposite field solo HR off Cleveland’s Jim Kern. Then in the 9th inning he drew a walk off the cross town rivals pitcher, Ron Guidry. The walk came with the bases loaded & scored Cincinnati’s Joe Morgan in what would be the games winning run. 

After the break he continued to hit well, On August 14th, he tied a Mets record scoring five runs in a game, having a big day with a HR, a triple & two walks. He enjoyed a 19 game hitting streak beginning the end of August lasting into mid September, where he raised his average from .298 to .317. 

He finish the year leading the team in hits with 181 (9th best in the NL) batting average (.303) on base percentage (.395- 4th best in the N.L.) & tied for the team lead in RBIs (79). He finished with 96 walks (6TH best in the league) 15 HRs, 34 doubles, 78 runs scored and 34 stolen bases. He played the third most games in centerfield in the N.L. (143) made 12 assists (3rd in the league) posted a .990 fielding % (5th in the league) & made 368 put outs (5th in the league).

In 1980 he began to play more at first base with the arrival of Jerry Morales & then Mookie Wilson at the end of the season. In the month of April he hit .240 & only drove in a single run, but then had eleven RBIs for the month of May which got his bat going. On June 9th he hit & HR while driving in three runs with a three hit day in the Mets 9-4 win over Pittsburgh. His best month was July where he hit safely in 25 of 29 games raising his average thirty points to .295 bringing his on base % near .400. He had hitting streaks of six, seven & eight games that month while driving in 26 runs. 

On July 13th he hit two HRs in the first game of a double header at Shea against the St. Louis Cards. In the second game he drove in two more runs & then in his next two games he hit a HR in each of them. In the final two months of the season he drove in 30 runs although his batting average dropped off a bit. On September 14th he had a three hit, five RBI day at Wrigley Field hitting a HR off Dick Tidrow carrying the Mets to a 10-7 win. Later that week he had a four RBI day in Montreal including a three run HR off Scott Sanderson. On the down side of a good season, he began to struggle with back problems which would haunt him for the rest of his career. 

The versatile Mazzilli played 92 games at first base, making 13 errors while adjusting to the position, second most errors in the league at that position. At the plate he led the team in most offensive categories once again. He led the team in HRs (16) doubles (31) stolen bases (41) RBIs (76) hits (162) runs scored (82) slugging (.431) games (152) & at bats (578). His 82 walks were 7th best in the NL as he posted a .370 on base %. 

When Dave Kingman came back to Shea Stadium in 1981, Mazzilli was back in the outfield, sharing time with Mookie Wilson in both center & leftfield. On Opening Day at Wrigley Field Mazzilli hit a HR helping Pat Zachary to a 2-0 shutout win. On September 30th Mazzilli had a walk off base hit RBI against Willie Hernandez & the Chicago Cubs. Back problems limited his ability & he didn’t get over the .200 mark until mid May. That year the players went on strike & the game resumed in August after a two month hiatus. Mazzilli had a good September driving a dozen runs, having his best week on September 7th where he had two three hit games & six game hit streak. In 95 games, Mazzilli’s back problems led him to a.228 average, with just 6 HRs 14 doubles & 36 RBIs.

After the 1981 season, the Mets made a very unpopular trade at the time, sending Mazzzilli to the Texas Rangers for young pitching prospects Ron Darling & Walt Terrell. It turned out to be a good trade for the New York since Mazzilli never was a full time player again, mostly because of his back problems.

As most of you know, Lee returned to Shea in 1986 and got a ring.  That was as unlikely as Sting touring with Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland a few years ago (a rare Police mention for my blog which is named after my favorite baseball team and favorite band.)

It is unfortunate that Lee is living out his days in service of the Steinbrenners, as it makes it unlikely that we will see Lee Mazzilli Poster Day II this summer.  Perhaps Daniel Murphy poster day is in the cards.

Enjoy Mazzilli Day and I hope your family celebrates by visiting the upgraded Mets Police Facebook Page and being my friend as demonstrated with a like.