New York Yankees History and Memorabilia

Donald Arthur Mattingly, a.k.a. "Donnie Baseball", is one of the most popular Yankees in the team's history. Taking a chance, the New York Yankees drafted Mattingly in the 19th round of the 1979 amateur draft and subsequently signed him. Most teams skipped him by, figuring that he was going to attend college before turning pro.

"The Hit Man" played first base for the from 1982-1995. He also served as the Yankees hitting coach from 2004 to 2006 and Joe Torre's bench coach in 2007. Since returning for the annual Old Timers' Game, Mattingly has consistently received the loudest ovations.

Mattingly was voted MVP in 1985, after batting .324 with 35 homers and leading the league with 48 doubles and 145 RBIs. The really monumental accomplishment that "Donnie Baseball" kind of fell into was that he was the first homegrown offensive superstar that the Yankees had since Bobby Murcer in the early 70's. In the same year, Mattingly won the first of his nine gold glove awards.

In 1987, Mattingly tied Dale Long's major league record by hitting home runs in eight consecutive games, as well getting an extra base hit in 10 consecutive games. He had a record 10 home runs during his streak. Also that season, he set a major league record by hitting six grand slam home runs in a season, the only six of his career.

Mattingly finished his career with 2,153 hits, 222 home runs, 1,099 RBI, and a .307 lifetime average. He is commonly cited as the best Yankee player to have never played in a World Series. Mattingly's back forced him into retirement after the 1995 season, and he missed the run of Yankees championships in the late nineties.

Mattingly returned to the baseball scene in 2003 as the Yankees hitting coach for 3 years and became bench coach in 2007. He jumped ship with Joe Torre in 2008 and became the crappy Dodgers hitting coach.