Don Mattingly, known as “Donnie Baseball” to New York Yankees fans, spent all 14 years of his Major League Baseball career with the Yankees. Although one of the best Yankees players of all time, he played for the team during a time, 1982-1995, when the Yankees did not make the World Series.

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Mattingly is considered by many to be the best Yankee who never won a championship.

Mattingly put together impressive numbers during his career, including a career batting average of .307 and 1,007 runs scored. He won nine Gold Gloves and is considered one of the best defensive players of his generation.

However, the Modern Baseball Era Committee of the Baseball Hall of Fame did not vote him into the hall this year. Mirroring what many wrote, the National Review called passing over Mattingly “a disgrace” and added: “Don Mattingly was one of the greatest, if not the greatest, first basemen of his generation.”

Don Mattingly’s Early Life

Donald Mattingly was born in Evansville, Indiana, on April 20, 1961. The youngest of five children, Mattingly had a work ethic instilled in him by his father, who worked as mailman. He first placed baseball in the backyard – games of Wiffle ball, which is where he first learned how to hit the other way, because a fly ball that landed on the family garage in left field counted as a homerun.

He moved on to organized baseball, and in 1973 was a member of the Great Scott Little League championship team from Evansville. He eventually played at Reitz Memorial High School, a Catholic school in Evansville, where the team won 59 straight victories with Mattingly leading the way. The team won the state championship in 1978. As of 2020, he still holds the school’s records for hits, doubles, triples, runs batted in and runs scored. He holds the Indiana state record for triples, with 25.

In short, the kid could play ball. The Yankees ended up signing him in the 1979 draft, even though he had committed to playing at Indiana State University. Mattingly ended up skipping college and reporting to the Yankees.

Don Mattingly’s Minor League Career

Mattingly hit .349 with the Class-A Oneonta Yankees in 1979. His average never dipped below .340 all year. In 1980 and 1981, Mattingly moved up through the minors, including stints at Class-A Greensboro, North Carolina, Double-A Nashville and Triple-A Columbus.

Along the way, he hit for average and played defensive exceptionally well. During roster expansion at the end of 1982, Mattingly got called up to the Yankees.

Don Mattingly’s MLB Career

The Yankees not winning a pennant certainly didn’t have anything to do with Mattingly. He hit .283 in his first full season in 1983. Starting in 1984, he went on a six-year run that arguably made him the best player, or at least one of the best players, in baseball.

Some of his accomplishments during this run include:

  • The American League batting title in 1984
  • The Most Valuable Player award in 1985
  • Five straight seasons of winning the Gold Glove (1985-89)
  • Six straight seasons making the All-Star game
  • Three straight seasons of 30-plus home runs (1985-87)
  • He led the league in hits in 1984 and 1986, and in RBI in 1985

Injuries slowed him down after this amazing run, although he still won four straight Gold Gloves between 1991-1994.

He ended his career with a lifetime .307 batting average, 222 home runs, 1007 runs scored and 1099 RBI.

Is it all good enough for the hall? Not yet.

Why Brooklyn Dodgers Moved

However, Mattingly has gone on to have an interesting managerial career. He worked as a special instructor for the Yankees for seven years. He then managed the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2011-2015, leading the team to three straight postseason appearances (no other Dodgers manager had ever done that, according to the Los Angeles Times).

Mattingly took over as Miami Marlins manager in 2016 on a four-year contract. He is now leading a team of young, talented players brought in by owner Derek Jeter. While they have struggled, Mattingly has been praised for his work in developing the young players.

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