DON MATTINGLY
11th Year on Ballot (2010 – 16.1%)
PLAYING CAREER: New York Yankees (1982–1995)
ACHIEVEMENTS: Career batting average of .307 with 2153 hits, 222 home runs and 1099 RBI. 1985 American League Most Valuable Player. Nine-time Gold Glove Award winner (1985-1989 and 1991-1994). Six straight All-Star selections (1984-1989). Hit .300 or more in seven seasons. Hit 20-plus home runs five times…30-plus home runs three times. Had number retired by the Yankees on August 31, 1997.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING ON TWITTER:
@NickyBluEyesS: its a shame Mattingly isn’t in. Puckett is w/ virtually the same stats. A ring is a team accomplishment – can’t blame Don.
@DashTreyhorn: Don Mattingly did a lot of things well, just not the whole “being a Hall of Famer” part.
@5States: I’m a Don Mattingly apologist, so I’ll never be annoyed by mention of him in the HOF. I don’t care what argument against it you have.
HOVG THOUGHTS: Like most of the world, I was enamored with Mattingly when he hit the scene. I had his 1984 Donruss rookie card encased in Lucite and thought I was witnessing the second coming. During a six-year run beginning in 1984, Mattingly averaged 26 home runs, 114 RBIs and a .327 batting average. No player during that stretch had more RBI than Mattingly’s 684 amd only Hall of Famer Wade Boggs (1269) had more hits than Mattingly’s 1219. That six-year peak (from 1984 to 1989) is clearly one of the best of his generation and overall, his brief career stacks up with some others in the Hall. I’m not saying he goes in now, but I do think “Donnie Baseball” will hover on the ballot under he’s no longer allowed and get his due from the Veterans Committee.
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