Teammates, roomies and now Mets HOF inductees, Valentine and Mazzilli honored together

NEW YORK -- Just a few hours before entering the Mets Hall of Fame, former manager Bobby Valentine found himself in a rare predicament: He was at a loss for words.

“I don’t know when I ever felt like this before, maybe it was when my son was being born,” Valentine said. “It’s just really exciting. And I think when it’s over, I’ll be able to figure out just how special it is.”

On Saturday, Valentine (who managed from 1996-2002) and former outfielder Lee Mazzilli, one-time All-Star and revered member of the Mets’ 1986 World Series-winning squad, became the latest inductees into the franchise’s Hall of Fame. Before the official ceremony on the field before New York’s matchup against the Marlins, Valentine and Mazzilli’s presence filled the press conference with family members, former teammates and Mets brass from years past.

However, despite all the fanfare in front of Valentine and Mazzilli, there was the sense that the most important attendee for each man was the other sitting right next to him.

“Going in with him, is special,” Mazzilli said while pointing to Valentine, as the pair played together in New York from 1977-78. “I don’t know if I can put it into words, that I feel like I’m coming back home. And to share it with him … I mentioned this before, which is special to me, that when we were rooming together, we couldn’t imagine us sitting in the room at nighttime and saying 50 years from now, we’re going to be in the Mets Hall of Fame.

“It just doesn’t make sense. So that’s why it’s very special to me.”

Mazzilli’s homecoming to Citi Field came nearly 53 years after being drafted by the Mets with the No. 14 overall pick of the 1973 Draft. Coming out of a three-room apartment in Brooklyn, Mazzilli became a fan favorite after his debut in ‘76, in what was described as the “lean years” following the gradual exodus of 1969 champion cornerstones like Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman.

As a born and bred New Yorker -- who swears that he was a fan of neither the Yankees nor the Mets growing up -- playing in his backyard was a saving grace for Mazzilli in the 1970s. He became the first Met to homer in the All-Star Game in his one appearance in 1979, and he stole 41 bases in ‘80 on the way to becoming sixth in franchise history with 152 swiped bags. And that passion he played with was felt from the stands in Shea Stadium.

“I watched Lee play, and it was special,” Valentine said of his “last roommate.” “It’s a simple thing -- everyone else was gone, and he was left behind … because for the most part he was the only thing that anybody should come to the stadium for. He was spectacular in his uniform. He had the audacity to do basket catches four years after Willie Mays left Shea Stadium.”

“When I found out that I was the No. 1 pick of the Mets, I was really overwhelmed,” Mazzilli said. “I ran home from school to see my dad, I didn’t even expect that.”

Despite growing up in Stamford, Conn., Valentine remains just as engrained in the fabric of the Mets and the city’s history, well beyond the fake mustaches and sunglasses handed out the night before. Current manager Carlos Mendoza spent the first two minutes of his media availability waxing poetic on Valentine’s leadership in becoming the first skipper to lead the club to consecutive playoff appearances. When the Mets won the 1986 championship, Valentine made it clear that his heart was still rooting for New York even as the then-manager of the Rangers, having served as a member of the coaching staff that trained the likes of Doc Gooden and Howard Johnson.

Even if Valentine never won a game on the field -- and he won a lot of them, ranking third in team history with 536 managerial victories -- his impact as an emotional leader after the 9/11 attacks won’t be forgotten in New York. By his own words, he was just following the coordination of legendary team historian Jay Horwitz. But Valentine’s tireless efforts in the Mets uniform throughout the city had a hand in the healing process, wherever he and the players followed.

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“I want to be remembered as the guy who shared, the guy who tried to understand his players and give everything I have to them,” Valentine said.

In their respective on-field speeches, flanked by teammates and loved ones, Mazzilli and Valentine kept emphasizing how lucky they felt to be in this moment for the franchise they love. One has to imagine that if you asked Mets fans to look back on the pair’s impact, they would say the feeling is mutual.