There was a nice piece that appeared over on NewsDay’s website about L.J. Mazzilli last night, where there’s just a little insight into the young Mazzilli as a person. We often get caught in figuring out what a prospect can do for us performance wise — and we overlook the character they bring into our system. Beginning his pro career in Brooklyn is really special for LJ, as he explains…

“I had a little bit of a childhood here,” L.J said. “Where your family is from is where your heart is from. Brooklyn is all I heard about growing up. This is where my dad made his path. It means so much to start my career here.”

His famous father could not be happier.

“It’s awesome,” Lee said last week after a Cyclones game against Staten Island. “I grew up about two miles from the stadium. It’s a special feeling for me to come back to my old neighborhood and watch my son play professional baseball.”

Mazzilli is finding success so far with the Cyclones and is garnering some respect across the board from scouts — and our own Joe D. has what seems to be a man crush on the player. Through Friday, L.J. was hitting .269 with six RBIs in 93 at-bats in 24 games. In four seasons at UConn, he hit .340 with 21 home runs and 139 RBIs.

Mazzilli spent some time rooting for the Yankees once he was fortunate enough to play catch with Derek Jeter as a teenager, but he was a Mets fan through and through.

L.J. spent his youth rooting for the Mets and, he said, his favorite player, Benny Agbayani. Even as his father coached first base for the Yankees in the Subway Series, young L.J. couldn’t shake the allure of the orange and blue.

“When the Yankees won [the World Series], I was ecstatic for my dad,” he said. “But I was secretly rooting for the Mets.”

Yeah, I think he’ll be just fine here…