At long last, Don Mattingly gets his World Series moment
Toronto Blue Jays bench coach Don Mattingly speaks to media during Workout Day ahead of Game 1 of the World Series at Rogers Centre on Thursday in Toronto. Credit: Getty Images/Cole Burston
TORONTO
Don Mattingly’s dream of playing in a World Series in pinstripes died 30 years ago on the Kingdome’s AstroTurf, to the soundtrack of a deafening jet-engine roar as fireworks exploded overhead.
He’s put on three more uniforms since, through multiple coaching stints and two managerial tenures, yet the most beloved (but star-crossed) Yankee of his generation has become known for his uncanny knack for the near-miss.
On three different occasions, twice in the Bronx and once with the Dodgers, Mattingly walked away — only to have his former team appear in the World Series within the next two seasons.
In the Yankees’ case, they ended a 17-year title drought the year after Mattingly’s teary farewell in Seattle in 1995. When Mattingly returned to the Bronx coaching ranks, his stay was sandwiched between the expiring dynasty and the 2009 crown.
It was all too cruel, which is why Yankees Universe has to be rooting hard for the Blue Jays against the Dodgers in this World Series.
Maybe that seems like an uncomfortable dynamic, siding with the AL East rival that kicked the Yankees to the curb in the Division Series two weeks earlier. But no real Yankees fan, from the age of Mattingly’s comet-like arc through those pitch-black days in the Bronx, would wish for any other outcome.
So I asked Mattingly during Thursday’s media day if he was aware of how much this personal odyssey has meant to New Yorkers, especially now that someone considered by many as a forever Yankee is four wins away from finally getting his ring with the Jays.
“Only a couple hundred texts from different people,” Mattingly said, smiling. “It’s been a really humbling feeling that people kind of want that for you. I’m happy about that. But it does keep going back to our players. It’s really about them. I’m kind of blended into the woodwork here.”
As a 64-year-old bench coach for baseball’s Canadian franchise, sure. But Mattingly built a Cooperstown-worthy resume in the Bronx, and if not for the chronic back issues that prematurely cut short his playing days at age 34, the former MVP already would have his ring and likely a Hall of Fame plaque. That’s not “woodwork” material, and with his lengthy dugout experience, the modest Mattingly should get another shot at the big chair, too.
Six major-league teams are looking for a manager, after the recent hirings of first-timers Kurt Suzuki (Angels) and Tony Vitello (Giants). There’s no reason Mattingly shouldn’t be on the short list for those remaining clubs, and he didn’t dismiss the idea when asked Thursday about the possibility of giving it another shot.
“I’m still under contract here, I’m happy here,” he said. “The only thing I would do would have to be the right thing. Just totally fully going 100% in with what we’re doing here right now, and at this point, in my life and in my career, at the end of it, you’re like, all right, what’s next? Or is there anything next?”
On the eve of the World Series, most of the talk was about Mattingly’s past. Blue Jays manager John Schneider grew up in New Jersey a huge Mattingly fan, right down to the Converse Hit Man poster (double-breasted white pinstriped gangster suit, silver bat brandished like a machine gun) on his bedroom wall.
“Donnie was my favorite player,” Schneider said Thursday. “So to have him here in his first World Series with me is unbelievably special.”
On the flip side of Mattingly is Max Scherzer. This is his fourth World Series, and if the Blue Jays pull off the upset, he’ll win a third ring with three different teams. Scherzer just turned 41, but he still treats every champagne-and-beer clincher with a rookie’s fervor. Seeing Mattingly enjoy this trip is extra gratifying.
“There’s so many great players that have never gotten a chance to even be in a World Series,” Scherzer said. “My heart always goes out to them because this is what you play for, to be able to get one of these moments. This is everything you dream about. For Donnie . . . for this to be his first chance at it, I’m just jumping for joy for him that he gets the experience.”
Scherzer was a toddler when Mattingly was named MVP in 1985, but after “talking shop” with him in Toronto, he’s watched some highlight videos, then joked with the bench coach about his modern comp.
“I had the epiphany of a vantage point today, and was like, man, you look like Daniel Murphy,” Scherzer said, referring to the former Met. “I mean Murphy looks like you, reincarnated — peak Daniel Murphy. So we had a funny conversation about that.”
Scherzer was kidding around. But for Mattingly, after spending close to 20 minutes Thursday going over a career’s worth of early Octobers, this is serious business.
Few can truly appreciate the wait he’s endured, and maybe the stars are lining up: His Blue Jays took out the Yankees, then beat the Mariners, and now Dave Roberts — whose stolen base set up the Yankees’ 0-3 ALCS collapse in 2004 — will be in the Dodgers’ dugout for this World Series.
“Yeah, that sucker stealing second,” Mattingly said. “I don’t know if I necessarily believe in destiny. I believe in who plays the best . . . I think the teams that are meant to win, win.”
If anyone deserves a World Series ring, it’s Mattingly, who’s been tripped up by decades of bad timing. Now he’ll discover if it’s truly meant to be.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
