New York Mets

Date of birth: March 25, 1955 New York, NY

High School:  Lincoln High School Brooklyn, NY

Nickname: Maz.

First Impression; Two things I liked about Lee Mazzilli. He wore glasses (I wore glasses) and when my mother was advised what the correct mitt was, the model I was given was a Lee Mazzilli. So he was always one of my favorite players for that completely inane reason. Alas, being a kid.

Career stats player: I just remember there was a time when I thought New York Mets this guy was the first thing that popped into my head. And why on his cards he just looks Italian, NY and the name confirms it. And Lee isnt a shortened form of Leechenzo (madeup) or Leonardo or Luigi. Its Lee. You and me and Lee make three.*

All Time Stat: He was an All-Star in 1979. Then he went to Lenscrafters.

Career stats manager: 125-137. He also got a fresh start. But under Marge Schott so you know that was destined for some dog poop. He replaced Davey Johnson (his old Mets manager) in 1996. To the surprise of nobody, the Knight era was far shorter and quieter than Bobby Knight.

Fun Fact: Most stolen bases of anyone named Lee (of Lee’s that had 1000 hits or more. Not those other Lee’s … nor last name Lee either and not Lee Smith, he had 0 anyway.)

Ever a Future Star?  Ok so no offense to Dan Thomas, who does not get another card.

You have this Italian Stallion looks like a Tiger Beat poster… Jones looks like he’s posing for a Seattle tourism brochure, or perhaps marketing showcasing really crappy hats… Clark is staring into the middle distance like he’s imagining the pitcher he’s about to ruin. And Dan Thomas.

So maybe they didn’t have the money to license other hats like if these were minor leaguers or college players, I am certain at some point along this road I am going to rabbit hole myself on the top of Topps airbrushing. In any event, this will be SHOT 1 at airbrushing. I can think of no other reason to blur out the other team. Perhaps Topps was worried about confusing people or getting 11,000 letters saying its an error because X player is not on X team as in the photo…etc etc. Im sure they got a lot of crackpot letters back in the day.

Anyway, as much as I disliked O’Pee’Chee products, they had a simple solution which didnt fit into the money grab Traded Sets that Topps did. In the example below is a very poor attempt to alter what was obviously a 1985 photo of Tom Seaver on the White Sox. I would rather they just wrote in marker next to the SOX on his Chicago hat the word “Red” as opposed to this. Also is that faded part intentional? If anything it just calls more attention to how bad it is. And 2nd is the OPC card I had for Davey Lopes. This made sense to me.

So I just realized this all has nothing to do with 1981, so I will leave it here for now, pick it up later.

Ok hang on one last shot. I have ADD people, sorry. My AI version of 1986 Topps Traded AND the version that I asked them to create using Topps technology. The 2nd one, well, I think AI gets it just about as well as Topps did.

Rookie or final card? No, Mazzilli would later get a manager card.

Hall of Fame? Number retired? N/A

Links to stories including Lee Mazzilli.

*The D.