Results tagged ‘ don mattingly ’

April 20 – Happy Birthday Don Mattingly

mattingly.jpgDon Mattingly’s first game in a Yankee uniform took place in 1982, the season after the Yankees lost a World Series to the LA Dodgers. His career in pinstripes lasted until 1995. One year later the Yankees would finally make it back to the Fall Classic, with their victory over Atlanta. “Donnie Baseball” was the first person I thought about when New York third baseman Charlie Hayes squeezed the foul-popped final out of the 1996 World Series in his glove.

During his first six full seasons with New York, Mattingly averaged 203 hits per year, 27 home runs, 114 RBIs and hit .327. He also made the All Star team each of those seasons, won five Gold Gloves for his outstanding play at first base and was voted AL MVP in 1985. During that period, he was the best and most popular player in baseball and he along with Dave Winfield made the Yankees perennial contenders in the very tough AL East.

Even though they missed the playoffs every year, those Mattingly-Winfield-led Yankee teams played every inning of every game with a hustle and determination that made you proud to be a Yankee fan. In 1990, Mattingly injured his back and it never fully healed. The impact of the injury on his swing and his power was immediate, significant and permanent. Still he persevered, playing six more seasons. I remember feeling so bad for him when a strike ended the 1994 regular season and prevented the Yankees, who were in first place at the time, from playing in Mattingly’s first-ever postseason. Fortunately, New York did get there in ’95. Those of us who followed him closely throughout his career will never forget his outstanding performance during those five October games against the Mariners. He had ten hits in that series with a homer and six RBIs and he averaged .417. Even though New York lost, Mattingly’s farewell effort to Yankee fans was one of the most poignant moments in franchise history. Donnie Baseball turns fifty-two-years-old today. I still miss watching him play the game.

Mattingly shares his birthday with this long-ago New York outfielder.

Year Tm G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
1982 NYY 7 13 12 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 .167 .154 .167 .321
1983 NYY 91 305 279 34 79 15 4 4 32 0 0 21 31 .283 .333 .409 .742
1984 NYY 153 662 603 91 207 44 2 23 110 1 1 41 33 .343 .381 .537 .918
1985 NYY 159 727 652 107 211 48 3 35 145 2 2 56 41 .324 .371 .567 .939
1986 NYY 162 742 677 117 238 53 2 31 113 0 0 53 35 .352 .394 .573 .967
1987 NYY 141 630 569 93 186 38 2 30 115 1 4 51 38 .327 .378 .559 .937
1988 NYY 144 651 599 94 186 37 0 18 88 1 0 41 29 .311 .353 .462 .816
1989 NYY 158 693 631 79 191 37 2 23 113 3 0 51 30 .303 .351 .477 .828
1990 NYY 102 428 394 40 101 16 0 5 42 1 0 28 20 .256 .308 .335 .643
1991 NYY 152 646 587 64 169 35 0 9 68 2 0 46 42 .288 .339 .394 .733
1992 NYY 157 686 640 89 184 40 0 14 86 3 0 39 43 .288 .327 .416 .742
1993 NYY 134 596 530 78 154 27 2 17 86 0 0 61 42 .291 .364 .445 .809
1994 NYY 97 436 372 62 113 20 1 6 51 0 0 60 24 .304 .397 .411 .808
1995 NYY 128 507 458 59 132 32 2 7 49 0 2 40 35 .288 .341 .413 .754
14 Yrs 1785 7722 7003 1007 2153 442 20 222 1099 14 9 588 444 .307 .358 .471 .830
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/20/2013.

September 17 – Happy Birthday to Marshall Who?

It was 1983. The Yankees needed to come up with a new starting first baseman to replace John Mayberry,  the aging slugger they had inserted in that slot the previous season. This was an era in the George Steinbrenner years of team ownership when the Yankee farm system was treated pretty much as an afterthought when it came to filling important roster spots on the big league club. But this situation was going to be different. The Columbus Clippers, the Yankees Triple A franchise at the time, had a real stud starting at first base. He had just finished his final minor league season with 31 home runs and 96 RBI’s. That was the third consecutive year he had hit at least 20 dingers and driven in at least 90 runs for Columbus while he waited for the parent club to give up trying to insert veterans like Mayberry and Bob Watson at his position and instead, turn to their top Triple A prospect. And that’s exactly what happened. In 1983, after experimenting with Ken Griffey Sr. during the beginning of the season, the Yankee’s relented and called up a player from their Columbus farm team, eventually making him their starting first baseman. But it wasn’t today’s birthday celebrant. Marshall Brant’s only big league exposure during his very productive three-year stint as the Yankee’s top minor league first base prospect took place in 1980, when he went hitless in six at-bats, in three games. Instead, the Yankees called up outfielder Don Mattingly and gave him a first baseman’s mitt and the rest is history. Marshall Brant was born on today’s date in 1955, in Garberville, CA.

Also born on this date is a Yankee outfielder who once made an important and impressive throw for New York.

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