Friday is the birthday of a former New York Yankees legend and captain, and one of the most underappreciated players in the team’s history.
The New York Yankees have a long and storied history. It’s hard not to notice that the Yankees have won more than double the amount of World Series title of the next closest team, with 27 World Series titles (the Cardinals are 2nd with 11).
The Yankees have had 48 players/managers/executives who were associated with the team at some point who have been elected to the Hall of Fame, but it’s one who was never able to generate 30% of votes on the ballot that is perhaps one of the most appreciated great Yankees of all time, Don Mattingly.
Player
The Yankees drafted Mattingly out of high school in the 19th round of the 1979 draft from high school in Indiana. He quickly jumped up the Yankees system, hitting for a .332 batting average in the minor leagues with a .403 on base until he got a quick call up at the end of the 1982 season. He opened 1982 in AAA, but after just short of 200 plate appearances, he came up to the major leagues, and he was up for good at that point.
Mattingly led the major leagues in doubles while winning a batting title and leading the league in hits in his first full season in 1984. He made the first of six straight All-Star teams that season and finished the year 5th in MVP voting. He’d follow up that impressive season with an MVP season, leading the majors in doubles and RBI along with 35 home runs.
Mattingly led the majors in hits and doubles in 1986, though that would be the last season that he was a major league or American League leader in a statistic over the rest of his career.
Even without league-leading numbers, Mattingly’s impressive performance for the Yankees over the decade of the 1980s was one of the best in the entire decade. Here are his ranks among hitters for the decade:
- Hits: 1,300 – 32nd
- Doubles: 272 – 11th
- Home Runs: 164 – 35th
- RBI: 717 – 20th
- Runs: 615 – 40th
- Average (minimum 450 games): .323 – 3rd
- bWAR: 33.4 – 26th
While those numbers alone are not elite, they certainly were among the best players in the decade, a decade where he was often the only player the Yankees had that was elite. On top of his work with the bat, he was also an incredible fielder at first base, winning 9 Gold Gloves, more than any other Yankees player, and second only to Keith Hernandez among all-time first basemen.
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Manager
After a number of years working as a coach, Mattingly got his first chance as a manager in 2011, taking over for Joe Torre as he left the manager role to move into a position with MLB’s offices.
Mattingly pushed the Dodgers to a 6-win improvement in his first two years as manager. In his third season with the Dodgers, they won 92 games and won the National League West title. They won their opening round series against the Braves, but fell to the Cardinals in the NLCS. After two more seasons finishing the season with first round playoff exits, Mattingly left the Dodgers.
Soon after he was let go from the Dodgers, the Miami Marlins came calling, and he’s been the manager of the Marlins for the last two seasons, facing likely his toughest managerial job this year with a stripped-down club full of first-time big leaguers.
Next: Jeter avoiding Marlins/Yankees series
So, on this April 20th, we remember the excellence of “The Hit Man’, “Cap”, or “Donnie Baseball”. However, you knew the Yankees great, happy 57th birthday to Don Mattingly!