Don Mattingly An Almost For Hall

Don Mattingly was the most popular New York Yankee of his time, playing for the club between 1982 and 1995. He was the best player on a non-descript team that had limited success between periods of Yankee domination and he retired just a little bit too soon to partake of the glory of a resurrected team that became a routine contender and frequent World Series champion under owner George Steinbrenner.

Mattingly had some terrific seasons, was one of the best players in the American League during his 1980s prime, but will not come out at the top in the balloting of the Baseball Writers Association of America voting for the 2012 Hall of Fame class when the polls close Saturday and the results are announced Jan. 9. He will fall short of the 75 percent needed for induction.

Mattingly deserves to be one of the top 10 candidates that voters can put on their card, but his career seems just shy of the greatness required to put him over the top to be enshrined in Cooperstown this year or soon. Perhaps if he evolves into a great winning manager with the Los Angeles Dodgers or another club as time goes on the preponderance of the evidence will tilt in his favor.

That said, those who support “Donnie Baseball,” (one of his nicknames) love Mattingly and he has a strong list of achievements on his resume that will make many voters nod with approval. In his 14 seasons, Mattingly was a six-time American All-Star, a nine-time Gold Glove winning first baseman, a three-time Silver Slugger award winner, and the 1985 Most Valuable Player. His .343 average won the AL batting title in 1984. In Mattingly’s MVP season he drove in 145 runs and hit .324.

What’s not to like about all that, you might be thinking? Mattingly hit .307 lifetime. Again, a number to the good. However, he smacked just 222 homers in his career, a notable total for a shortstop, maybe, but not for a first baseman. And despite five seasons with at least 110 RBIs Mattingly’s lifetime total was just 1,099. The home run and RBI totals are what’s holding back Mattingly’s candidacy. Neither elevate him from the category of very good player to great player.

Same thing with his hits total of 2,153. Good, but not great. At one point Mattingly wore another nickname besides Donnie Baseball. It was “The Hit Man.” Between 1984 and 1986, Mattingly was indeed The Hit Man. In three consecutive seasons he cracked 207, 211 and a phenomenal 238 hits. But over the remaining nine years of his career he never topped 200 again and only once exceeded 190.

Back to Mattingly’s fielding. He wielded an exceptional glove, so good that at times the Yankees actually did the unthinkable of putting a left-handed thrower at either second base or third base.

Mattingly’s biggest problem during his playing days was a bad back. The injury kept flaring up in different seasons, limited his production, and cut short his career. Maddeningly for Mattingly, he broke into the Yankees’ lineup the year after they played in the World Series and he retired the year before they won a World Series, excluding him from the pleasure of ever suiting up for a Series game.

The back problems no doubt impacted Mattingly’s lifetime statistics, probably draining some of his power. What may help Mattingly long-term is that he has stayed in the game, spending seven seasons as a New York spring training hitting instructor, and then acting as a coach first for the Yankees and then the Dodgers before being promoted to LA’s manager last year.

It’s just possible Mattingly could lead the Dodgers to a World Series championship from the dugout, making up for missing out as a player. Such an acc0mplishment would definitely draw second looks from voters for the Hall.

Be sure to check out Lew’s other Hall of Fame profiles.