Norwich

His family and friends stood in the parking lot beyond left field tailgating Tuesday night, taking photos and partaking of the euphoric nectar, as if the gravel beneath their feet at Dodd Stadium was the lawn of the Mazzilli family's backyard.

Fittingly, the lawn inside the ballpark used to be LJ Mazzilli's playground, where he'd bop along with his dad, Lee, the former major leaguer and manager of the Norwich Navigators. LJ was a nine-year-old kid then, the bat boy, fly ball shagger, the eyes and ears of the clubhouse, a kid who didn't need a backyard because he had the ballyard.

And then it was Tuesday when time had seemingly grabbed him by the wrist, LJ a young man of 22 now, former UConn baseball great and New York Penn League All-Star. The field of his childhood became another Days Inn on his road to the majors Tuesday when Mazzilli represented the Brooklyn Cyclones and their parent club, the Mets, at Tuesday night's extravaganza.

"It's like I've been playing here my whole life," Mazzilli was saying before the game.

LJ was the little kid here in the summer of 1999 when his dad led the Navigators within a strike of the Eastern League championship. Alfonso Soriano and Nick Johnson played here. "The Mazzo," as his dad often refers to himself, was a hoot in the clubhouse, bringing big league wisdom and coolness to a bunch of young guys.

The youngest of all was his son. LJ had the run of the place, too, although he usually managed to be around when his dad would talk to reporters after games. The Mazzo always had a good line. Like the night a soft-toss right-hander from the New Haven Ravens inexplicably befuddled the Gators. Mazzilli said all the right things with the tape recorders running.

Then just as were about to leave, Mazzilli called us over to say, "That guy couldn't break your teeth." The biggest giggle of all came from sonny boy who was sitting on the leather couch in the manager's office.

"I remember running around with the old players," LJ said. "Bat boying, shagging flyballs … cool to think about."

Lee Mazzilli was here Tuesday, too, sitting in Section 6, expertly avoiding reporters. Too bad. His thoughts on his son and old days here would have been amusing. Somehow, though, we forge on, probably not in need of grief counseling to cope with Mazzilli's big blow off.

L.J.'s take on his dad's impact:

"He played the game under great baseball minds, Joe Torre, Willie Mays," LJ said. "He likes to pass that on to me. Growing up, I always had the right information. Now, there are people trying to (reinvent) the game, trying to find new things to grab on to. He's kind of old school. That's how he was taught. He passes that on to me and I love it. I eat it up.

"He's my father and sometimes I don't want to hear it. But I'll hear the same exact thing he'll tell me from Rich Donnelly or Bobby Valentine. The things he stresses I try to emulate in my game: It takes no talent to hustle, always run the bases hard … that's what has helped me get here."

Mazzilli would often drive home to Greenwich after Navigators games in a big, black Ford Excursion. It was a full day for father and son.

"We'd make a day out of it," LJ said. "I don't think I'd watch any of the game. I'd be out here playing mini putt or whatever it is now. I was a little kid. It was just fun to come to the ballpark and chase foul balls. Sometimes I'd get to be the bat boy."

Mazzilli even played a number of games here at UConn, too, including a 2010 NCAA Regional.

"Six of our nine starting players (in that regional) could possibly make it to the major leagues soon," Mazzilli said proudly.

If Mazzilli graduates from the Cyclones to the Mets' next affiliate next summer, his time at Dodd Stadium is likely over. But when it's time to tell his story, the lessons learned in time here have a special place for LJ Mazzilli. His playground became his stage Tuesday night.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro.