Don Mattingly
Donnie Baseball - Lithograph on Paper
New York Yankees Gifts and Memorabilia
1985 American League Most Valuable Player
Highlights
Size is approx 21-1/2 X 16 Unframed, 623 piece edition - Put on Museum Quality Canvas; A Limited Edition Reproduction of the original.
Item
Description
During the 1980’s, when you thought of class on the baseball field, the first name that came to mind was Don Mattingly. A tireless worker, he first tasted big league pitching in 1982. By 1984, not only had he become the everyday first baseman of the New York Yankees, but he put up a year that would be the envy of anyone. .343 batting average, 23 dingers and 110 RBI’s. Incredibly, he followed that year up by winning the 1985 American League Most Valuable Player award. His relentless assault on the pitching staffs of the American League earned him the nick name “The Hit Man” and his tireless work ethic and passion for the game, earned him moniker “Donnie Baseball”. He hit over .300 every year from 1984 through 1989, and was part of a juggernaut Yankee offense that piled up runs at record rates. Despite his prolific hitting and the team’s potent line up, the one thing that he was missing was a trip to the post season. As the decade turned to the 1990’s, the team’s performance fell way off and the Yankees were suddenly floundering near the bottom of the division. Still the darling of the fans, Donnie Baseball seemed destined to be the greatest Yankee never to feel the passion of post season baseball. Finally, in 1994, the Yankees rebounded in a big way. By August, they were running away with the Eastern Division, when a work stoppage ended the season. Again, there would be no post season for the Hit Man.
Finally, in 1995, Major League baseball enacted a “Wild Card” system that was instituted the previous season and the Yankees, despite finishing in second place in the division, found themselves as the first wild card entrant in the American League Post Season Playoffs. For the first time, the Hit Man could take his hacks in hopes of leading the Yankees into the World Series. The Yanks won the first game of the best of five series with the Seattle Mariners, and game II turned out to be one of the epic battles of all time. The Yankees trailed 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning, when teammate Rubin Sierra homered to start the inning. The Hit Man, batting sixth in the order, was next up. Digging in against Andy Benes, and to the back drop of a serenade from the Yankee fans, The Hit Man drove this pitch deep into the right field bleachers to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead. After his massive blow, a thunderous chant came cascading down from the stands, “Don-nie Baseball”, Don-nie Baseball”, “Don-nie Baseball”. The chant seemed to shower down from the stands forever, as his adoring legions poured their hearts and souls upon their beloved leader and team captain.
The Yankees wound up winning this second game in a marathon fifteen innings, to lead the series 2-0, but lost three straight games in Seattle to lose the playoff. This homer turned out to be the last in the career of Donnie Baseball. Injuries had slowed the great slugger down and he retired at the end of the series. For the record, the Hit Man did just that in his first and only foray into the postseason, banging out 10 hits in the five game series and posting an incredible .417 batting average.
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