Don Mattingly was one of the most dominant offensive players in the game from 1984-1987. Don also had no problems flashing the leather at first base, collecting nine Gold Glove awards during his career. He was a perennial all-star, an MVP caliber player year after year, he reached the postseason only once (1995), and never won a championship. I was way too young to appreciate what he was doing on the ball field, but from what I’ve heard, he was one heck of a ballplayer.
Many people always wonder what exactly happened to Mattingly, and why there was such a huge drop-off in production. Here’s the back story:
In 1987, Donnie injured two disks in the lower left side of his back. Nothing was really said about what actually happened to those disks. It was rumored that Mattingly got hurt while horsing around in the clubhouse. His teammate, Bob Shirley, was connected with this rumor, and it was said that they “wrestled playfully” in the clubhouse. Both denied the report. Mattingly was placed on the 15-day disabled list , and still wound up with great numbers when the season was all said and done (.327 AVG, 30 HR, and 115 RBIs).
| Year | R | H | HR | RBI | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 91 | 207 | 23 | 110 | .343 | .381 | .537 | .918 |
| 1985 | 107 | 211 | 35 | 145 | .324 | .371 | .567 | .939 |
| 1986 | 117 | 238 | 31 | 113 | .352 | .394 | .573 | .967 |
| 1987 | 93 | 186 | 30 | 115 | .327 | .378 | .559 | .937 |
| 1988 | 94 | 186 | 18 | 88 | .311 | .353 | .462 | .816 |
| 1989 | 79 | 191 | 23 | 113 | .303 | .351 | .477 | .828 |
| 1990 | 40 | 101 | 5 | 42 | .256 | .308 | .335 | .643 |
| 1991 | 64 | 169 | 9 | 68 | .288 | .339 | .394 | .733 |
| 1992 | 89 | 184 | 14 | 86 | .288 | .327 | .416 | .742 |
| 1993 | 78 | 154 | 17 | 86 | .291 | .364 | .445 | .809 |
| 1994 | 62 | 113 | 6 | 51 | .304 | .397 | .411 | .808 |
| 1995 | 59 | 132 | 7 | 49 | .288 | .341 | .413 | .754 |
| 14 Seasons | 1007 | 2153 | 222 | 1099 | .307 | .358 | .471 | .830 |
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M. B. Rozell
Kevin Rozell
Mattingly was my favorite Yankee of that time period. Yes, he was amazing with the glove, just as good as Keith Hernandez, and in his hitting prime he was just amazing. Remember, when he hit 35 homeruns in 1985, that was considered a lot at that time. I remember being wow’d by his ’85 stats.
We knew back then that it was his back that was causing his offensive decline. And it truly is one of the tragedies of Yankee history that he was a Yankee during the worst post season drought in their history.
Great post. I’m with you — I was too young to really know much about Mattingly at all; I didn’t really get into the game or the Yankees until after he’d retired. The most I know about Mattingly is that he’s my dad’s favorite player.
On a side note: I’d love to take a poll of how many people, like me, clicked through to this post thinking that Mattingly was returning to the Yankees or New York in some fashion. That’s a different “back” :) Haha
Also tragic was the fact that the Steinbrenner run Yankees were always emphasizing L handed power, not pitching. Poor Donnie watched a lot of balls go out of Yankee stadium from his post at first base. He was class all the way, a true Yankee captain in the tradition of Gehrig and Munson.
What’s lost on a lot of people was that prior to his break-out year in ’84, Donnie was considered by most folks as a singles-hitting left fielder and was nearly traded to the Cubs after the ’82 season. He credited Lou Piniella with teaching him how to turn on the ball. So even though his latter offensive seasons pale in comparison to his great ones, the reality is they were actually what had been projected of him prior to establishing himself at first base. It was simply that with that bad back, he couldn’t turn on the ball they way we had become accustomed. He was also a better athlete than most people realized: it was said that during his time in Pinstripes, nobody on the team was a better baserunner – and that includes Rickey Henderson. (Besides, how many other lefties ever played third???).
The real reason folks of my generation have such reverence for Mattingly though has to do with far more than his statistical accomplishments. During what has to be the most tumultuous period in Yankee history, he was unflappable and simply played the game as hard as he could, every single day – doing whatever he could to help the team win. Like Munson before him, he remained like bedrock no matter how crazy things got in the Bronx.
Great post, Kevin!
Hi, Kevin:
Great post on Donnie. Such class. I liked his Evansville restaurant, too. I miss it. SI ran a great piece about it before its 1996 closing:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1126522/index.htm
Thanks for the Joe DiGangi image. The son of the 1933-42 Yankees bullpen catcher wrote a great tribute to his Dad that I posted today.
Good work. Go, Yanks!
Tom
http://www.BaseballByTheLetters.blogspot.com
I love Mattingly but unfortunately he never reached the same production he had for that 6 years period. He was a great Yankee and would make a great manager.