TTM Stats
- Sent: 3/1/2018 | Received: 5/19/2018 | 78 Days
- ’88 Topps
- Address: Miami Marlins Spring Training
The Story of the Autograph
Don Mattingly was a first baseman for the New York Yankees from 1982 through 1995. After his playing days he was a coach with the Yankees and the Dodgers and since then has been the manager of the Dodgers and currently the Marlins.
Mattingly was born and raised in Indiana and is ambidextrous (I didn’t know that). In Little League he could throw from both sides and played as a pictcher and a first baseman. He won the state championship with his high school in 1978 and they were runner up in 1979. While he played for the team he batted .463 and they had a 94-9-1 win-loss record. He was going to play for Indiana State in college and his Dad told MLB teams that he wouldn’t sign a pro contract. He lasted until the 19th round of the ’79 Draft when the Yankees took him. He ended up choosing to sign with the Yankees.
He played for a few years in the minors and made his debut as a September call-up in 1982 against the Baltimore Orioles as a defensive replacement. He was the full-time first baseman starting in 1984. That first year he made the All-Star team. At the end of the year he was also competing with teammate Dave Winfield for the batting title. Trailing Winfield on the final day of the season, Matting went 4-5 while Winfield went 1-4 and Mattingly won the batting title with a .343 average. He also led the league with 207 hits.
He won the American League MVP in ’85, was a six-time All-Star, a nine-time Gold Glove award winner, a three-time Silver Slugger award winner and was the captain of the Yankees in the early to mid-’90s. Unfortunately toward the end of his career he had back issues. It would lead to struggling at the plate and eventually surgery. While he didn’t hit poorly at the end of his career he wasn’t the same as he once was.
Mattingly’s time as a Yankee was unfortunately part of the biggest drought for the Yankees with regard to not getting to the World Series. In ’94 they actually led the league when the strike happened. They made the playoffs the next year and Mattingly batted .417 against the Mariners in his only postseason appearance, but the Yankees lost. He sat out in 1996 deciding not to take an offer from the Orioles and then retired in 1997.
The Score on Don Mattingly – 7.0
Don has a nice autograph and I’ve never gotten one or seen anyone post one that doesn’t look good. They always look like they were done with a nice marker and they are clean. My only ask would be that he signs with a bigger signature, but I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Something to note is that I’ve never been able to get more than one signed at a time so I would only ever send one card.
Thanks Mr. Mattingly! I’m giving this one a 7.
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Information gathered using Wikipedia and Baseball Reference.