Don Mattingly
Donald Arthur Mattingly, nicknamed "Donnie Baseball" and "the Hit Man", is an American former first baseman, manager and coach who currently serves as the bench coach for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball. He spent his entire playing career in MLB with the New York Yankees from 1982 to 1995. A 6-time All-Star, he led the American League in doubles three consecutive years, and in hits and total bases twice each. After winning the AL batting title with a.343 mark in his first full season in 1984, he was named the league's Most Valuable Player in 1985 after hitting.324 with 145 runs batted in, the highest total in the league in over 30 years. The following year, he was runner-up for the MVP award after batting.352, leading the AL in hits, doubles, slugging percentage and total bases; his 53 doubles and 388 total bases were the highest totals by any major league player in the 1980s, and his totals of doubles and 238 hits remain Yankees franchise records. In 1987 he tied a major league record by hitting home runs in eight consecutive games, and later that year set another record by hitting six grand slams in one season.
Congenital back problems, which forced him to miss part of the 1990 season, also contributed to a decline in Mattingly's power hitting, but after being named the team's captain in 1991, he enjoyed a resurgence in productivity, leading the Yankees in RBI, hits, doubles, runs scored and batting average in 1992. Long frustrated by the team's failure to reach the postseason despite having the best record of any major league team during the 1980s, he helped lead the team to first place in 1994, batting.304, only to have the playoffs cancelled due to a work stoppage. He finally reached the postseason in his final season in 1995, but New York lost the Division Series in five games although Mattingly batted.417 with a home run and four doubles, driving in go-ahead runs in three games. His veteran leadership and influence on a core of young players has been credited for helping propel the club to four World Series titles in the next five years.
Regarded as one of the greatest defensive first basemen in history, Mattingly won a league-record nine Gold Glove Awards, leading the AL in fielding percentage seven times, also a league record; he retired with the highest career fielding percentage in league history, since broken by Mark Teixeira. His 1,634 games at first base then ranked tenth in AL history, his 1,104 assists ranked ninth, and his 1,500 double plays were tied for fifth; his 14,148 putouts were the fifth most in the AL since 1940. After batting over.300 seven times, Mattingly retired with a career average of.307, then the sixth highest among major league players with at least 5,000 at bats since 1960. The Yankees retired his uniform number in 1997, making him the only Yankee to have his number retired without having won a World Series with the team.
Returning to the Yankees as a coach in 2004 under manager Joe Torre, Mattingly followed Torre to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2008, and later succeeded him for five seasons, winning three division titles. He then became manager of the Miami Marlins for seven years, and was named the National League Manager of the Year in 2020 after guiding the team to its first playoff appearance in 17 years; he joined Frank Robinson and Torre to become the third person to win an MVP Award, a Gold Glove and Manager of the Year. He served as bench coach for the Toronto Blue Jays from 2023 to 2025.
Early life
Donald Arthur Mattingly was born on April 20, 1961, in Evansville, Indiana. Although naturally left-handed, he displayed ambidextrous ability. He pitched in Little League Baseball as well as playing first base, throwing both right-handed and left-handed, and was a member of the 1973 Great Scot Little League championship team in Evansville, under the coaching of Pete Studer and Earl Hobbs. In American Legion Baseball for Funkhouser Post #8, Mattingly played at second base, throwing right-handed.Playing for Reitz Memorial High School's baseball team, the Tigers, Mattingly led the school to a state-record 59 straight victories through the 1978–79 season, losing to the Logansport Berries. The Tigers won the state championship in 1978 and finished as the runner-up in 1979. Mattingly was the L.V. Phillips Mental Attitude recipient in 1979. He was All-City, All-Southern Indiana Athletic Conference, and All-State in 1978 and 1979. During the four years he played in high school, Mattingly batted.463, leading the Tigers to a 94–9–1 win–loss record. He still holds Reitz Memorial records for hits, doubles, triples, RBI, and runs. His 25 triples are also an Indiana state record. A multisport athlete, Mattingly was selected to the SIAC all-conference basketball team in 1978.
After graduating from high school, Mattingly accepted a scholarship to play baseball for the Indiana State Sycamores.
Professional career
Draft and minor leagues
Mattingly lasted in the 1979 Major League Baseball draft until the 19th round, when he was selected by the New York Yankees. His father, Bill, informed major league teams that his son intended to honor his college commitment and would not sign a professional contract. Don Mattingly was not interested in attending college, so he chose to sign with the Yankees, receiving a $23,000 signing bonus.Mattingly began his professional career in Minor League Baseball with the Oneonta Yankees of the Low-A New York–Penn League in 1979. He hoped to bat.500 for Oneonta and was disappointed with his.349 batting average, which never went lower than.340. He batted a league-leading.358 in 1980 for the Greensboro Hornets of the Single-A South Atlantic League in addition to recording a league-best 177 hits. He won the league MVP award and was named to the postseason All-Star team. With the Double-A Nashville Sounds in 1981, he hit.316 and led the Southern League with 35 doubles. He was selected to play in the Southern League All-Star Game and named to its postseason All-Star team.
Despite Mattingly's hitting ability, concerns existed about his lack of speed and power. Bob Schaefer, his manager at Greensboro, said that the organization considered moving him to second base, from which he would throw right-handed. Mattingly was batting.325 for the Columbus Clippers of the Triple-A International League when he made it to the majors as a September call-up in late 1982. He was named to the league's postseason All-Star team and finished third in the voting for the International League MVP Award.
New York Yankees (1982–1995)
Mattingly made his major league debut on September 8, 1982, as a late-inning defensive replacement against the Baltimore Orioles. He recorded his first at bat on September 11 against the Milwaukee Brewers, popping out to third base in the seventh inning. He made his first career major league hit in the bottom of the 11th inning of a 3–2, 12-inning loss to the Boston Red Sox on October 1, a single to right field off Steve Crawford. He only had two hits in 12 at-bats that season.Mattingly spent his rookie season of 1983 as a part-time first baseman and outfielder. After four games in April, he was sent back to Columbus for two months before returning, and hit.283 in 279 at-bats. He hit his first home run on June 24 against John Tudor in a 5–4 road loss to the Red Sox.
Mattingly became the Yankees' full-time first baseman in 1984. With a batting average of.339, he was selected as a reserve for the 1984 All-Star Game. Heading into the final game of the season, Mattingly and teammate Dave Winfield were competing for the American League batting title, with Mattingly trailing Winfield by.002. On the final day of the season, Mattingly went 4-for-5, while Winfield batted 1-for-4. Mattingly won the batting title with a.343 average, while Winfield finished second with a.340 average. Mattingly also led the league with 207 hits. He hit a league-leading 44 doubles to go with 23 home runs. He was second in the league in slugging percentage and at bats per strikeout, fourth in total bases, fifth in RBI, sixth in sacrifice flies, and tenth in on-base percentage.
Image:Don Mattingly Strikes Out.jpg|left|thumb|upright|Mattingly with the Yankees
Mattingly followed up his breakout season with a spectacular 1985, winning the AL MVP Award. He batted.324 with 35 home runs, 48 doubles, and 145 RBI, then the most RBI in a season by a left-handed major league batter since Ted Williams drove in 159 in 1949. His 21-RBI margin over second place in that category was the largest in the American League since Al Rosen's lead of 30 RBI in 1953. He led the league in sacrifice flies, total bases, and extra base hits, and was second in the AL in hits and slugging percentage, third in intentional walks and at bats per strikeout, sixth in runs, and ninth in at bats per home run. He batted.354 with two out and runners in scoring position.
Mattingly was also recognized in 1985 for his defense, winning his first of nine Gold Glove Awards. He was considered such an asset defensively that Yankees management assigned him to play games at second base and third base early in his career, though he was a left-handed thrower. Mattingly appeared as a left-handed throwing second baseman during the resumption of the George Brett "Pine Tar Incident" game on August 18, 1983, shifting from first base in the ninth inning for one batter, who struck out. He also played three games at third base during a five-game road series against the Seattle Mariners in late August 1986, including one complete game, and recorded 11 assists with one error while throwing left-handed.
Mattingly had a better year in 1986, leading the league with 238 hits and 53 doubles, and breaking the single-season franchise records set by Earle Combs and Lou Gehrig ; both records had been set on the legendary 1927 team. He also recorded 388 total bases and a.573 slugging percentage, and had the league's longest hitting streak of the season, making hits in 24 consecutive games, from a 3–0 win over the Seattle Mariners in the second game of a doubleheader on August 30 through a 3–2 loss to the Detroit Tigers on September 26. He batted.352, hit 31 home runs and drove in 113 runs. He was beaten in the American League MVP voting, though, by pitcher Roger Clemens, who also won the Cy Young Award that year. Mattingly also became the last left-handed player to field a ball at third base during a major league game.
In 1987, Mattingly tied Dale Long's major league record by hitting home runs in eight consecutive games, from 8–18 July. This record was later tied again by Ken Griffey Jr., of the Mariners in 1993. Mattingly also set a record by recording an extra base hit in 10 consecutive games. Mattingly had a record 10 home runs during this streak, including a 12–3 road win over the Texas Rangers on July 16 in which he had two home runs including a grand slam and a career-high seven RBI. That year, Mattingly set a major league record by hitting six grand slams in a season, a record matched by Travis Hafner during the 2006 season. Mattingly's grand slams in 1987 were ironically the only grand slams of his career.
In June 1987, Mattingly reportedly injured his back during some clubhouse horseplay with pitcher Bob Shirley, though both denied this. Nevertheless, he finished with a.327 batting average, 30 home runs, and 115 RBI, his fourth straight year with at least 110 RBIs. Between 1985 and 1987, Mattingly hit 96 home runs with just 114 strikeouts.
Mattingly hit 18 home runs and recorded 88 RBI in 1988, but still was in the top 10 in the league in batting average with a.311 mark, and scored a career-high five runs in a 15–3 win over the Texas Rangers on April 30. He rebounded in 1989 to 113 RBI, but his average dipped to.303. Mattingly's five runs in the win over Texas marked the 12th time it has been done by a Yankee.
Mattingly's back problems flared up anew in 1990; after struggling with the bat, he had to go on the disabled list in July, only returning late in the season for an ineffective finish. His statistics line—a.256 average, five home runs, and 42 RBI in almost 400 at bats—came as a shock. Mattingly underwent extensive therapy in the offseason, but his hitting ability was never quite the same. Though he averaged.290 over his final five seasons, he became more of a slap hitter, hitting just 53 home runs over that time. His defense remained stellar, but he was not always physically able to play, especially on defense, and from 1989 to 1992 was sometimes used as a designated hitter. He did see a brief resurgence in power in 1993, hitting 17 home runs and driving in 86 runs in 134 games, as the Yankees finished second in the division behind the Toronto Blue Jays. On July 22, 1993, he hit his 200th home run, a 3-run blast in the seventh inning of a 12–1 win over the California Angels. In the strike-shortened 1994 season, he posted a.304 average, the first time since 1989 that he hit over.300. On April 7, 1994, he passed 1,000 RBI, driving in two runs in an 18–6 mauling of the Rangers, and on July 23 he made his 2,000th career hit, a seventh-inning single in a 7–2 road win over the Angels.
Mattingly made his major league debut in 1982, the year after the Yankees lost the World Series. The team did not reach the postseason in any of Mattingly's first 13 years, although they had the best record in the American League in 1994 when the players' strike ended the season prematurely.
In 1995, Mattingly finally reached the playoffs when the Yankees clinched the AL wild card on the last day of the season with a 6–1 road win over Toronto, including his last regular-season home run in the fifth inning. Facing the Seattle Mariners in the AL Division Series, the only postseason series of his career, Mattingly batted.417 with six RBI and a memorable go-ahead home run in Game 2, his final game at Yankee Stadium. In the final game of the series, Mattingly again broke a tie with a two-run double, but the New York bullpen faltered, and Seattle won in the 11th inning of the decisive Game 5.
The Yankees acquired Tino Martinez to succeed Mattingly after the 1995 season. Unsigned for the 1996 season, Mattingly decided to sit out for the year, and rebuffed an inquiry by the Baltimore Orioles, which tried to sign him at midseason. Mattingly officially announced his retirement in January 1997.
For his career, Mattingly never appeared in the World Series, and his tenure with the Yankees marks the team's longest drought, later tied without a World Series appearance. The Yankees made the series in both and their championship season.