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Lee Mazilli is Ambidextrous


Lee Mazilli - New York Draftee Is Ambidextrous

Lee Mazzilli - Mets Outfielder
The Camden News (Camden, Arkansas) 6 Jun 1973

New York (AP) - The injury-troubled New York Mets have come up with a solution for their health problems. They have drafted an ambidextrous outfielder.

He's Lee Mazilli of Brooklyn, and he was the 14th player chosen Tuesday in baseball's summer
free agent draft.

Joe McDonald, director of minor league operations for the Mets, announced the selection, reporting that Mazzilli, "Bats, right-left. Throws, right-left." If he hurt one hand, a regular Met hazard these days, he can use the other.

Mazilli, like most of the other high school hot shots drafted Tuesday, will have to decide between professional baseball and college. He has a four-year scholarship offer from Arizona State, which has produced a large shared of major leaguers.

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MLB Bio

Lee Louis Mazzilli (Maz)
Positions: OF, 1B
Batted: Both
Threw: Right
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 185 lbs.
Born: March 25, 1955 in New York, NY
Drafted: 1st round 1973 by the Mets



Lee Mazzilli Bio from the SABR BioProject 

"Baseball was the No. 1 sport by far, and it was always my first love."

He was a handsome, stylish Italian-American from the streets of Brooklyn, who strutted into prominence at the same moment John Travolta’s Tony Manero did the same on the silver screen. But there was more to Lee Mazzilli than a pair of tight-fitting pants. He was a graceful athlete with a good eye who could hit – and throw – either left-handed or right-handed. He was a seven-time national youth speedskating champion. And after a 14-year playing career, he found success as an actor, a businessman, a big-league manager, and a broadcaster. 

Encouraged to throw right-handed

Before Mazzilli made his professional debut the following spring, he and the Mets came to a fateful decision. Eschewing what might have been his more natural throwing arm, the Mets encouraged Mazzilli to throw exclusively right-handed, figuring it would afford him greater defensive flexibility.

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Lee Mazzilli Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com
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