Olde Man’s Tavern: Donnie Baseball’s Place

Just the title alone leans toward a conundrum. When you look at the two pics placed throughout this piece, it brings that conundrum into full view.

Hard to believe that it’s been since 1995 that Don Mattingly stepped foot on a baseball diamond as a player. Yes, the time has flown by quickly if you remember when Donnie Baseball donned the pinstripes as a first baseman. His career as a ballplayer was extremely memorable. Some believe Hall of Fame worthy.

Over his 14 seasons, Mattingly was selected to 6 All-Star teams, won 9 Gold Gloves, and 3 Silver Sluggers. Between the years of 1984 and 1987, Mattingly was a constant in AL MVP voting finishing no lower than seventh. 1984 saw him finishing fifth. 1985 would procure his only AL MVP award, but he followed that up with a second place in 1986. He would finish seventh in 1987. Four really strong seasons. No question for a period of about four years, he was arguably the most dominant player in the American League.

A couple of memorable moments from Mattingly’s career both came during the 1987 season. First, he would tie a major league record by hitting a homer in eight straight games, matching the feat by Dale Long. That feat that was later matched by Ken Griffey Jr. in 1993. That same year, Mattingly would amass a record-setting six grand slams (later tied by Travis Hafner in 2006). The odd part, those were the only six grand slams Mattingly would ever hit.

He also is among players that have accounted for 2,000+ hits, 400+ doubles, 1,000+ runs and 1,000+ RBI.

But Mattingly’s contributions on the field while donning the pinstripes were not forgotten. From 1997-2003, he would serve as the Yankees special instructor. It was well known (now) the George Steinbrenner would create positions within the organization. I don’t believe this was one of those cases. One thing Mattingly could do was hit a baseball. That evolved in being named the Yankees hitting instructor beginning with the 2004 season. The Bronx Bombers saw a rebirth of sorts ans the Yankees would lead the league in homers with 242 that year.

An ironic twist of sorts began with the 2006 season. Lee Mazilli was brought aboard to serve as Joe Torre’s bench coach. That was preceded by the departure of Joe Girardi who left to assume the managerial position with the Florida Marlins. After that 2006 season, Mazilli was gone and Mattingly was awarded the bench coach duties. His stint at that position would be all of one season, Torre’s last in New York.

The position of Yankee skipper was open. Wouldn’t it be something if Mattingly would be selected? Girardi was brought in to interview as well was Tony Pena. Mattingly was viewed as the favorite to land the gig. It would almost be a mystic selection if Mattingly were to be tabbed as the next Yankees manager.

It wasn’t meant to be, I guess. Girardi was offered the job and he willingly accepted.

What now? We all know what would ensue. It would be a reunion (kind of) with Torre and they both took their talents to Los Angeles. Torre as the manager, Mattingly as the hitting coach. Well, Mattingly did not begin the ’08 season in that capacity. Citing family issues, the Dodgers brought in Mike Easler as the hitting coach and Mattingly would stay on staff as a major league special assignment coach. Huh? What the hell is that?

It didn’t matter what that position really was as Mattingly replaced Easler in July of 2008. After 2009, Mattingly was considered for the vacant spot in Cleveland, but was passed for Manny Acta. May have been a good thing. Torre announced he would not return after 2010 and Mattingly was named as his replacement.

This announcement sent a riff of shockwaves throughout the MLB landscape. Mattingly had never be “the guy in charge” on any level. He did serve as Torre’s bench coach in New York, but that was only for one season. To continue that thought, Mattingly wasn’t even named Torre’s bench coach when he accepted the Dodgers job. Why were the Dodgers putting so much faith in a guy that has never at any level been a manager? The name? Dodgers GM Ned Colletti cited “continuity”.

And the times when Mattingly was in charge produced a couple of infamous moments.

The first occurred as Torre was in Taiwan during spring training just last year. Mattingly apparently filled out the scorecard incorrectly resulting in the Dodgers batting out of order. The other was a bit more infamous though…and a bit controversial. The “two mound visits” in a game against the rival San Francisco Giants. In fact, opposing manager Bruce Bochy was the one to call shenanigans on his move. A move that would later be deemed as not only a silly rule, but a misinterpretation of said rule.

For Mattingly to gain some extra experience in the skipper’s role, he managed the Phoenix Desert Dogs in the Arizona Fall League. The Desert Dogs finished 11-17 for their season. Now, on to the big show for Donnie Baseball, or I always called him, Donnie Ballgame.

No one can foresee what 2011 will hold for Mattingly in his first go-around as the Dodgers manager. I have a strange feeling Torre’s number is #1 on his cell’s speed dial. Can’t blame him if that is the case. Even as a manager, you need advice. It will take time to see if Mattingly was the correct choice to try to fill the spikes Torre left.

But the Dodgers do own some nice pieces to the puzzle of the NL West. The biggest question at this point is left field. The starting rotation is still a formidable one with Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, Hiroki Kuroda, Ted Lilly and Jon Garland. The back end of the bullpen has Jonathan Broxton and Hong-Chih Kuo. Yes, I think the Dodgers can contend even with the likes of Colorado and the 2010 champion Giants.

If Mattingly maintains the same approach as he did as a hitter, we could see a stint where the Dodgers return the postseason sooner rather than later.

Hard to believe a guy that once sported the pinstripes could ever wear Dodger blue. That’s a bit ironic, too, considering the long history of both teams. And irony will rear its head again on Opening Day. The Dodgers square off against those Giants.

I know Bruce Bochy will be watching…carefully.