L.J. Mazzilli gave his dad, Lee, the best belated Father's Day gift imaginable last night: The chance to watch him make his pro debut. Forty years after the elder Mazzilli was drafted by the Mets, with whom he played 10 of his 14 big league seasons, the younger Mazzilli debuted with the Brooklyn Cyclones.
The Cyclones lost their season-opener 2-1 at the Staten Island Yankees, but that hardly dimmed the Mazzilli family mood. L.J. started at second base, went 2-for-4, turned a double-play and did it in front of Lee, mother Dani and about 20 friends and family in a city that has been a home-away-from-home.
N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg
NEW GENERATION: L.J. Mazzilli, son of former Met Lee Mazzilli, gets ready to swing in his first pro game last night for the Brooklyn Cyclones, who lost 2-1 to the Staten Island Yankees and Paul O'Neill's nephew, Michael.
Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
NEW GENERATION: L.J. Mazzilli, son of former Met Lee Mazzilli, gets ready to swing in his first pro game last night for the Brooklyn Cyclones, who lost 2-1 to the Staten Island Yankees and Paul O'Neill's nephew, Michael (above, stealing third base).
"This is where my dad and all my family grew up, and where I kind of grew up too,'' said L.J. "I was born in New York. I wasn't born in Brooklyn, but I was basically raised there with my grandparents. My dad was playing, away a lot. I'd stay with them and they'd take me to the ballpark, bring me up around this atmosphere. I feel like I'm coming to my second home.''
Lee was raised on East 12th Street in Sheepshead Bay, and L.J.'s aunt Linda still lives in the neighborhood. Still, he admitted to the natural nerves.
"The first hit was big because I was nervous; I'm not going to lie. It was my first pro ballgame and I was just more anxious. After I got that first hit, I felt like the whole world was off my shoulders. I was ready to go,'' said L.J., who was selected by the Mets in the fourth round of this year's MLB Draft. "I've seen competition like this. The atmosphere is what I'm not used to, I was taking that in for sure, the scenery, the background, the fans.''
Lee was drafted by the Mets in 1973 out of Lincoln High in Coney Island — not far from MCU Park, where the Cyclones play their home games. He won a World Series with the Mets in 1986. Now a special adviser to the Yankees, Lee was there with Dani to see his son's debut in the city where he once starred.
"It's been a spectacular week. I'm very happy for him, but more so proud of him,'' Lee told The Post. "As former players that have sons that play, it's different. We missed a lot of things when they were growing up — Little League, sandlot games — because of the life we chose.
"We know how difficult it is. When they strike out or make an error, we know what it feels like. But he's going his own way, starting his own career. He's going to be fine.''
L.J. got his first hit in the fourth inning, a single to left-center off Giovanny Gallegos. He added a single to center in the sixth, and for good measure even turned a double-play with Gavin Ceccini on Mikeson Oliberto to end the inning.
"It was good. It was like getting thrown in the pool. His first hit, his first ground ball, first double-play, he got all those,'' said Brooklyn manager Rich Donnelly, who was Lee's first base coach in Pittsburgh to start the 1986 season. "L.J.'s been around the block. He knows what's going on. ... It's going to be fun to watch him. He can do some things with the bat.''
* Michael O'Neill, nephew of former Yankee Paul O'Neill, who was drafted by the Yankees in the third round this year, made his debut for Staten Island.
O'Neill went 2-for-4 with a double and had two stolen bases.
brian.lewis@nypost.com
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