Baltimore held a press conference on Friday to announce the hiring of Lee Mazzilli as their new manager. Mazzilli signed a two-year contract that includes club options for 2006 and 2007.

The Mets drafted Mazzilli with the 14th overall pick of the first round in the 1973 draft, and he made his debut with New York in September of 1976. The outfielder spent portions of 10 seasons with the Mets, spread over two stints during his 14-season major league career.

Following the end of his playing career in 1989, Mazzilli branched out into a variety of activities, including acting in Tony Danza's TV movie Dead and Alive: The Race for Gus Faraceand a stint in the Off-Broadway musical Tony & Tina's Wedding. He began to move back towards baseball in 1995 when he was the commissioner of the independent Northeast League.

Mazzilli took a position as the manager of the A+ Tampa Yankees, New York's Florida League team in 1997. He remained at Tampa through 1998 and moved up to manage AA Norwich in 1999. Prior to the 2000 season, Joe Torre added Mazzilli to his major league staff as first base coach. Mazzilli remained in that post through 2003 and would have moved over to coach third for the Yankees in 2004 if the Orioles hadn't hired him this winter.

When Mazzilli interviewed for the Tampa Bay managerial opening last off-season, I expressed a desire to see him spend some time as a bench coach or manage another year or two in the upper minors before taking a job as a major league manager. However, I feel fairly comfortable with the 48-year-old's qualifications.