"The Yankees liked what they saw after obtaining him from the Athletics with Eric Plunk and Luis Polonia for Rickey Henderson last June 21. Cadaret joined the Yankees' rotation after making four relief appearances with them and impressed his new club with his durability as a starter, going 4-5 with a 4.02 ERA in that capacity. He pitched at least six innings in nine of his 13 starts. His best start was a 9-0, 2-hit victory against Cleveland on August 7.
Cadaret should pitch much better if his role is clearly defined at the outset. He's extremely tough on left-handers.
Born in Detroit, he was Oakland's 11th round pick in 1984."
-Tom Pedulla, The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1990 Edition
"When the Yankees traded a valuable commodity in Rickey Henderson to the pitching-rich Oakland A's, one Yankee front office executive was asked why they were unable to get a front-line hurler in exchange. Without hesitation, he said firmly, 'We did.'
He was referring to Greg Cadaret who, along with Eric Plunk and Luis Polonia came over in the June '89 deal. As baseball purists will tell you, the value of a deal can only be truly measured a few years after it is completed. While the name Greg Cadaret didn't open any eyes at the time, the plan is that someday it will.
The 28-year-old left-hander brings an explosive fastball to a team in need of pitching. A starter during much of his five-year stint in the minors, he was a reliever until the Yankees gave him his first big league start. Now, after seeing a great deal of promise from Greg Cadaret, the Yankees are hoping the future has arrived for this fine pitcher."
-The New York Yankees Official 1990 Yearbook
"Greg was obtained by the Yankees last June 21 along with pitcher Eric Plunk and outfielder Luis Polonia in exchange for outfielder Rickey Henderson. At the time of the trade he was 0-0 with a 2.28 ERA and a .214 batting average against. He had pitched 27.2 innings and allowed nine runs (seven earned) on 21 hits and 19 walks [1.45 WHIP] and had struck out 14, not allowing a homer. Greg made his Yankee debut the day he arrived (June 22) and was the winning pitcher, 10-7, in a New York victory; he allowed two runs (one earned) over 2.2 innings, earning his first win since September 18, 1988.
His first four outings were in relief with Greg going 1-0 with a 7.36 ERA. On July 7 at Boston, he made his first major league start and first professionally since starting for the AA Huntsville Stars in 1986. He had a tough first inning (4 R, 5 H) but then settled down. He allowed six earned runs on nine hits (including his first homer of '89, to Mike Greenwell) over a then career-high 5.2 innings and was the losing pitcher. At the break Greg was 1-1 with an 8.31 ERA in five appearances.
Greg made three straight starts (July 7-21) and went 1-2 with a 4.34 ERA. On July 16 he pitched a rain-shortened seven-inning complete game. He ended July by pitching two games out of the pen (3.2 IP, 1 ER).
After July, Greg made 11 appearances of which 10 were starts. He made six straight starts in August before ending with a relief appearance. On August 7 at Cleveland, he pitched a complete game 2-hitter (the Yankee low-hit game of 1989) in a 9-0 win. Greg had a no-hitter until Brook Jacoby led off the 8th with a single to left on a 2-2 pitch; he allowed a ninth-inning double to Luis Aguayo for the other hit. After a loss at Minnesota he had another strong outing, allowing one earned in seven-plus innings in a 2-1 win at Detroit; he left leading 2-0 as the Yankees had scored twice in the first inning on a two-run single by Mel Hall before the Tigers scored an eighth-inning run.
From July 16-August 17 (eight appearances) Greg was 3-2 with a 2.44 ERA, lowering his ERA from 8.31 to 3.77. For the month of August he was 2-2 in seven games with a 4.42 ERA and in four September games (all starts) was 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA.
On September 2 Greg pitched a complete game 6-hitter in a 2-1 Yankee win over the Angels in New York; the lone run came on a sixth-inning Brian Downing home run. His final outing of the season came against the Brewers in New York and he lasted two innings, allowing six earned runs on five hits to take the loss and drop his record to 5-5.
In 13 starts Greg was 4-5 with a 4.02 ERA (80.2 IP) and in seven relief outings was 1-0 and posted an 8.49 ERA (11.2 IP). He signed a contract for the 1990 season.
Greg was drafted by the A's in the 11th round of the June 1983 draft. He reported to Medford where he went 7-3 with a 4.36 ERA and struck out 51 in 64 innings. Greg moved to Modesto of the California League in 1984. He was 13-8 there with a 3.08 ERA, allowing just 162 hits in 171.1 innings while striking out 138. He made 26 appearances, all starts, and had six complete games.
He started at Modesto in 1985, then moved to AA Huntsville for the completion of the season. Greg was 3-9 at Modesto with a 5.87 ERA and had control problems, walking 54 in 61.1 innings but struck out 43. At Huntsville, he was 3-7 with a 6.12 ERA, appearing in 17 games, all starts. Greg spent the entire 1986 season at Huntsville and was 12-5 with a 5.41 ERA. He still had control problems, walking 98 in 141.1 innings but also struck out 113.
In 1987, Greg opened the year at Huntsville where he was switched to a relief role after being a starter for all but one game of his minor league career. He went 5-2 with nine saves in 24 games for the Stars with a 2.90 ERA and was named to the Southern League All-Star team. Greg was moved up to Tacoma on June 15 and was 1-2 with a save and a 3.46 ERA in seven games.
Selected by the A's on July 2, Greg made his major league debut on July 5 against Boston in the Coliseum- he came in to face Wade Boggs with the bases loaded and no one out. He wound up walking Boggs but came back on July 17 to record his first major league win over the same Red Sox at Fenway Park.
An injury to Matt Young enabled Greg to be a part of the A's staff on Opening Day of 1988 and he proved to be a very valuable member of the A's record-setting bullpen. He was just about on his way to Tacoma when Young developed elbow problems at the end of spring training. Used as a left-handed setup man, Greg's finest month was May when he pitched a total of nine innings and allowed just four hits and one earned run and had six strikeouts.
His longest stint of the season was four innings on June 11 at Texas; he allowed just one hit that night, walking two and striking out two, and earned his first win of the year. Greg picked up his first career major league save at Seattle on July 31.
He had a fine August, going 1-1 with a 1.80 ERA. For the season, he allowed just 10 of 57 inherited runners to score (18%).
In college, Greg was first-team all-conference in baseball at Grand Valley State. He graduated from Central Montcalm High School in Stanton, Michigan where he played golf, basketball and baseball- Greg was first-team all-conference and team MVP in both basketball and baseball. He played Little League and Babe Ruth League ball in Stanton, grew up a Tiger fan and his favorite player was Al Kaline.
Greg listens to Huey Lewis and enjoys golf, fishing and hunting and spending time with his family in the off-season."
-1990 New York Yankees Information Guide
Saturday, February 24, 2018
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
1990 Profile: Bob Geren
"The ultimate fruition for Yankee catcher Bob Geren was seizing the opportunity. Called up from Columbus in mid-May of 1989, the 10-year minor leaguer played his way into the Yankee lineup. By August he earned the job full-time.
Entering his first full season, Geren hopes to improve on his .288 season-ending average from '89. The 28-year-old carries all the prerequisites to become a bona fide major league catcher. His leadership behind the plate has earned the respect of the Yankee pitching staff, and American League baserunners have taken notice of his strong arm. Yankee fans have also taken notice of a job well done."
-The New York Yankees Official 1990 Yearbook
"Geren enjoyed a fine 1989 season both behind the plate and with the bat. He hit .288 with nine home runs and 27 RBIs in 205 at-bats.
He was recalled from Columbus on May 16 and stayed with the Yankees for good; Geren had hit .253 with two home runs and 13 RBIs over 27 games for the Clippers. He made an immediate impact with the Yankees, going 5-for-12 in his first three games with two homers and four RBIs. On May 20 at Seattle he hit his first major league home run, a solo blast off Mike Dunne, and the following night had a career-high three-hit game (one of three in '89), again homering in the Kingdome (off Mike Jackson), the first of two back-to-back games with a homer in '89. On May 24 against the Angels in New York, Bob slightly pulled an abdominal muscle and was removed in the sixth inning; listed as day-to-day he did not appear again until June 3.
Bob ended May going 6-for-14 (.417) and continued to swing the bat well through June, going 6-for-21 (.286). He caught 12 games in May and June, throwing out five of nine runners (56%) with the club going 7-5 in his starts.
July was his best month offensively, hitting .444 (16-for-36), raising his average from .343 to .394. After hitting in four straight from July 1-4 (5-for-11), Bob went hitless in a pinch at-bat (July 7) before hitting in seven straight to close out the month (10-for-24, .417). Included in that streak was a 3-for-3 effort on July 29 against the Blue Jays. The club was 6-4 in July when he started, 13-9 through his first three months with the Yanks. At the break he was hitting .389; from July 8-August 3 he hit in a season-best 10 straight games, going 14-for-37 (.378).
Bob became a regular in August, starting 23 of 31 games during the month. He hit .244 (21-for-86) with five home runs and 16 RBIs, his monthly best for homers and RBIs. On August 26 and 27, Geren had his second back-to-back homer nights, off Baltimore's Dave Johnson and Bob Milacki.
September was his slowest month with the bat (10-for-48, .208) as Bob's average dropped from .312 to a season-ending .288. On September 6, he hit a two-run homer off Brian Holton in the 7th inning to tie the score at 4-4 after the Yankees had trailed 4-0. He hit safely in eight of 16 games over September/October and ended the season striking out in eight of sixteen at-bats. Geren hit .252 after the break.
The club was 29-29 when he started behind the plate. He threw out 13 of 33 runners (39%), committed three errors and allowed three passed balls. In his 58 starts, Bob caught three shutouts, eight games with one run allowed and five when two runs were allowed.
Geren had a .454 slugging percentage, third on the club for those appearing in at least 50 games. He hit .324 in day games and .269 in night games. He hit .284 with two homers against left-handed pitching and .290 with seven homers against righties. He hit .311 at home and .263 on the road. Geren hit .244 with runners in scoring position.
He signed a contract for the 1990 season.
Geren began the 1988 season with the Columbus Clippers and had his contract purchased by the Yankees on May 15 when Don Slaught was placed on the 15-day disabled list with an injured left groin. At the time his contract was purchased, he was hitting .366 in 32 games for the Clippers with three home runs, 13 RBIs and a slugging percentage of .464.
He made his major league debut on May 17 against Seattle, appearing as a defensive replacement at catcher. His first major league at-bat came on May 20 against Oakland, striking out against Eric Plunk. Bob appeared in a total of four games, going 0-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout, before being optioned back to Columbus on June 20.
Bob was recalled by the Yankees on September 2. At that point, he was hitting .271 with the Clippers with eight home runs and 35 RBIs in 95 games; he was named as the catcher on the postseason International League All-Star team. He made his first major league start on October 1 at Detroit and recorded his first major league hit, a single off Doyle Alexander in the 2nd inning, going 1-for-4 in that game. He made another start the next day in the season finale at Detroit, going 0-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
Overall in his two stints with the Yankees, Geren played in 10 games and batted .100 (1-for-10) with two walks and three strikeouts. He was 0-for-2 throwing out baserunners, giving up stolen bases to Jose Canseco (May 20 against Oakland) and Jim Walewander (October 2 at Detroit).
Geren began the 1987 season at AA Albany-Colonie and was hitting .219 in 31 games with three home runs and 11 runs batted in when he was promoted to AAA Columbus on May 29. He played in five games with the Clippers, hitting .150 with a home run and three RBIs, before being outrighted back to Albany on June 12.
He finished the season with Albany, and in the 47 games he played there, following his return, batted .222 with eight home runs and 20 RBIs. Overall in his two stints with Albany, Bob hit a combined .221 with 11 home runs and 31 RBIs; his 11 homers ranked second on the club, and his five game-winning RBIs ranked fourth. He led all Eastern League catchers in fielding with a .994 percentage (two errors in 358 chances). In 1986, his first year in the Yankee organization, he batted .254 at Columbus, with seven homers and 25 RBIs, and .148 [in 11 games] at Albany-Colonie.
Geren was selected by the San Diego Padres in the first round (24th choice overall) in the regular phase of the June 1979 free agent draft. That choice was awarded to the Padres as compensation for the Los Angeles Dodgers' signing of [free agent] Derrel Thomas. In his first professional season, Bob hit .172 in 54 games at Walla Walla.
He split his time in 1980 between Reno, where he hit .159 in 48 games with four homers and 23 RBIs, and Walla Walla, where he hit .254 in 51 games. Geren was acquired by the Cardinals organization in December 1980 along with pitchers Rollie Fingers and Bob Shirley and catcher Gene Tenace for catchers Terry Kennedy and Steve Swisher, infielder Mike Phillips, and pitchers Al Olmstead, John Urrea, Kim Seaman and John Littlefield. Geren hit .222 in 64 games at St. Petersburg in 1981.
In 1982, his second consecutive season at St. Petersburgh, he batted .244 in 110 games. He led Florida State League catchers in games (96) and assists (72). Bob spent the entire 1983 season at Springfield, where he tied for third in the Midwest League in home runs with 24, his professional high. He batted .265 and set another personal pro best with 73 runs batted in. Bob led Midwest League catchers in total chances (939), putouts (826) and assists (102).
He spent most of 1984 at Arkansas, batting .247 with 15 home runs and 40 RBIs, and in 15 games at Louisville hit .175. In 1985, Bob's final year as a member of the Cardinals organization, he hit .225 at Arkansas, where he spent most of the season, and in five games at Louisville batted .357. Recommended to New York by scout Stan Saleski, he signed with the Yankees in November of 1985 as a six-year minor league free agent."
-1990 New York Yankees Information Guide
Led Florida State League catchers in assists (72), 1982.
Led Midwest League catchers in putouts (826), assists (102), and total chances (939), 1983.
Led Texas League catchers in fielding percentage (.996), 1985.
Led Eastern League catchers in fielding percentage (.994), 1987.
Named to Topps Rookie All-Star team, 1989.
-1990 New York Yankees Information Guide
Entering his first full season, Geren hopes to improve on his .288 season-ending average from '89. The 28-year-old carries all the prerequisites to become a bona fide major league catcher. His leadership behind the plate has earned the respect of the Yankee pitching staff, and American League baserunners have taken notice of his strong arm. Yankee fans have also taken notice of a job well done."
-The New York Yankees Official 1990 Yearbook
"Geren enjoyed a fine 1989 season both behind the plate and with the bat. He hit .288 with nine home runs and 27 RBIs in 205 at-bats.
He was recalled from Columbus on May 16 and stayed with the Yankees for good; Geren had hit .253 with two home runs and 13 RBIs over 27 games for the Clippers. He made an immediate impact with the Yankees, going 5-for-12 in his first three games with two homers and four RBIs. On May 20 at Seattle he hit his first major league home run, a solo blast off Mike Dunne, and the following night had a career-high three-hit game (one of three in '89), again homering in the Kingdome (off Mike Jackson), the first of two back-to-back games with a homer in '89. On May 24 against the Angels in New York, Bob slightly pulled an abdominal muscle and was removed in the sixth inning; listed as day-to-day he did not appear again until June 3.
Bob ended May going 6-for-14 (.417) and continued to swing the bat well through June, going 6-for-21 (.286). He caught 12 games in May and June, throwing out five of nine runners (56%) with the club going 7-5 in his starts.
July was his best month offensively, hitting .444 (16-for-36), raising his average from .343 to .394. After hitting in four straight from July 1-4 (5-for-11), Bob went hitless in a pinch at-bat (July 7) before hitting in seven straight to close out the month (10-for-24, .417). Included in that streak was a 3-for-3 effort on July 29 against the Blue Jays. The club was 6-4 in July when he started, 13-9 through his first three months with the Yanks. At the break he was hitting .389; from July 8-August 3 he hit in a season-best 10 straight games, going 14-for-37 (.378).
Bob became a regular in August, starting 23 of 31 games during the month. He hit .244 (21-for-86) with five home runs and 16 RBIs, his monthly best for homers and RBIs. On August 26 and 27, Geren had his second back-to-back homer nights, off Baltimore's Dave Johnson and Bob Milacki.
September was his slowest month with the bat (10-for-48, .208) as Bob's average dropped from .312 to a season-ending .288. On September 6, he hit a two-run homer off Brian Holton in the 7th inning to tie the score at 4-4 after the Yankees had trailed 4-0. He hit safely in eight of 16 games over September/October and ended the season striking out in eight of sixteen at-bats. Geren hit .252 after the break.
The club was 29-29 when he started behind the plate. He threw out 13 of 33 runners (39%), committed three errors and allowed three passed balls. In his 58 starts, Bob caught three shutouts, eight games with one run allowed and five when two runs were allowed.
Geren had a .454 slugging percentage, third on the club for those appearing in at least 50 games. He hit .324 in day games and .269 in night games. He hit .284 with two homers against left-handed pitching and .290 with seven homers against righties. He hit .311 at home and .263 on the road. Geren hit .244 with runners in scoring position.
He signed a contract for the 1990 season.
Geren began the 1988 season with the Columbus Clippers and had his contract purchased by the Yankees on May 15 when Don Slaught was placed on the 15-day disabled list with an injured left groin. At the time his contract was purchased, he was hitting .366 in 32 games for the Clippers with three home runs, 13 RBIs and a slugging percentage of .464.
He made his major league debut on May 17 against Seattle, appearing as a defensive replacement at catcher. His first major league at-bat came on May 20 against Oakland, striking out against Eric Plunk. Bob appeared in a total of four games, going 0-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout, before being optioned back to Columbus on June 20.
Bob was recalled by the Yankees on September 2. At that point, he was hitting .271 with the Clippers with eight home runs and 35 RBIs in 95 games; he was named as the catcher on the postseason International League All-Star team. He made his first major league start on October 1 at Detroit and recorded his first major league hit, a single off Doyle Alexander in the 2nd inning, going 1-for-4 in that game. He made another start the next day in the season finale at Detroit, going 0-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
Overall in his two stints with the Yankees, Geren played in 10 games and batted .100 (1-for-10) with two walks and three strikeouts. He was 0-for-2 throwing out baserunners, giving up stolen bases to Jose Canseco (May 20 against Oakland) and Jim Walewander (October 2 at Detroit).
Geren began the 1987 season at AA Albany-Colonie and was hitting .219 in 31 games with three home runs and 11 runs batted in when he was promoted to AAA Columbus on May 29. He played in five games with the Clippers, hitting .150 with a home run and three RBIs, before being outrighted back to Albany on June 12.
He finished the season with Albany, and in the 47 games he played there, following his return, batted .222 with eight home runs and 20 RBIs. Overall in his two stints with Albany, Bob hit a combined .221 with 11 home runs and 31 RBIs; his 11 homers ranked second on the club, and his five game-winning RBIs ranked fourth. He led all Eastern League catchers in fielding with a .994 percentage (two errors in 358 chances). In 1986, his first year in the Yankee organization, he batted .254 at Columbus, with seven homers and 25 RBIs, and .148 [in 11 games] at Albany-Colonie.
Geren was selected by the San Diego Padres in the first round (24th choice overall) in the regular phase of the June 1979 free agent draft. That choice was awarded to the Padres as compensation for the Los Angeles Dodgers' signing of [free agent] Derrel Thomas. In his first professional season, Bob hit .172 in 54 games at Walla Walla.
He split his time in 1980 between Reno, where he hit .159 in 48 games with four homers and 23 RBIs, and Walla Walla, where he hit .254 in 51 games. Geren was acquired by the Cardinals organization in December 1980 along with pitchers Rollie Fingers and Bob Shirley and catcher Gene Tenace for catchers Terry Kennedy and Steve Swisher, infielder Mike Phillips, and pitchers Al Olmstead, John Urrea, Kim Seaman and John Littlefield. Geren hit .222 in 64 games at St. Petersburg in 1981.
In 1982, his second consecutive season at St. Petersburgh, he batted .244 in 110 games. He led Florida State League catchers in games (96) and assists (72). Bob spent the entire 1983 season at Springfield, where he tied for third in the Midwest League in home runs with 24, his professional high. He batted .265 and set another personal pro best with 73 runs batted in. Bob led Midwest League catchers in total chances (939), putouts (826) and assists (102).
He spent most of 1984 at Arkansas, batting .247 with 15 home runs and 40 RBIs, and in 15 games at Louisville hit .175. In 1985, Bob's final year as a member of the Cardinals organization, he hit .225 at Arkansas, where he spent most of the season, and in five games at Louisville batted .357. Recommended to New York by scout Stan Saleski, he signed with the Yankees in November of 1985 as a six-year minor league free agent."
-1990 New York Yankees Information Guide
Led Florida State League catchers in assists (72), 1982.
Led Midwest League catchers in putouts (826), assists (102), and total chances (939), 1983.
Led Texas League catchers in fielding percentage (.996), 1985.
Led Eastern League catchers in fielding percentage (.994), 1987.
Named to Topps Rookie All-Star team, 1989.
-1990 New York Yankees Information Guide
Sunday, February 4, 2018
1990 Profile: Don Mattingly
"The first baseman reasserted himself as one of the game's best players after a disappointing 1988. Mattingly finished second in the American League in RBI to Texas' Ruben Sierra with 113, marking the fifth time in six years he has reached the 100-RBI plateau. He ranked fourth in the AL with 301 total bases. Mattingly endured a poor start, batting .226 with no homers through the first 32 games but still hit .300 for the sixth straight year.
He outdueled teammate Dave Winfield for the AL batting title on the final day of the 1984 season. Mattingly won AL MVP honors in '85 and the following year set club records in hits (238) and doubles (53). In 1987 he hit a major league record six grand slams and tied Dale Long's major league mark by homering in eight consecutive games.
Born in Evansville, Indiana, he was the Yankees' 19th round pick in the 1979 draft. Mattingly is a six-time All-Star and won his fifth straight Gold Glove in '89."
-Tom Pedulla, The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1990 Edition
"The biggest cheers in Yankee Stadium today are still, without question, reserved for number 23. While the team has struggled of late, the Pride of the Yankees remains Don Mattingly. He is more than a team leader, an overused term in sports. Don is the heart and soul under these Pinstripes.
His reverence in New York is as much a compliment to the knowledge of Yankee fans as it is to the ability of the player. Why? Because it shows that people here know and understand the importance of consistency. Sure, Mattingly exploded on the baseball scene with a batting title one year, and an MVP award the next. And yes, he's got the Gold Glove awards and All-Star appearances. But his biggest contribution may be his everyday performance.
'If you see me play once or twice, you say, 'He's nothing special,' ' says the Yankee first baseman. 'But over 162 games, you say, 'Man, he's out there all the time, doing it.' '
At the batting tee, in the cage, taking extra grounders, or delivering in the clutch. The Hit Man's doing it every day."
-The New York Yankees Official 1990 Yearbook
"Don missed the first three games of 1989 (in Minnesota) with back spasms but did not miss another game the entire season. From April 7-17, his first nine games, he hit .161 (5-for-31) with four strikeouts; on April 17 he struck out twice, one of only five multi-strikeout games for the year. From April 18-30, Don hit safely in 10 of games (12-for-46, .261) and reached base safely in all 12 games to conclude the month.
In April he hit .221 (17-for-77) with no home runs and six RBIs, compared to a .285 career April average entering 1989. Don had three multi-hit games, struck out five times in his first 44 at-bats and had five extra-base hits (all doubles).
Don hit in five straight games from May 4-9 (10-for-27, .370), raising his average from .200 to .241 and had eight RBIs in that span after driving in six in his first 23 games. From May 15-20, he hit in six straight (11-for-31, .355) with four multi-hit games. On May 24 against California, he went 4-for-5 (Don's first four-hit game of '89) and homered off Dan Petry, his first homer in 171 at-bats (his longest career homerless streak) dating back to September 29, 1988.
He ended May by hitting in five straight (9-for-21, .429) and on May 31 again went 4-for-5 with a home run. For the month, Don hit .333 (37-for-111) with three homers and 21 RBI, raising his average from .221 to .287. He struck out twice in the month (1 per 56 at-bats) and hit safely in 20 of 26 games.
June was Don's most productive month. From June 1-8 he hit .231 (6-for-26) but then reached base safely in the next 20 games through the end of June. From June 10-15 he hit safely in six straight games (11-for-26, .423) and drove in a run in five straight (12 total) from June 6-June 11 (second game). After going 0-2 with three walks on June 16 (first game), he hit safely in 13 straight from June 16 (second game)-June 30, part of a 17-game streak through July 4, going 20-for-55 (.364) with four home runs and nine RBIs. On June 22, a 3-for-4 effort with two home runs against Chicago bolstered Don over the .300 mark for the first time.
In June he hit .339 (37-for-109) with seven home runs and 23 RBIs, raising his average from .287 to .306. He struck out three times (1 per 36 at-bats) and hit safely in 20 of 24 games (11 multi-hit games) with 12 extra-base hits.
Mattingly started out hot in July, hitting in four straight from July 1-4 and in five straight from July 6-13. Overall from June 10-15, he hit .369 and reached base in 30 straight games, raising his average from .280 to .313. At the All-Star break, he was hitting .313 with 11 home runs and 56 RBIs.
After the break, Mattingly cooled down considerably. From July 15-24, he hit .136 (5-for-37) and on July 19 at Chicago was called out on strikes for the first time all year, in his 358th at-bat, the first of only two times in 1989. He went 0-for-5 on July 24, dipping under .300 for the first time in 29 games (since June 21) but hit in five straight from July 25-30 with five doubles and eight RBIs. Don's homer on July 25 at Cleveland off Rich Yett was his first road home run in 218 at-bats (dating back to September 29, 1988) and broke a 0-for-12 slump.
Don hit .284 (31-for-109) in July with three home runs, 18 RBIs and 10 multi-hit games, and ended the month with a .300 average. He struck out five times (1 per 22 at-bats), bringing his season total to 15 (1 per 27 at-bats).
August was his worst month since April. For the month he hit .268 (34-for-127) with four home runs and 23 RBIs dropping his average to .293. He struck out seven times (1 per 18 at-bats) and hit safely in 22 of 31 games, with eight multi-hit games.
Don hit for his highest average in September-October with .357 (35-for-98) with six home runs and 22 RBIs. He started September by hitting in eight straight (14-for-32, .438) with a 4-for-4 effort on September 3 snapping a streak of 16 straight games under .300. The eight straight was part of a 13-game hitting streak from August 26-September 8 in which Don went 19-for-54 (.352) with four home runs and 12 RBIs. He fanned eight times in September/October (1 per 13 at-bats) and hit safely in 19 of 26 games, with 10 multi-hit games. He hit .291 after the All-Star break with four home runs and 57 RBIs.
Mattingly became only the sixth player in Yankee history, and the first since 1942, to hit .300 or better in six consecutive seasons- he joined an elite Yankee group that includes Earle Combs, Bill Dickey, Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth. His .323 batting average ranks him fifth on the all-time Yankee list.
He was named to his sixth straight All-Star team and won his fifth straight Rawlings Gold Glove. Don played in 158 games, his most since 1986 (162) and his 191 hits were also his most since 1986 (238). He had at least 37 doubles for the sixth straight season, and with 23 home runs had at least 20 for the fifth time in six years. He also set a career high with three stolen bases.
His 17-game hit streak (June 17-July 4) tied for the club best (with Steve Sax) and was his fifth career hitting streak of at least 17 games. Don was second on the club with 53 multi-hit games, and with runners in scoring position hit a team-leading .329 (56-for-165). He drove in a team-best 10 game-tying runs.
In Yankee wins he hit .368 (109-for-296) with 14 homers and 68 RBIs, and in Yankee losses hit .244 (82-for-335) with nine homers and 45 RBIs. He hit .342 (63-for-184) in day games and .286 (128-for-447) in night games. Don's .338 average against left-handed pitchers was his highest since 1986 (.358) and his .282 against right-handed pitchers was his lowest ever.
Don ranked fifth in fielding among AL first basemen (.995) and tied for sixth in the majors. He was third in double plays turned (143) and fourth in putouts (1,274). Don started in right field on May 18 at Oakland, his first outfield appearance since July 24, 1988 when appeared in left (101 games earlier).
Of his 30 strikeouts, two were called (Greg Hibbard on July 19 at Chicago, Paul Mirabella on September 21 against Milwaukee). Through 1988 Don averaged one strikeout for every 16.3 at-bats and in 1989 averaged one strikeout for every 21.0 at-bats. He was ejected on August 7 in the eighth inning after striking out, his first ejection since August 13, 1988. On August 25 against Baltimore, he struck out three times in one game for only the second time in his career (the other being April 13, 1987) and for the first time by one pitcher, Jeff Ballard.
Don had a pair of two-home run games in 1989 (June 11 against Boston and June 22 against Chicago), giving him 13 for his career. He homered on September 4 against California off Jim Abbott, one of only two allowed all year by Abbott against left-handers. On September 12 at California, Don celebrated his 1,000th career game by going 4-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs (giving him 100 for the year) and putting his average over .300 to stay.
In the American League he ranked second in RBIs (119), hardest to fan per plate appearance (1 per 23.1 at-bats) and intentional walks (18), fourth in total bases (301), fifth in extra-base hits (62) and doubles (37),tied for fifth in sacrifice flies (10), and seventh in hits (191), at-bats (621) and slugging percentage (.477). He had no sacrifice bunts in 1989, his last coming on June 18, 1986 against Boston.
He signed a three-year contract in January 1988. The contract extends through the 1990 season.
Mattingly began 1988 slowly with a tough first week, going 1-for-13 in his first four games, and 3-for-22 (.136 batting average) in his first six. He did not homer until May 10 against Chicago, his 32nd game, going 124 at-bats without a home run.
His batting average reached a more respectable .286 after Don went 5-for-6 on April 12 at Toronto. In the next 10 games, from April 13-23, he went 9-for-43 (.209) while hitting .239 overall. From April 24-30, however, he went 8-for-20 (.400) to raise his overall average to .275. Don had only 12 RBIs through May 1- his first 24 games.
In seven games from May 1 through May 7, Don wen 7-for-28 (.250), with his overall average at .269, but in his next 14 games, May 8-25, he went 24-for-56 (.429 BA), with four home runs and 13 RBIs, to bring his season average up to .320; he hit safely in the final seven games of that stretch. On May 27 at Seattle, he suffered a strained muscle in his right side during batting practice, putting him on the 15-day disabled list on that date.
Mattingly was activated from the DL on June 14 and made his first appearance since May 25 that night in Boston, picking up where he left off by going 3-for-5 with two doubles. From his activation from the DL to June 25 he hit safely in 10 straight games; combined with his last seven games before going on the DL, Mattingly hit safely in 17 straight games (May 17- June 25). Over that streak he went 25-for-71 (.352 BA). He went 3-for-20 in the final five games of June to end that month hitting .305 with five homers and 36 RBIs.
From June 29 through July 6, Mattingly hit in eight straight, going 14-for-38 (.368), including four multi-hit games. From June 29 through July 22, he hit safely in 18 of 19 games, going 33-for-86 (.384) with 13 runs, five doubles, four home runs and 14 RBIs, with 11 multi-hit games, raising Mattingly's overall season batting average to .329. From June 29 through August 9, he hit safely in 33 of 35 games, going 54-for-152 (.355) with five homers and 25 RBIs, with 15 multi-hit games. His batting average reached a season high of .334 on July 25. Don ended July hitting .329 with 10 home runs and 56 RBIs.
While hitting safely in 24 of 29 August games, he went 30-for-118 (.254), the biggest difference [from July] being his percentage of multi-hit games, down from 38% in the months of April through July (as high as 54% in July) to just 17% in August. He finished August hitting .310 with 13 home runs and 72 RBIs.
In September/October, Don went hitless in just five of 30 games, never two games in a row, going 39-for-125 (.312) with five homers and 16 RBIs. He hit safely in 16 of his last 18 games, going 25-for-71 (.352), raising his batting average from .305 to his final of .311.
He ended '88 with a .993 fielding percentage, fifth best in the AL (after finishing first the previous four seasons). His nine errors were a career high, yet he won his fourth consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove.
Mattingly's 18 home runs and 88 RBIs in 1988 represent a 40% and 27% dropoff, respectively, in comparison to his average for the previous four seasons (30 HR, 121 RBI), but through '87 he averaged one strikeout every 15.6 at-bats- in '88 he averaged one strikeout every 20.7 at-bats (he struck out just 29 times, a career low). Mattingly batted .296 with runners in scoring position and 37 of his 88 RBIs drove in Rickey Henderson.
Named to his fifth straight American League All-Star team, Mattingly became only the eighth player in Yankee history, and the first in 30 years, to hit .300 or better in five consecutive seasons- he joined an elite Yankee group that includes Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Earle Combs, Bob Meusel, Bill Dickey, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle. Mantle was the last to accomplish this feat, doing so from 1954 through 1958. Mattingly was the first Yankee to lead the club in hits five straight years since Mantle (1955-59); the only other Yankee to accomplish this was Gehrig (1930-34). His third inning single on July 3 at Chicago off Bill Long was his 1,000th career hit- Mattingly became the 33rd Yankee to reach that plateau.
Don was named American League Player of the Week, July 11-17, going 9-for-17 (.529) with five runs, a double, two homers, four RBIs, a .941 slugging percentage and a .529 on-base percentage [1.4700 OPS]. His .327 road batting average was second in the AL behind Wade Boggs for players with at least 250 at-bats. Don's .311 batting average was seventh in the AL, eighth in the majors; his 94 runs 10th in the AL, 18th in the majors; his 186 hits ninth in the AL, 17th in the majors; his 37 doubles tied for 11th in the AL, tied for 15th in the majors; his 17-game hitting streak tied for fourth in the AL, tied for ninth in the majors; and his 13 game-winning RBI tied for seventh in the AL, tied for 16th in the majors.
His five hits on April 12 at Toronto tied him with seven players for the 1988 American League high while tying his own career high. Mattingly tied Oakland's Luis Polonia for most runs in a game with five on April 30 against Texas, also tying the Yankee single-game record (now done 12 times, having last been done by Bobby Murcer in 1972). His only stolen base of the year came in that game.
He was ejected on May 6 at Texas by umpire Tim Welke for arguing a ninth inning strikeout. On May 17 at Seattle he made his first error since September 14, 1987, playing 55 errorless games in between. Mattingly's start in left field on July 24 at Kansas City was his first outfield start since August 4, 1984- 590 games in between.
On August 11 against Toronto he hit a two-run, two-out game-tying homer in the ninth inning (the Yanks lost 6-5 in 11). On August 13 at Minnesota, he was ejected in the eighth inning for arguing a check-swing strikeout. On August 16 against California, he had his 10th career two-homer game (hitting both off Willie Fraser).
Don made his only appearance as a designated hitter on September 12 at Cleveland, going 0-for-4 while twice being called out on strikes. On September 21 against Baltimore he had his only pinch-hit at-bat, going 0-for-1. On September 27 at Baltimore, he had his 11th career two-homer game (hitting both off Curt Schilling).
In 1979 Don was selected by the Yankees in the 19th round of the June draft. He was drafted late as teams expected him to accept a college scholarship. He was signed by Yankee scouts Jax Robertson and Gust Poulos.
He was named South Atlantic League MVP in 1980. In 1981, Mattingly was named Yankee Minor League Player of the Year, led the Southern League in doubles and was named to the Topps and Southern League [Class AA] All-Star teams as an outfielder. He was named an International League All-Star as an outfielder in 1982 and his outstanding season earned him a promotion to the Yankees in September.
Don had a terrific rookie season in 1983. He won the James P. Dawson Award as the top Yankee rookie in spring training and was in the starting lineup for the Yankee home opener. Optioned to Columbus on April 14, he hit eight home runs with 37 RBIs and a .340 batting average with the Clippers before his recall on June 20 when Bobby Murcer retired. Don hit his first major league homer off John Tudor on June 24 at Fenway Park. He hit in 24 of 25 games, July 13- August 11, going hitless (0-for-2) in both ends of the 'Pine Tar Game' (July 24 and August 18). He played one-third of an inning at second base in the August 18 conclusion of that game. He played first base on July 4th when Dave Righetti no-hit the Red Sox.
In 1984, Mattingly became the first Yankee to win the AL batting championship since Mickey Mantle in 1956, battling teammate Dave Winfield to the last day of the season, winning .343 to .340. He was named to his first AL All-Star team in his first full season in the majors. He led the AL with 207 hits, 44 doubles and 59 multiple-hit games, was second with a .537 slugging percentage and was the first Yankee left-handed batter to hit .340 since Lou Gehrig hit .351 in 1937. Don was the top road hitter in the AL at .364 and led AL first basemen with a .996 fielding percentage, making only five errors in 1,236 total chances.
In a phenomenal 1985 season, displaying prowess with bat and glove, Mattingly led the majors with 145 RBIs, 48 doubles and 15 sacrifice flies and led the American League with 370 total bases, 21 game winning RBIs and 86 extra-base hits. He was second in the AL with 211 hits, a .567 slugging percentage and 66 multiple hit games, third with a .324 batting average, fourth with 35 home runs and tied for sixth with 107 runs. He also led AL first basemen with a .995 fielding percentage.
His 145 RBIs were the most by a Yankee since DiMaggio had 155 in 1948, and he was the first Yankee to lead the AL in RBIs since Roger Maris in 1961; he reached the 100 RBI plateau on August 20- the earliest by a Yankee since Maris and Mantle recorded their 100th on August 4 and August 6, respectively, in 1961. His 211 hits were the most by a Yankee since Red Rolfe's 213 in 1939 and is the seventh highest total in Yankee history (including his own 238 in '86), and Mattingly was the first Yankee to collect 200+ hits in consecutive seasons since DiMaggio in 1936-37. He was the first AL player to lead the majors in doubles in consecutive seasons since Tris Speaker in 1920-23 and was the first player to lead the AL in doubles in consecutive seasons since Tony Oliva in 1969-70. His 48 doubles is the third highest single-season total in Yankee history, and his 652 at-bats is the eighth highest total in Yankee history [including his own 677 in '86]. Don was the first Yankee to have 600+ at-bats in consecutive seasons since Chris Chambliss in 1976-78. Don's 159 games led the team and is the second highest total by a Yankee at first base (he played 160 in '86).
Don suffered a minor tear of the medial meniscus cartilage in his right knee in February while working out with weights at his Evansville, Indiana home. He underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair the damage on February 22 and his rehabilitation caused him to miss the first 18 spring training games. Upon his return, Don homered in his first at-bat on March 26.
He didn't hit his first [regular season] home run until May 5, off Kansas City's Bud Black. Mattingly's batting average tailed off to .285 on June 8 following a 0-for-19 streak (his longest 0-for of '85), yet he had a 20-game hitting streak, June 22-July 12, the longest of '85 by a Yankee and then longest of his career: over the streak he went 32-for-81 (.395) with 11 runs, nine doubles, three homers and 21 RBIs. He committed his first error on July 7 against Minnesota, breaking a streak of 153 games (1,371 total chances), dating back to June 22, 1984, of not committing an error at first base. Don also had a 19-game hitting streak from August 1-21, going 35-for-79 (.443) with 25 runs, seven doubles, 10 homers and 21 RBIs. He drove in at least one run in 10 straight games, September 20-30, for a total of 16 RBIs.
Don had five two-homer games; the first of his career was on August 2 (both homers hit off Chicago's Britt Burns). He drove in four runs in a game four times and drove in Rickey Henderson with 56 of his 145 RBIs. Don was the first player to lead the majors in RBIs and strike out as few as 41 times since Ted Kluszewski led the bigs with 141 RBIs in 1954 while striking out 35 times.
Batting second in 58 games, he was 85-for-242 (.351) and batting third in 99 games he was 124-for-404 (.307). He batted fourth twice, going 2-for-6.
The two games Mattingly missed came on May 26-27 at Oakland when he was suffering from a groin pull. He underwent minor surgery on November 12 to correct a catch in the extensor tendon of his right hand's little finger- little to no rehabilitation was required.
The 1985 American League MVP and runner-up in the '86 MVP voting behind Roger Clemens had another remarkable season in 1986, supporting a mid-season New York Times poll of 417 major league players that named Mattingly the best player in the game. He led the majors with 238 hits, a .573 slugging percentage, 388 total bases (leading the majors for the second consecutive year), 86 extra-base hits (also leading the majors for the second consecutive year) and 53 doubles (leading the majors for the third consecutive year- the first player to lead the American League or the major leagues three straight years since Tris Speaker from 1920-23).
His 238 hits broke the former Yankee record of 231 set in 1927 by Earle Combs; his 232nd hit, which broke the record, came in the seventh inning on October 2 at Fenway Park off Sammy Stewart. His 388 total bases were the most by a Yankee since Joe DiMaggio posted 418 in 1937 and the most in the AL since Jim Rice's 406 in 1978, and equaled the fourth highest total in the majors since 1939; Mattingly became the 10th player to lead the majors in total bases two consecutive years, the first since Mike Schmidt in 1980-81, and the only Yankee besides Babe Ruth in 1923-24. His 53 doubles broke the Yankee mark of 52 set in 1927 by Lou Gehrig; his 53rd came in the fourth inning of New York's final game on October 5 at Fenway off Jeff Sellers.
His final batting average of .352 was second in the majors, his 117 runs was third in the majors and third in the AL, his 15 game winning RBI tied for third in the majors and tied for first in the AL, his 113 RBIs was fifth in the majors and third in the AL, his .394 on-base percentage was seventh in the majors and fifth in the AL, and his 31 home runs tied for seventh in the majors and tied for sixth in the AL.
He went into the final series of the season trailing Boston's Wade Boggs .357 to .350 in the American League batting race. While Boggs sat out the four-game set with a sore right hamstring, Don went 8-for-19 (.421 BA) with five runs, two doubles, two homers and four RBIs. Given the number of at-bats for Mattingly in that series (19), he would have needed 12 hits to overtake Boggs (the averages would have been .3574 for Mattingly and .3568 for Boggs).
Mattingly was the first Yankee to hit .350 or better since Mickey Mantle hit .365 in 1957, and the first Yankee left-handed hitter to hit .350 or better since Lou Gehrig hit .351 in 1937. His .352 average was the highest by a Yankee left-handed hitter since Gehrig hit .354 and Bill Dickey hit .362 in 1936. Mattingly became only the eighth Yankee to ever hit at least .352, [joining] Babe Ruth (eight times), Gehrig (5), Joe DiMaggio (3), Mantle (2), Earle Combs, Tony Lazzeri and Bill Dickey- all but Lazzeri are Hall of Famers.
He became the 11th player in major league history, and the first in 27 years (Hank Aaron in 1959), to finish with at least 200 hits, a .350 BA, 30 homers and 100 RBIs- the others were Lou Gehrig (five times), Babe Ruth and Rogers Hornsby (three each), Chuck Klein, Jimmie Foxx and Stan Musial (twice each), Lefty O'Doul, Hack Wilson and Joe Medwick. He became the first AL player to record 230 hits, 100 RBIs and 30 homers (accomplished by six National Leaguers, most recently by Musial in 1948). Mattingly became the first player to lead the Yankees in average, hits, doubles and RBIs three straight years since Gehrig, 1932-34. His 53 doubles were the most in the majors since Hal McRae had 54 for Kansas City in 1977. He was the first Yankee to record 200+ hits three consecutive years since Lou Gehrig in 1930-32.
Don became the fifth Yankee to play in 162 games in a single season, joining Bobby Richardson (1962), Roy White (1970 and 1973) and Chris Chambliss (1978). Through the end of '86 Don had played in 282 consecutive games (the final 120 of '85, 162 in '86). He missed just six innings of play in '86: four innings on June 28 against Toronto (due to a bruised left index finger) and two innings on August 7 against Milwaukee.
His .996 fielding percentage led AL first basemen for the third consecutive year and he's the only Yankee to ever lead the league in fielding percentage three straight years at any position. He led AL first basemen with 160 games and 1,483 total chances and won his second consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Award.
Don hit .305 (50-for-164) with runners in scoring position, and his four-hit games came on May 6 at Chicago, May 17 at Seattle, June 19 at Toronto and June 20 at Toronto. He had two three-double games (April 21 at Kansas City and July 11 at Minnesota) and two two-homer games (May 28 at Seattle and June 9 at Detroit), and his 79 multi-hit games led the club. He averaged just one strikeout for every 19.3 at-bats.
He was slowed in spring training of 1986 by a bone bruise of the left thumb, playing only 16 of 28 exhibition games, hitting .300 with no home runs and six RBIs. Don recorded his 500th career hit with his first hit on Opening Day on April 8 against Kansas City and notched his first career five-RBI game on April 21 at Kansas City. He did not hit his first home run until his 81st at-bat on April 30 against Minnesota off Bert Blyleven. Don tied the major league record with three sacrifice flies on May 3 against Texas and hit in 14 straight games, May 4-18, going 28-for-61 (.459) with 11 runs, 11 doubles, three homers and eight RBIs, raising his batting average from .261 to .340.
A sac fly in the ninth inning on June 24 at Boston broke a streak of 57 at-bats without an RBI that began with his last at-bat on June 12 (he went 11 games between recording RBIs 52 and 53). Don hit in 13 of 14 games, June 19-July 3, going 30-for-60 (.500) with 14 runs, seven doubles, a homer and five RBIs, raising his batting average from .310 to .344; after June 24 his batting average never dipped below .334.
He made his first start and first appearance as a designated hitter on July 6 at Chicago, breaking a string of 201 consecutive starts at first base. With Mike Pagliarulo bothered by a sore hamstring, Mattingly made three appearances at third base, the first coming on August 29 at Seattle. He became the first left-handed third baseman since Mike Squires played 13 games at third for the White Sox in 1984, and the first such Yankee third baseman since Hal Chase played one game there in 1908. Among the three appearances at third were two starts: the second games of doubleheaders, on August 30 and on August 31, both at Seattle.
Don had a career high 24-game hitting streak extending from August 30 (second game) through September 26. It was the longest streak of Don's career, and the seventh longest hitting streak in Yankee history as well as being the longest in the AL in 1986. He hit safely in 44 of the last 49 games, going 77-for-149 (.387) with 40 runs, 16 doubles, a triple, 11 homers and 34 RBIs. He hit safely in 81 of 97 games from June 18 on, going 153-for-403 (.380).
40 of the 113 runs driven in by Mattingly were scored by Rickey Henderson. His season final batting average of .352 was the highest point reached by Mattingly throughout the year, and his .332 career batting average through '86 ranked third on the all-time Yankee list of players with at least 500 games, trailing only Ruth and Gehrig. His 677 at-bats in '86 is the fourth highest total in Yankee history, trailing only Horace Clarke's total of 686 in 1970, and Bobby Richardson's totals of 679 in 1964 and Yankee record of 692 in 1962.
Mattingly began his superb 1987 season slowly, hitting .175 on April 15 after nine games. His April batting average of .265 was his career low for that month (interestingly, Mattingly had exactly 22 hits in each April from 1984-87). He had his first career three-strikeout game on April 13 against Cleveland.
His batting average was as low as .239 (27-for-113) on May 9, after 29 games. Don then went 37-for-93 (.398) from May 10 through June 4, including a 15-game hitting streak (May 19-June 4) to raise his season stats to .311 (64-for-206) on June 4 with six home runs and 36 RBIs in 53 games.
Before the June 4 game at Milwaukee, Don's back was injured when he was wrestled in the clubhouse by Bob Shirley. He tried to play, going 2-for-3 with an RBI before the pain became too severe to continue. His innings missed in that game were his first since August 7, 1986 (he missed only six innings all of '86), and that game was the last of a string of 335 consecutive games played (final 120 of 1985, 162 in '86 and the first 53 of '87), Don last sitting out on May 27, 1985. Tests later taken at NYU Medical Center revealed a disc problem in his back, forcing him to be placed on the 15-day disabled list on June 9. Activated from the disabled list on June 24, the Yankees were 11-7 during Mattingly's absence (June 5-23).
Upon his return on June 24, he hit in 18 of the next 22 games (June 14-July 19), going 39-for-95 (.411) with 25 runs, eight doubles, 12 homers and 33 RBIs, raising his overall batting average to .342- his season high. Mattingly went 4-for-6 on June 26 against Boston.
From July 8 to July 18 he hit at least one home run in eight straight games, tying the major league record previously set by Pirate Dale Long in 1956. During the same streak, Mattingly smashed the American League record of homering in six straight games, previously done six times (last by Reggie Jackson with Baltimore in 1976; also done by Lou Gehrig in 1931 and Roger Maris in 1961). Over the eight-game homer streak, Mattingly hit .459 (17-for-37) with 10 homers and 21 RBIs.
Mattingly had seven RBIs on July 16 at Texas, his single-game career high and the most by a Yankee in '87. He had at least one extra-base hit in ten consecutive games, July 7 through July 19, breaking the AL record of nine set by Babe Ruth in 1921. Don was twice named AL Player of the Week- for the weeks ending on July 12 and July 19, coming into the game of July 20 with a season high batting average of .342. He was also named AL Player of the Month for July, going 37-for-99 (.374) with 21 runs, 10 homers and 24 RBIs for the month.
On July 20 Don tied the major league record of 22 putouts by a first baseman in a nine-inning game, also held by Tommy Jones (St. Louis Browns, May 11, 1906), Hal Chase (New York Highlanders, September 21, 1906) and Ernie Banks (Chicago Cubs, May 9, 1963).
He missed the games of July 21-22 at Minnesota with a slightly sprained right wrist suffered on July 18 after hitting his record-tying homer. Coming back from that injury, he was used as a pinch hitter on July 24 at Chicago, his first pinch-hitting appearance since April 6, 1984. Upon completion of the eight consecutive game home run streak on July 18, Mattingly went without a homer from July 19 through August 7 (16 games) and hit just one homer over 21 games (July 19-August 12). He had 11 extra base hits including five homers with 11 RBIs in 12 games from August 8 through August 21, and seven extra-base hits including four homers with nine RBIs in seven games from August 14 through August 21.
Mattingly had his second and final four-hit game on September 2 against Oakland, going 4-for-5. He had an 11-game hitting streak, August 30 through September 11; he hit in 17 of 18, August 30 through September 18; 26 of 28, August 30 through September 29; and in 28 of his last 32 games, August 30 through October 4, going 45-for-136 (.331) with seven homers and 31 RBIs. On September 22 at Milwaukee (second game) he made his first appearance as a designated hitter since July 6, 1986 at Chicago. Suffering from flu-like symptoms, Don was pinch-hit for by Orestes Destrade on October 1 against Boston, the first time he had been pinch-hit for since Vic Mata batted for him on August 3, 1984.
He had a pair of two-homer games, July 8 against Minnesota and July 16 at Texas. He hit .311 with runners in scoring position and averaged one strikeout per every 15.0 at-bats.
Don blasted six grand slams in 1987, setting a new major league record (No. 6 came September 29 at Yankee Stadium off Boston's Bruce Hurst) and breaking the record of five set by Cub Ernie Banks in 1955 and tied by Oriole Jim Gentile in 1961. The Yankee record for grand slams in a season was four set by Lou Gehrig in 1934 and tied by Tommy Henrich in 1948.
With the bases loaded Don was 9-for-19 (.474 BA) in 21 plate appearances, and in addition to his six grand slams had two singles, a double, a pair of sacrifice flies and 33 RBIs. Prior to 1987, he was just 12-for-47 (.255 BA) with just one extra-base hit in career bases-loaded situations. In fact, prior to his first '87 grand slam, his career numbers with the bases loaded fell to 13-for-52 (.250) in 70 plate appearances with two extra-base hits (having gone 1-for-5 with a double, sac fly and four RBIs in '87), and beginning with the first grand slam he went 8-for-14 (.571 BA) with six slams and 29 RBIs.
Mattingly's .996 fielding percentage (five errors in 1,335 total chances) was best in the American League for the fourth straight year (1,000 or more total chances), tying the AL's first baseman's record for most consecutive years leading the league in fielding (100 or more games played) set by Charles Gandil of the Indians and White Sox from 1916 to 1919 (the major league record is five consecutive years set by the Reds' Ted Kluszewski from 1951 to 1955). He tied with Kent Hrbek for fewest errors (5) by a first baseman (1,000 or more total chances).
In 1987 Don became the first player in the seven-year history of the Elias Sports Bureau's report for the MLBPA to compile a perfect 1.000 score, ranking first in each category used to measure production of first basemen: plate appearances, batting average, on-base percentage, home runs and runs batted in. He was selected to his fourth consecutive AL All-Star team and was selected to the AP, UPI, and Sporting News All-Star and Silver Slugger teams, each for the third straight year. He also captured his third straight Rawlings Gold Glove Award for AL first basemen.
Don had his fourth straight 100+ RBI season and was the first Yankee since Mickey Mantle (1955-62) and Roger Maris (1960-62) to hit 30+ homers in three straight seasons. He became the first ever Yankee to lead the club in batting average, hits, doubles and RBIs four consecutive seasons; breaking down the individual categories, the last Yankees to lead the club at least four straight seasons were: batting average- Mantle 1955-58; hits- Bobby Murcer 1971-74; doubles- none until Mattingly; RBI - Reggie Jackson- 1977-80. Prior to Mattingly, the last Yankee to have at least four straight 100+ RBI seasons was Joe DiMaggio, 1937-42. Ranked in the American League in 1987, Mattingly's 38 doubles were tied for third; his .327 batting average and 115 RBIs were fifth; his .559 slugging percentage was seventh, and his 186 hits were eighth.
Don attended Evansville (IN) Memorial High where he played baseball, basketball and football. He played Little League, Babe Ruth and American Legion ball in Evansville. His older brother Randy played pro football.
Don enjoys racquetball and maintains homes in both Evansville and Tenafly, New Jersey. In August of 1987 he opened a restaurant in Evansville called 'MATTINGLY'S 23.' During the 1990 season, he and his wife Kim are donating $100 for each home run to singer Paul Simon's project to purchase mobile medical units that will service underprivileged children in New York City."
-1990 New York Yankees Information Guide
American League batting champion (.343), 1984.
Led American League first basemen in fielding percentage (at least 1,000 total chances), (.996), 1984.
The Sporting News American League Player of the Year, 1984.
The Sporting News American League All-Star Team, 1984.
American League Player of the Week, August 5-11, 1985.
American League Player of the Month, August 1985.
American League Player of the Month, September 1985.
Led American League first basemen in fielding percentage (at least 1,000 total chances), (.995), 1985.
American League Most Valuable Player, BBWAA, 1985.
The Sporting News American League Player of the Year, 1985.
American League Player of the Year, New York Chapter of BBWAA, 1985.
The Sporting News American League All-Star Team, 1985.
Rawlings American League Gold Glove Award, First Base, 1985.
The Sporting News Silver Slugger Team, 1985.
United Press International All-Star Team, 1985.
Associated Press All-Star Team, 1985.
American League Player of the Month, September 1986.
Led American League first basemen in fielding percentage (at least 1,000 total chances), (.996), 1986.
Established Yankee record for hits, one season (238), 1986.
Established Yankee record for doubles, one season (53), 1986.
The Sporting News American League Player of the Year, 1986.
American League Player of the Year, New York Chapter of BBWAA, 1986.
The Sporting News American League All-Star Team, 1986.
Rawlings American League Gold Glove Award, First Base, 1986.
The Sporting News Silver Slugger Team, 1986.
United Press International All-Star Team, 1986.
Associated Press All-Star Team, 1986.
Tied major league record for most doubles, inning (2), April 11, 1987, seventh inning.
American League Player of the Week, July 6-12, 1987.
Established major league record for most consecutive games, one or more extra-base hits (10), July 7-19, 1987.
Established major league record for most home runs, seven consecutive games (homering each game) (9), July 8-17, 1987.
Established major league record for most home runs, eight consecutive games (homering each game) (10), July 8-18, 1987.
Tied major league record for most consecutive games hitting home runs (8), July 8-18, 1987.
American League Player of the Week, July 13-19, 1987.
Tied major league record for first basemen for most putouts, nine-inning game (22), July 22, 1987.
Tied major league record for most chances accepted, nine-inning game (22), July 22, 1987.
American League Player of the Month, July 1987.
Established major league record for most grand slams, one season (6), 1987.
Led American League first basemen in fielding percentage (at least 1,000 total chances), (.996), 1987.
The Sporting News American League All-Star Team, 1987.
Rawlings American League Gold Glove Award, First Base, 1987.
The Sporting News Silver Slugger Team, 1987.
United Press International All-Star Team, 1987.
Associated Press All-Star Team, 1987.
Tied American League record for first basemen for most consecutive years leading league in fielding percentage (4), 1984-87.
American League Player of the Week, July 11-17, 1988.
The Sporting News American League All-Star Team, 1988.
Rawlings American League Gold Glove Award, First Base, 1988.
Rawlings American League Gold Glove Award, First Base, 1989.
-1990 New York Yankees Information Guide
He outdueled teammate Dave Winfield for the AL batting title on the final day of the 1984 season. Mattingly won AL MVP honors in '85 and the following year set club records in hits (238) and doubles (53). In 1987 he hit a major league record six grand slams and tied Dale Long's major league mark by homering in eight consecutive games.
Born in Evansville, Indiana, he was the Yankees' 19th round pick in the 1979 draft. Mattingly is a six-time All-Star and won his fifth straight Gold Glove in '89."
-Tom Pedulla, The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1990 Edition
"The biggest cheers in Yankee Stadium today are still, without question, reserved for number 23. While the team has struggled of late, the Pride of the Yankees remains Don Mattingly. He is more than a team leader, an overused term in sports. Don is the heart and soul under these Pinstripes.
His reverence in New York is as much a compliment to the knowledge of Yankee fans as it is to the ability of the player. Why? Because it shows that people here know and understand the importance of consistency. Sure, Mattingly exploded on the baseball scene with a batting title one year, and an MVP award the next. And yes, he's got the Gold Glove awards and All-Star appearances. But his biggest contribution may be his everyday performance.
'If you see me play once or twice, you say, 'He's nothing special,' ' says the Yankee first baseman. 'But over 162 games, you say, 'Man, he's out there all the time, doing it.' '
At the batting tee, in the cage, taking extra grounders, or delivering in the clutch. The Hit Man's doing it every day."
-The New York Yankees Official 1990 Yearbook
"Don missed the first three games of 1989 (in Minnesota) with back spasms but did not miss another game the entire season. From April 7-17, his first nine games, he hit .161 (5-for-31) with four strikeouts; on April 17 he struck out twice, one of only five multi-strikeout games for the year. From April 18-30, Don hit safely in 10 of games (12-for-46, .261) and reached base safely in all 12 games to conclude the month.
In April he hit .221 (17-for-77) with no home runs and six RBIs, compared to a .285 career April average entering 1989. Don had three multi-hit games, struck out five times in his first 44 at-bats and had five extra-base hits (all doubles).
Don hit in five straight games from May 4-9 (10-for-27, .370), raising his average from .200 to .241 and had eight RBIs in that span after driving in six in his first 23 games. From May 15-20, he hit in six straight (11-for-31, .355) with four multi-hit games. On May 24 against California, he went 4-for-5 (Don's first four-hit game of '89) and homered off Dan Petry, his first homer in 171 at-bats (his longest career homerless streak) dating back to September 29, 1988.
He ended May by hitting in five straight (9-for-21, .429) and on May 31 again went 4-for-5 with a home run. For the month, Don hit .333 (37-for-111) with three homers and 21 RBI, raising his average from .221 to .287. He struck out twice in the month (1 per 56 at-bats) and hit safely in 20 of 26 games.
June was Don's most productive month. From June 1-8 he hit .231 (6-for-26) but then reached base safely in the next 20 games through the end of June. From June 10-15 he hit safely in six straight games (11-for-26, .423) and drove in a run in five straight (12 total) from June 6-June 11 (second game). After going 0-2 with three walks on June 16 (first game), he hit safely in 13 straight from June 16 (second game)-June 30, part of a 17-game streak through July 4, going 20-for-55 (.364) with four home runs and nine RBIs. On June 22, a 3-for-4 effort with two home runs against Chicago bolstered Don over the .300 mark for the first time.
In June he hit .339 (37-for-109) with seven home runs and 23 RBIs, raising his average from .287 to .306. He struck out three times (1 per 36 at-bats) and hit safely in 20 of 24 games (11 multi-hit games) with 12 extra-base hits.
Mattingly started out hot in July, hitting in four straight from July 1-4 and in five straight from July 6-13. Overall from June 10-15, he hit .369 and reached base in 30 straight games, raising his average from .280 to .313. At the All-Star break, he was hitting .313 with 11 home runs and 56 RBIs.
After the break, Mattingly cooled down considerably. From July 15-24, he hit .136 (5-for-37) and on July 19 at Chicago was called out on strikes for the first time all year, in his 358th at-bat, the first of only two times in 1989. He went 0-for-5 on July 24, dipping under .300 for the first time in 29 games (since June 21) but hit in five straight from July 25-30 with five doubles and eight RBIs. Don's homer on July 25 at Cleveland off Rich Yett was his first road home run in 218 at-bats (dating back to September 29, 1988) and broke a 0-for-12 slump.
Don hit .284 (31-for-109) in July with three home runs, 18 RBIs and 10 multi-hit games, and ended the month with a .300 average. He struck out five times (1 per 22 at-bats), bringing his season total to 15 (1 per 27 at-bats).
August was his worst month since April. For the month he hit .268 (34-for-127) with four home runs and 23 RBIs dropping his average to .293. He struck out seven times (1 per 18 at-bats) and hit safely in 22 of 31 games, with eight multi-hit games.
Don hit for his highest average in September-October with .357 (35-for-98) with six home runs and 22 RBIs. He started September by hitting in eight straight (14-for-32, .438) with a 4-for-4 effort on September 3 snapping a streak of 16 straight games under .300. The eight straight was part of a 13-game hitting streak from August 26-September 8 in which Don went 19-for-54 (.352) with four home runs and 12 RBIs. He fanned eight times in September/October (1 per 13 at-bats) and hit safely in 19 of 26 games, with 10 multi-hit games. He hit .291 after the All-Star break with four home runs and 57 RBIs.
Mattingly became only the sixth player in Yankee history, and the first since 1942, to hit .300 or better in six consecutive seasons- he joined an elite Yankee group that includes Earle Combs, Bill Dickey, Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth. His .323 batting average ranks him fifth on the all-time Yankee list.
He was named to his sixth straight All-Star team and won his fifth straight Rawlings Gold Glove. Don played in 158 games, his most since 1986 (162) and his 191 hits were also his most since 1986 (238). He had at least 37 doubles for the sixth straight season, and with 23 home runs had at least 20 for the fifth time in six years. He also set a career high with three stolen bases.
His 17-game hit streak (June 17-July 4) tied for the club best (with Steve Sax) and was his fifth career hitting streak of at least 17 games. Don was second on the club with 53 multi-hit games, and with runners in scoring position hit a team-leading .329 (56-for-165). He drove in a team-best 10 game-tying runs.
In Yankee wins he hit .368 (109-for-296) with 14 homers and 68 RBIs, and in Yankee losses hit .244 (82-for-335) with nine homers and 45 RBIs. He hit .342 (63-for-184) in day games and .286 (128-for-447) in night games. Don's .338 average against left-handed pitchers was his highest since 1986 (.358) and his .282 against right-handed pitchers was his lowest ever.
Don ranked fifth in fielding among AL first basemen (.995) and tied for sixth in the majors. He was third in double plays turned (143) and fourth in putouts (1,274). Don started in right field on May 18 at Oakland, his first outfield appearance since July 24, 1988 when appeared in left (101 games earlier).
Of his 30 strikeouts, two were called (Greg Hibbard on July 19 at Chicago, Paul Mirabella on September 21 against Milwaukee). Through 1988 Don averaged one strikeout for every 16.3 at-bats and in 1989 averaged one strikeout for every 21.0 at-bats. He was ejected on August 7 in the eighth inning after striking out, his first ejection since August 13, 1988. On August 25 against Baltimore, he struck out three times in one game for only the second time in his career (the other being April 13, 1987) and for the first time by one pitcher, Jeff Ballard.
Don had a pair of two-home run games in 1989 (June 11 against Boston and June 22 against Chicago), giving him 13 for his career. He homered on September 4 against California off Jim Abbott, one of only two allowed all year by Abbott against left-handers. On September 12 at California, Don celebrated his 1,000th career game by going 4-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs (giving him 100 for the year) and putting his average over .300 to stay.
In the American League he ranked second in RBIs (119), hardest to fan per plate appearance (1 per 23.1 at-bats) and intentional walks (18), fourth in total bases (301), fifth in extra-base hits (62) and doubles (37),tied for fifth in sacrifice flies (10), and seventh in hits (191), at-bats (621) and slugging percentage (.477). He had no sacrifice bunts in 1989, his last coming on June 18, 1986 against Boston.
He signed a three-year contract in January 1988. The contract extends through the 1990 season.
Mattingly began 1988 slowly with a tough first week, going 1-for-13 in his first four games, and 3-for-22 (.136 batting average) in his first six. He did not homer until May 10 against Chicago, his 32nd game, going 124 at-bats without a home run.
His batting average reached a more respectable .286 after Don went 5-for-6 on April 12 at Toronto. In the next 10 games, from April 13-23, he went 9-for-43 (.209) while hitting .239 overall. From April 24-30, however, he went 8-for-20 (.400) to raise his overall average to .275. Don had only 12 RBIs through May 1- his first 24 games.
In seven games from May 1 through May 7, Don wen 7-for-28 (.250), with his overall average at .269, but in his next 14 games, May 8-25, he went 24-for-56 (.429 BA), with four home runs and 13 RBIs, to bring his season average up to .320; he hit safely in the final seven games of that stretch. On May 27 at Seattle, he suffered a strained muscle in his right side during batting practice, putting him on the 15-day disabled list on that date.
Mattingly was activated from the DL on June 14 and made his first appearance since May 25 that night in Boston, picking up where he left off by going 3-for-5 with two doubles. From his activation from the DL to June 25 he hit safely in 10 straight games; combined with his last seven games before going on the DL, Mattingly hit safely in 17 straight games (May 17- June 25). Over that streak he went 25-for-71 (.352 BA). He went 3-for-20 in the final five games of June to end that month hitting .305 with five homers and 36 RBIs.
From June 29 through July 6, Mattingly hit in eight straight, going 14-for-38 (.368), including four multi-hit games. From June 29 through July 22, he hit safely in 18 of 19 games, going 33-for-86 (.384) with 13 runs, five doubles, four home runs and 14 RBIs, with 11 multi-hit games, raising Mattingly's overall season batting average to .329. From June 29 through August 9, he hit safely in 33 of 35 games, going 54-for-152 (.355) with five homers and 25 RBIs, with 15 multi-hit games. His batting average reached a season high of .334 on July 25. Don ended July hitting .329 with 10 home runs and 56 RBIs.
While hitting safely in 24 of 29 August games, he went 30-for-118 (.254), the biggest difference [from July] being his percentage of multi-hit games, down from 38% in the months of April through July (as high as 54% in July) to just 17% in August. He finished August hitting .310 with 13 home runs and 72 RBIs.
In September/October, Don went hitless in just five of 30 games, never two games in a row, going 39-for-125 (.312) with five homers and 16 RBIs. He hit safely in 16 of his last 18 games, going 25-for-71 (.352), raising his batting average from .305 to his final of .311.
He ended '88 with a .993 fielding percentage, fifth best in the AL (after finishing first the previous four seasons). His nine errors were a career high, yet he won his fourth consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove.
Mattingly's 18 home runs and 88 RBIs in 1988 represent a 40% and 27% dropoff, respectively, in comparison to his average for the previous four seasons (30 HR, 121 RBI), but through '87 he averaged one strikeout every 15.6 at-bats- in '88 he averaged one strikeout every 20.7 at-bats (he struck out just 29 times, a career low). Mattingly batted .296 with runners in scoring position and 37 of his 88 RBIs drove in Rickey Henderson.
Named to his fifth straight American League All-Star team, Mattingly became only the eighth player in Yankee history, and the first in 30 years, to hit .300 or better in five consecutive seasons- he joined an elite Yankee group that includes Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Earle Combs, Bob Meusel, Bill Dickey, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle. Mantle was the last to accomplish this feat, doing so from 1954 through 1958. Mattingly was the first Yankee to lead the club in hits five straight years since Mantle (1955-59); the only other Yankee to accomplish this was Gehrig (1930-34). His third inning single on July 3 at Chicago off Bill Long was his 1,000th career hit- Mattingly became the 33rd Yankee to reach that plateau.
Don was named American League Player of the Week, July 11-17, going 9-for-17 (.529) with five runs, a double, two homers, four RBIs, a .941 slugging percentage and a .529 on-base percentage [1.4700 OPS]. His .327 road batting average was second in the AL behind Wade Boggs for players with at least 250 at-bats. Don's .311 batting average was seventh in the AL, eighth in the majors; his 94 runs 10th in the AL, 18th in the majors; his 186 hits ninth in the AL, 17th in the majors; his 37 doubles tied for 11th in the AL, tied for 15th in the majors; his 17-game hitting streak tied for fourth in the AL, tied for ninth in the majors; and his 13 game-winning RBI tied for seventh in the AL, tied for 16th in the majors.
His five hits on April 12 at Toronto tied him with seven players for the 1988 American League high while tying his own career high. Mattingly tied Oakland's Luis Polonia for most runs in a game with five on April 30 against Texas, also tying the Yankee single-game record (now done 12 times, having last been done by Bobby Murcer in 1972). His only stolen base of the year came in that game.
He was ejected on May 6 at Texas by umpire Tim Welke for arguing a ninth inning strikeout. On May 17 at Seattle he made his first error since September 14, 1987, playing 55 errorless games in between. Mattingly's start in left field on July 24 at Kansas City was his first outfield start since August 4, 1984- 590 games in between.
On August 11 against Toronto he hit a two-run, two-out game-tying homer in the ninth inning (the Yanks lost 6-5 in 11). On August 13 at Minnesota, he was ejected in the eighth inning for arguing a check-swing strikeout. On August 16 against California, he had his 10th career two-homer game (hitting both off Willie Fraser).
Don made his only appearance as a designated hitter on September 12 at Cleveland, going 0-for-4 while twice being called out on strikes. On September 21 against Baltimore he had his only pinch-hit at-bat, going 0-for-1. On September 27 at Baltimore, he had his 11th career two-homer game (hitting both off Curt Schilling).
In 1979 Don was selected by the Yankees in the 19th round of the June draft. He was drafted late as teams expected him to accept a college scholarship. He was signed by Yankee scouts Jax Robertson and Gust Poulos.
He was named South Atlantic League MVP in 1980. In 1981, Mattingly was named Yankee Minor League Player of the Year, led the Southern League in doubles and was named to the Topps and Southern League [Class AA] All-Star teams as an outfielder. He was named an International League All-Star as an outfielder in 1982 and his outstanding season earned him a promotion to the Yankees in September.
Don had a terrific rookie season in 1983. He won the James P. Dawson Award as the top Yankee rookie in spring training and was in the starting lineup for the Yankee home opener. Optioned to Columbus on April 14, he hit eight home runs with 37 RBIs and a .340 batting average with the Clippers before his recall on June 20 when Bobby Murcer retired. Don hit his first major league homer off John Tudor on June 24 at Fenway Park. He hit in 24 of 25 games, July 13- August 11, going hitless (0-for-2) in both ends of the 'Pine Tar Game' (July 24 and August 18). He played one-third of an inning at second base in the August 18 conclusion of that game. He played first base on July 4th when Dave Righetti no-hit the Red Sox.
In 1984, Mattingly became the first Yankee to win the AL batting championship since Mickey Mantle in 1956, battling teammate Dave Winfield to the last day of the season, winning .343 to .340. He was named to his first AL All-Star team in his first full season in the majors. He led the AL with 207 hits, 44 doubles and 59 multiple-hit games, was second with a .537 slugging percentage and was the first Yankee left-handed batter to hit .340 since Lou Gehrig hit .351 in 1937. Don was the top road hitter in the AL at .364 and led AL first basemen with a .996 fielding percentage, making only five errors in 1,236 total chances.
In a phenomenal 1985 season, displaying prowess with bat and glove, Mattingly led the majors with 145 RBIs, 48 doubles and 15 sacrifice flies and led the American League with 370 total bases, 21 game winning RBIs and 86 extra-base hits. He was second in the AL with 211 hits, a .567 slugging percentage and 66 multiple hit games, third with a .324 batting average, fourth with 35 home runs and tied for sixth with 107 runs. He also led AL first basemen with a .995 fielding percentage.
His 145 RBIs were the most by a Yankee since DiMaggio had 155 in 1948, and he was the first Yankee to lead the AL in RBIs since Roger Maris in 1961; he reached the 100 RBI plateau on August 20- the earliest by a Yankee since Maris and Mantle recorded their 100th on August 4 and August 6, respectively, in 1961. His 211 hits were the most by a Yankee since Red Rolfe's 213 in 1939 and is the seventh highest total in Yankee history (including his own 238 in '86), and Mattingly was the first Yankee to collect 200+ hits in consecutive seasons since DiMaggio in 1936-37. He was the first AL player to lead the majors in doubles in consecutive seasons since Tris Speaker in 1920-23 and was the first player to lead the AL in doubles in consecutive seasons since Tony Oliva in 1969-70. His 48 doubles is the third highest single-season total in Yankee history, and his 652 at-bats is the eighth highest total in Yankee history [including his own 677 in '86]. Don was the first Yankee to have 600+ at-bats in consecutive seasons since Chris Chambliss in 1976-78. Don's 159 games led the team and is the second highest total by a Yankee at first base (he played 160 in '86).
Don suffered a minor tear of the medial meniscus cartilage in his right knee in February while working out with weights at his Evansville, Indiana home. He underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair the damage on February 22 and his rehabilitation caused him to miss the first 18 spring training games. Upon his return, Don homered in his first at-bat on March 26.
He didn't hit his first [regular season] home run until May 5, off Kansas City's Bud Black. Mattingly's batting average tailed off to .285 on June 8 following a 0-for-19 streak (his longest 0-for of '85), yet he had a 20-game hitting streak, June 22-July 12, the longest of '85 by a Yankee and then longest of his career: over the streak he went 32-for-81 (.395) with 11 runs, nine doubles, three homers and 21 RBIs. He committed his first error on July 7 against Minnesota, breaking a streak of 153 games (1,371 total chances), dating back to June 22, 1984, of not committing an error at first base. Don also had a 19-game hitting streak from August 1-21, going 35-for-79 (.443) with 25 runs, seven doubles, 10 homers and 21 RBIs. He drove in at least one run in 10 straight games, September 20-30, for a total of 16 RBIs.
Don had five two-homer games; the first of his career was on August 2 (both homers hit off Chicago's Britt Burns). He drove in four runs in a game four times and drove in Rickey Henderson with 56 of his 145 RBIs. Don was the first player to lead the majors in RBIs and strike out as few as 41 times since Ted Kluszewski led the bigs with 141 RBIs in 1954 while striking out 35 times.
Batting second in 58 games, he was 85-for-242 (.351) and batting third in 99 games he was 124-for-404 (.307). He batted fourth twice, going 2-for-6.
The two games Mattingly missed came on May 26-27 at Oakland when he was suffering from a groin pull. He underwent minor surgery on November 12 to correct a catch in the extensor tendon of his right hand's little finger- little to no rehabilitation was required.
The 1985 American League MVP and runner-up in the '86 MVP voting behind Roger Clemens had another remarkable season in 1986, supporting a mid-season New York Times poll of 417 major league players that named Mattingly the best player in the game. He led the majors with 238 hits, a .573 slugging percentage, 388 total bases (leading the majors for the second consecutive year), 86 extra-base hits (also leading the majors for the second consecutive year) and 53 doubles (leading the majors for the third consecutive year- the first player to lead the American League or the major leagues three straight years since Tris Speaker from 1920-23).
His 238 hits broke the former Yankee record of 231 set in 1927 by Earle Combs; his 232nd hit, which broke the record, came in the seventh inning on October 2 at Fenway Park off Sammy Stewart. His 388 total bases were the most by a Yankee since Joe DiMaggio posted 418 in 1937 and the most in the AL since Jim Rice's 406 in 1978, and equaled the fourth highest total in the majors since 1939; Mattingly became the 10th player to lead the majors in total bases two consecutive years, the first since Mike Schmidt in 1980-81, and the only Yankee besides Babe Ruth in 1923-24. His 53 doubles broke the Yankee mark of 52 set in 1927 by Lou Gehrig; his 53rd came in the fourth inning of New York's final game on October 5 at Fenway off Jeff Sellers.
His final batting average of .352 was second in the majors, his 117 runs was third in the majors and third in the AL, his 15 game winning RBI tied for third in the majors and tied for first in the AL, his 113 RBIs was fifth in the majors and third in the AL, his .394 on-base percentage was seventh in the majors and fifth in the AL, and his 31 home runs tied for seventh in the majors and tied for sixth in the AL.
He went into the final series of the season trailing Boston's Wade Boggs .357 to .350 in the American League batting race. While Boggs sat out the four-game set with a sore right hamstring, Don went 8-for-19 (.421 BA) with five runs, two doubles, two homers and four RBIs. Given the number of at-bats for Mattingly in that series (19), he would have needed 12 hits to overtake Boggs (the averages would have been .3574 for Mattingly and .3568 for Boggs).
Mattingly was the first Yankee to hit .350 or better since Mickey Mantle hit .365 in 1957, and the first Yankee left-handed hitter to hit .350 or better since Lou Gehrig hit .351 in 1937. His .352 average was the highest by a Yankee left-handed hitter since Gehrig hit .354 and Bill Dickey hit .362 in 1936. Mattingly became only the eighth Yankee to ever hit at least .352, [joining] Babe Ruth (eight times), Gehrig (5), Joe DiMaggio (3), Mantle (2), Earle Combs, Tony Lazzeri and Bill Dickey- all but Lazzeri are Hall of Famers.
He became the 11th player in major league history, and the first in 27 years (Hank Aaron in 1959), to finish with at least 200 hits, a .350 BA, 30 homers and 100 RBIs- the others were Lou Gehrig (five times), Babe Ruth and Rogers Hornsby (three each), Chuck Klein, Jimmie Foxx and Stan Musial (twice each), Lefty O'Doul, Hack Wilson and Joe Medwick. He became the first AL player to record 230 hits, 100 RBIs and 30 homers (accomplished by six National Leaguers, most recently by Musial in 1948). Mattingly became the first player to lead the Yankees in average, hits, doubles and RBIs three straight years since Gehrig, 1932-34. His 53 doubles were the most in the majors since Hal McRae had 54 for Kansas City in 1977. He was the first Yankee to record 200+ hits three consecutive years since Lou Gehrig in 1930-32.
Don became the fifth Yankee to play in 162 games in a single season, joining Bobby Richardson (1962), Roy White (1970 and 1973) and Chris Chambliss (1978). Through the end of '86 Don had played in 282 consecutive games (the final 120 of '85, 162 in '86). He missed just six innings of play in '86: four innings on June 28 against Toronto (due to a bruised left index finger) and two innings on August 7 against Milwaukee.
His .996 fielding percentage led AL first basemen for the third consecutive year and he's the only Yankee to ever lead the league in fielding percentage three straight years at any position. He led AL first basemen with 160 games and 1,483 total chances and won his second consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Award.
Don hit .305 (50-for-164) with runners in scoring position, and his four-hit games came on May 6 at Chicago, May 17 at Seattle, June 19 at Toronto and June 20 at Toronto. He had two three-double games (April 21 at Kansas City and July 11 at Minnesota) and two two-homer games (May 28 at Seattle and June 9 at Detroit), and his 79 multi-hit games led the club. He averaged just one strikeout for every 19.3 at-bats.
He was slowed in spring training of 1986 by a bone bruise of the left thumb, playing only 16 of 28 exhibition games, hitting .300 with no home runs and six RBIs. Don recorded his 500th career hit with his first hit on Opening Day on April 8 against Kansas City and notched his first career five-RBI game on April 21 at Kansas City. He did not hit his first home run until his 81st at-bat on April 30 against Minnesota off Bert Blyleven. Don tied the major league record with three sacrifice flies on May 3 against Texas and hit in 14 straight games, May 4-18, going 28-for-61 (.459) with 11 runs, 11 doubles, three homers and eight RBIs, raising his batting average from .261 to .340.
A sac fly in the ninth inning on June 24 at Boston broke a streak of 57 at-bats without an RBI that began with his last at-bat on June 12 (he went 11 games between recording RBIs 52 and 53). Don hit in 13 of 14 games, June 19-July 3, going 30-for-60 (.500) with 14 runs, seven doubles, a homer and five RBIs, raising his batting average from .310 to .344; after June 24 his batting average never dipped below .334.
He made his first start and first appearance as a designated hitter on July 6 at Chicago, breaking a string of 201 consecutive starts at first base. With Mike Pagliarulo bothered by a sore hamstring, Mattingly made three appearances at third base, the first coming on August 29 at Seattle. He became the first left-handed third baseman since Mike Squires played 13 games at third for the White Sox in 1984, and the first such Yankee third baseman since Hal Chase played one game there in 1908. Among the three appearances at third were two starts: the second games of doubleheaders, on August 30 and on August 31, both at Seattle.
Don had a career high 24-game hitting streak extending from August 30 (second game) through September 26. It was the longest streak of Don's career, and the seventh longest hitting streak in Yankee history as well as being the longest in the AL in 1986. He hit safely in 44 of the last 49 games, going 77-for-149 (.387) with 40 runs, 16 doubles, a triple, 11 homers and 34 RBIs. He hit safely in 81 of 97 games from June 18 on, going 153-for-403 (.380).
40 of the 113 runs driven in by Mattingly were scored by Rickey Henderson. His season final batting average of .352 was the highest point reached by Mattingly throughout the year, and his .332 career batting average through '86 ranked third on the all-time Yankee list of players with at least 500 games, trailing only Ruth and Gehrig. His 677 at-bats in '86 is the fourth highest total in Yankee history, trailing only Horace Clarke's total of 686 in 1970, and Bobby Richardson's totals of 679 in 1964 and Yankee record of 692 in 1962.
Mattingly began his superb 1987 season slowly, hitting .175 on April 15 after nine games. His April batting average of .265 was his career low for that month (interestingly, Mattingly had exactly 22 hits in each April from 1984-87). He had his first career three-strikeout game on April 13 against Cleveland.
His batting average was as low as .239 (27-for-113) on May 9, after 29 games. Don then went 37-for-93 (.398) from May 10 through June 4, including a 15-game hitting streak (May 19-June 4) to raise his season stats to .311 (64-for-206) on June 4 with six home runs and 36 RBIs in 53 games.
Before the June 4 game at Milwaukee, Don's back was injured when he was wrestled in the clubhouse by Bob Shirley. He tried to play, going 2-for-3 with an RBI before the pain became too severe to continue. His innings missed in that game were his first since August 7, 1986 (he missed only six innings all of '86), and that game was the last of a string of 335 consecutive games played (final 120 of 1985, 162 in '86 and the first 53 of '87), Don last sitting out on May 27, 1985. Tests later taken at NYU Medical Center revealed a disc problem in his back, forcing him to be placed on the 15-day disabled list on June 9. Activated from the disabled list on June 24, the Yankees were 11-7 during Mattingly's absence (June 5-23).
Upon his return on June 24, he hit in 18 of the next 22 games (June 14-July 19), going 39-for-95 (.411) with 25 runs, eight doubles, 12 homers and 33 RBIs, raising his overall batting average to .342- his season high. Mattingly went 4-for-6 on June 26 against Boston.
From July 8 to July 18 he hit at least one home run in eight straight games, tying the major league record previously set by Pirate Dale Long in 1956. During the same streak, Mattingly smashed the American League record of homering in six straight games, previously done six times (last by Reggie Jackson with Baltimore in 1976; also done by Lou Gehrig in 1931 and Roger Maris in 1961). Over the eight-game homer streak, Mattingly hit .459 (17-for-37) with 10 homers and 21 RBIs.
Mattingly had seven RBIs on July 16 at Texas, his single-game career high and the most by a Yankee in '87. He had at least one extra-base hit in ten consecutive games, July 7 through July 19, breaking the AL record of nine set by Babe Ruth in 1921. Don was twice named AL Player of the Week- for the weeks ending on July 12 and July 19, coming into the game of July 20 with a season high batting average of .342. He was also named AL Player of the Month for July, going 37-for-99 (.374) with 21 runs, 10 homers and 24 RBIs for the month.
On July 20 Don tied the major league record of 22 putouts by a first baseman in a nine-inning game, also held by Tommy Jones (St. Louis Browns, May 11, 1906), Hal Chase (New York Highlanders, September 21, 1906) and Ernie Banks (Chicago Cubs, May 9, 1963).
He missed the games of July 21-22 at Minnesota with a slightly sprained right wrist suffered on July 18 after hitting his record-tying homer. Coming back from that injury, he was used as a pinch hitter on July 24 at Chicago, his first pinch-hitting appearance since April 6, 1984. Upon completion of the eight consecutive game home run streak on July 18, Mattingly went without a homer from July 19 through August 7 (16 games) and hit just one homer over 21 games (July 19-August 12). He had 11 extra base hits including five homers with 11 RBIs in 12 games from August 8 through August 21, and seven extra-base hits including four homers with nine RBIs in seven games from August 14 through August 21.
Mattingly had his second and final four-hit game on September 2 against Oakland, going 4-for-5. He had an 11-game hitting streak, August 30 through September 11; he hit in 17 of 18, August 30 through September 18; 26 of 28, August 30 through September 29; and in 28 of his last 32 games, August 30 through October 4, going 45-for-136 (.331) with seven homers and 31 RBIs. On September 22 at Milwaukee (second game) he made his first appearance as a designated hitter since July 6, 1986 at Chicago. Suffering from flu-like symptoms, Don was pinch-hit for by Orestes Destrade on October 1 against Boston, the first time he had been pinch-hit for since Vic Mata batted for him on August 3, 1984.
He had a pair of two-homer games, July 8 against Minnesota and July 16 at Texas. He hit .311 with runners in scoring position and averaged one strikeout per every 15.0 at-bats.
Don blasted six grand slams in 1987, setting a new major league record (No. 6 came September 29 at Yankee Stadium off Boston's Bruce Hurst) and breaking the record of five set by Cub Ernie Banks in 1955 and tied by Oriole Jim Gentile in 1961. The Yankee record for grand slams in a season was four set by Lou Gehrig in 1934 and tied by Tommy Henrich in 1948.
With the bases loaded Don was 9-for-19 (.474 BA) in 21 plate appearances, and in addition to his six grand slams had two singles, a double, a pair of sacrifice flies and 33 RBIs. Prior to 1987, he was just 12-for-47 (.255 BA) with just one extra-base hit in career bases-loaded situations. In fact, prior to his first '87 grand slam, his career numbers with the bases loaded fell to 13-for-52 (.250) in 70 plate appearances with two extra-base hits (having gone 1-for-5 with a double, sac fly and four RBIs in '87), and beginning with the first grand slam he went 8-for-14 (.571 BA) with six slams and 29 RBIs.
Mattingly's .996 fielding percentage (five errors in 1,335 total chances) was best in the American League for the fourth straight year (1,000 or more total chances), tying the AL's first baseman's record for most consecutive years leading the league in fielding (100 or more games played) set by Charles Gandil of the Indians and White Sox from 1916 to 1919 (the major league record is five consecutive years set by the Reds' Ted Kluszewski from 1951 to 1955). He tied with Kent Hrbek for fewest errors (5) by a first baseman (1,000 or more total chances).
In 1987 Don became the first player in the seven-year history of the Elias Sports Bureau's report for the MLBPA to compile a perfect 1.000 score, ranking first in each category used to measure production of first basemen: plate appearances, batting average, on-base percentage, home runs and runs batted in. He was selected to his fourth consecutive AL All-Star team and was selected to the AP, UPI, and Sporting News All-Star and Silver Slugger teams, each for the third straight year. He also captured his third straight Rawlings Gold Glove Award for AL first basemen.
Don had his fourth straight 100+ RBI season and was the first Yankee since Mickey Mantle (1955-62) and Roger Maris (1960-62) to hit 30+ homers in three straight seasons. He became the first ever Yankee to lead the club in batting average, hits, doubles and RBIs four consecutive seasons; breaking down the individual categories, the last Yankees to lead the club at least four straight seasons were: batting average- Mantle 1955-58; hits- Bobby Murcer 1971-74; doubles- none until Mattingly; RBI - Reggie Jackson- 1977-80. Prior to Mattingly, the last Yankee to have at least four straight 100+ RBI seasons was Joe DiMaggio, 1937-42. Ranked in the American League in 1987, Mattingly's 38 doubles were tied for third; his .327 batting average and 115 RBIs were fifth; his .559 slugging percentage was seventh, and his 186 hits were eighth.
Don attended Evansville (IN) Memorial High where he played baseball, basketball and football. He played Little League, Babe Ruth and American Legion ball in Evansville. His older brother Randy played pro football.
Don enjoys racquetball and maintains homes in both Evansville and Tenafly, New Jersey. In August of 1987 he opened a restaurant in Evansville called 'MATTINGLY'S 23.' During the 1990 season, he and his wife Kim are donating $100 for each home run to singer Paul Simon's project to purchase mobile medical units that will service underprivileged children in New York City."
-1990 New York Yankees Information Guide
American League batting champion (.343), 1984.
Led American League first basemen in fielding percentage (at least 1,000 total chances), (.996), 1984.
The Sporting News American League Player of the Year, 1984.
The Sporting News American League All-Star Team, 1984.
American League Player of the Week, August 5-11, 1985.
American League Player of the Month, August 1985.
American League Player of the Month, September 1985.
Led American League first basemen in fielding percentage (at least 1,000 total chances), (.995), 1985.
American League Most Valuable Player, BBWAA, 1985.
The Sporting News American League Player of the Year, 1985.
American League Player of the Year, New York Chapter of BBWAA, 1985.
The Sporting News American League All-Star Team, 1985.
Rawlings American League Gold Glove Award, First Base, 1985.
The Sporting News Silver Slugger Team, 1985.
United Press International All-Star Team, 1985.
Associated Press All-Star Team, 1985.
American League Player of the Month, September 1986.
Led American League first basemen in fielding percentage (at least 1,000 total chances), (.996), 1986.
Established Yankee record for hits, one season (238), 1986.
Established Yankee record for doubles, one season (53), 1986.
The Sporting News American League Player of the Year, 1986.
American League Player of the Year, New York Chapter of BBWAA, 1986.
The Sporting News American League All-Star Team, 1986.
Rawlings American League Gold Glove Award, First Base, 1986.
The Sporting News Silver Slugger Team, 1986.
United Press International All-Star Team, 1986.
Associated Press All-Star Team, 1986.
Tied major league record for most doubles, inning (2), April 11, 1987, seventh inning.
American League Player of the Week, July 6-12, 1987.
Established major league record for most consecutive games, one or more extra-base hits (10), July 7-19, 1987.
Established major league record for most home runs, seven consecutive games (homering each game) (9), July 8-17, 1987.
Established major league record for most home runs, eight consecutive games (homering each game) (10), July 8-18, 1987.
Tied major league record for most consecutive games hitting home runs (8), July 8-18, 1987.
American League Player of the Week, July 13-19, 1987.
Tied major league record for first basemen for most putouts, nine-inning game (22), July 22, 1987.
Tied major league record for most chances accepted, nine-inning game (22), July 22, 1987.
American League Player of the Month, July 1987.
Established major league record for most grand slams, one season (6), 1987.
Led American League first basemen in fielding percentage (at least 1,000 total chances), (.996), 1987.
The Sporting News American League All-Star Team, 1987.
Rawlings American League Gold Glove Award, First Base, 1987.
The Sporting News Silver Slugger Team, 1987.
United Press International All-Star Team, 1987.
Associated Press All-Star Team, 1987.
Tied American League record for first basemen for most consecutive years leading league in fielding percentage (4), 1984-87.
American League Player of the Week, July 11-17, 1988.
The Sporting News American League All-Star Team, 1988.
Rawlings American League Gold Glove Award, First Base, 1988.
Rawlings American League Gold Glove Award, First Base, 1989.
-1990 New York Yankees Information Guide
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