Lee Mazzilli

Lee Louis Mazzilli, (born March 25, 1955 in Brooklyn, New York), is a former Major League Baseball player, coach, and manager. On December 11, 2006, he was hired as the lead studio analyst for SportsNet New York, the New York Mets' cable television network. For the 2009 season, he was replaced by Bob Ojeda. An excellent athlete, young Lee was the son of welterweight boxer Libero Mazzilli. Unlike most switch hitters, who naturally bat from one side of the plate and train themselves to feel comfortable on the other, Mazzilli was naturally ambidextrous and swung the bat both ways from an early age. The sport he most excelled in as a junior was speed skating, in which he won eight national championships. He graduated from Brooklyn's Lincoln High School in 1973 and was the first round selection (14th pick overall) of the hometown Mets. He is most remembered as a member of the Mets, who selected him with the 14th pick in the first round of the June 1973 draft. He was quite popular in New...