There has been some talk in Metsdom lately of the Hernandez curse. Surely it's been mostly from bloggers looking for something to write about on an otherwise cold quiet morning. Clearly there is no Hernandez curse, but I am here to tell you about the Lee Mazzilli curse.
Lee, as you all know, is the golden child of the late 70s and should have had a 15 year run in center field but no they had to give the job to that Mookie guy and trade Lee away for some 'prospects' that essentially wound up being Darling and Hojo.
Lee moved on to Texas who turned their back on him after 58 games. How many World Series has Texas won since? He went to the Yankees who also shunned him - how many World Series did the Yankees win before they realized about the Mazzilli Curse and hired Lee's old Mets manager?
Off to Pittsburgh. No championships for them since they released him in 1986.
Meanwhile the Mets had put together a good club, but they couldn't get over the hump. So they brought Mazzilli back in 1986. Bingo, championship.
When Lee returned, sure-fire future Hall of Famer Dwight Gooden was now wearing Lee's old #16. Doc offered it to Lee, but Lee being a gentleman wasn't going to take the hall of famer's number. That was Gooden's biggest mistake - and the curse of Lee Mazzilli led Doc to drugs and a ruined career.
On to Toronto in 1989. When did the Mets start to suck? That's right, right around 1989! The Jays finished first, and Lee knowing he had taught the Jays how to win knew he could retire and leave the Jays on their own to win two world series.
In his post-playing days Lee was coach for Joe Torre, who saw the magic expire after Lee left the coaching staff following the 2003 series. Joe tried to bring the Mazz magic back in 2006 but it was not meant to be.
As for the Orioles, the only curses stronger than the Mazzilli curse are those in Chicago and the curse of Peter Angelos. No force can help with those.
Mets Police fully support Jerry the Gangsta, but he would be wise to ask Lee to suit up in a #16 and sit next to him and end this 23 year drought.
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