November 4, 2003 - Family wanted Mattingly to return to baseball - Don Mattingly's family encouraged him to take the position left vacant when Rick Down was let go as the Yankees hitting coach. His wife Kim told him "Your opportunity may run out at some point. They may quit asking." The Yankees having asked several times to take a position since he retired in 1995.
November 4, 2003 - Donnie is back in pinstripes - YES, it is true. Donnie
Baseball will once again be in pinstripes. Today it was announced that Mattingly
will replace Rick Down as hitting coach. Mattingly signed a one year contract,
the terms of which were not announced. Also announced at the press conference
were Willie Randolph will move to bench coach replacing Zim, Lee Mazzilli will
move from first to third, and Luis Sojo will take over as first base coach.
Mel Stottlemyre is expected to announce his decision by November 13.
Regarding this change, George Steinbrenner, Yankees owner, said "...and having Don Mattingly back in pinstripes is a real boost for our organization."
October 25, 2003 - Still trying to find a new host - Still working on finding a suitable host for hitman23.com. If anyone has any suggestions please send them to me.
October 15, 2003 - Mattingly throws out first pitch - Donnie threw out the first pitch before Game 6 of the ALCS Boston vs New York. For more information, vist mlb.com. There is also an audio clip of Mattingly doing an interview. If anyone has any pics from this game please send them to me (credit will be given of course).
September 11, 2003 - Donnie Baseball in Puerto Rico - Don Mattingly will be attending the 2nd Annual Roberto Clemente Celebrity All-Star Weekend in San Juan, Puerto Rico November 8-9, 2003. If you would like more information please email me.
July 13, 2003 - Dan's Don Mattingly Tribute Site soon to be moving to a new home - this site will soon be moving to a new home. The new address will be hitman23.com - which I think is a fitting choice. I will post the final move date on the home page as soon as everything is finalized. I will continue to have the site here for a period of time to allow everyone to adjust. The site has been hosted by Daemen College ever since I became a student in 1996 through till now even after I graduated two years ago. Much thanks to Chris Wilson who helped get me started!
June 4, 2003 - Taylor Mattingly selected by the Yankees in the First-Year Player Draft - Taylor Mattingly, oldest son of Don Mattingly, was selected in the 42nd round (pick #1262) by the Yankees. Taylor attended high school at Evansville Central High School.
June 4, 2003 - Jeter named the 11th Yankee Captain - Before the game against the Cincinnati Reds, Derek Jeter was named the 11th Captain of the New York Yankees. Jeter is the first captain since Mattingly retired after the 1995 season. "Derek is a great and logical choice," Mattingly said. "What he has done speaks for himself. He handles himself with class and dignity and seems more and more comfortable being out in front."
June 2003 - Mattingly signing for Steiner at Hall of Heroes - Mattingly will be signing at Hall of Heroes in the Roosevelt Field Shopping Mall in NJ on June 15th from 11-lpm. It is almost sold out! Please contact Steiner Sports for additional information.
April 20, 2003 - Mattingly turns 42 - Hope you sang for him because today is Don's birthday. Did you make a cake and sing?
April 15, 2003 - Mattingly to sign for Steiner Sports - Steiner Sports will be holding a signing with Donnie Baseball. I am sure it is a private signing but the items he signs (100th Anniversary Yankee Baseballs) will be available from Steiner Sports.
March 19, 2003 - Gallery of Sports holding private signing - Gallery of Sports is holding a private signing with Donnie Baseball. The due date for items to be received or to order something is May 9, 2003. For more information, email Gallery of Sports or call them at 732-345-1883.
March 2003 - Donnie is a special guest instructor at Yankees spring training - once again Donnie will be present during Yankees spring training in Tampa, FL. As he has done in previous years, Don will be a special guest instructor working with players as they get ready for the 2003 season.
February 19, 2003 - Mattingly leaves Hawaii for Tampa - During his presentation yesterday Donnie Baseball said he is leaving Hawaii today and headed to Tampa, FL to help out at Yankees spring training again this year.
February 18, 2003 - Mattingly speaks at Hawaii Trade Conference - As a guest of Major League Baseball, Don Mattingly spoke on autographs and the importance of authenticity to both athletes and to the sports card hobby. Look for more to come on his presentation in the near future.
February 17, 2003 - Mattingly at opening reception for Hawaii Trade Conference - Mattingly appeared at the opening reception for the Hawaii Trade Conference. I had the pleasure of meeting Donnie Baseball at the reception. This is the first time I have had the pleasure to meet him and it definitely a highlight in my life. Mattingly is a guest of Major League Baseball and will be speaking tomorrow on autographs and authenticity.
January 14, 2003 - Mattingly and Ripken to join in ownership of minor league team with David Heller - Don Mattingly and Cal Ripken Jr. will be minority owners of a minor league team that will move to Evansville, IN and begin play in 2004. The team is Dodgers affiliate that is now playing in south Georgia. Mattingly and Ripken will be joining with majority owner David Heller to bring the team to Evansville. For more information, visit the press release from Mattingly's agent or visit the site of the new Evansville Baseball team.
January 7, 2003 - 2003 Hall of Fame Election Results - Thirty three candidates were eligible in this years Hall of Fame election. In order to be elected, candidates are required to get at least 75% of the votes on the ballots cast by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). Two candidates were elected this year: Eddie Murray and Gary Carter. Unfortunately Don Mattingly was not elected, garnering 68 votes (13.71%). Since he received at least 25 votes, he will be eligible for the 2004 elections.
In an online MLB.com poll of baseball fans, Mattingly got third placed in MLB.com votes with 34.4%. The fans love Mattingly.
In my opinion this is an atrocity. Don Mattingly was one of the best players to play during his time. I believe he is being severely neglected by the voting members of the BBWAA. Don Mattingly was not the only worthy candidate to be passed over. Ryne Sandberg among others got passed over by voting members. Hopefully next year the voting members of the BBWAA will get with the program and put Mattingly in the HOF where he belongs.
November 15, 2002 - Gallery of Sports holding private signing - Gallery of Sports is holding a private signing with Donnie Baseball. The date to the left is the due date for items to be received or to order something. For more information, email Gallery of Sports or call them at 732-345-1883.
June 4, 2002 - Steiner Sports announces Live In-store appearance - Mattingly will be making a live appearance to sign autographs at the Hall of Heroes, Roosevelt Field Mall, Garden City, NJ on June 6th from 5 to 7 pm. Contact 516-739-0580 for more information.
April 20, 2002 - Happy Birthday - Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday Donnie Baseball, Happy Birthday to you!
April 2, 2002 - Steiner Sports announces Live In-store appearances - Mattingly will be signing autographs April 13, 2002 at the Hall of Heroes in the Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City, NJ. If you would like more information please email me.
April 1, 2002 - Gallery of Sports is holding a private signing with Donnie Baseball - Gallery of Sports is holding a private signing with Don Mattingly. You can send your items to them to have Donnie sign them. The due date for sending your items to them is May 15, 2002. If you are interested I can put you in touch with Gallery of Sports. All you need to do is email me.
March 2, 2002 - Mattingly speaks highly of Drew Henson - "I love his demeanor, he's got a great swing and some pop in his bat," Mattingly said. "He's going to be a good hitter. He has big power, and as he learns his swing and how to approach certain things, he'll improve. Time is going to help him -- the more he plays, the better he's going to get. We're going to see good things from him." Henson said hearing those words from a player like Mattingly is quite a thrill. "He knows hitting, and what it takes to hit in New York," Henson said. "It's wonderful that he said those things, and now I have to keep working on it. He knows how to be successful, so the tips that he gives me, I have to take them and try to apply them if I want to get to his level."
February 25, 2002 - Mattingly returned to Legends Field today after being released from the hospital yesterday to continue his duties as a guest instructor.
February 24, 2002 - Mattingly was released from the hospital today and is ready to return back to the field.
February 21, 2002 - Mattingly was brought to the hospital after hurting his back during a drill. He was brought to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa, FL and will hopefully be released soon!
February 17, 2002 - Mattingly elected to Ted Williams
Hitters Hall of Fame - On this day Mattingly was elected to the HOF named
after the greatest hitter to ever play the game of baseball. I think that says
a lot about Donnie Baseball. Maybe Cooperstown should open up their ears! Click
here
for pictures of the Hitman and the other inductees.
February 2002 - Mattingly returns for his 3rd Spring Training season. Mattingly will perform the same duties he has the previous years.
January 31, 2002 - 22nd Annual Thurman Munson Awards Dinner takes place in Manhattan - Mattingly and Yankees Manager Joe Torre were recipients of the Thurman Munson Awards. The award is given to people who exemplified "outstanding success on the field and philanthropic contributions or community efforts off of it". Diana Munson said that she always had an eerie feeling everytime she saw Donnie play. "Mattingly reminds me the most of Thurman the way he played," she said. "I just admired that he was a no-nonsense 'I do my job' type of player. Thurman would have respected that so much."
December 1, 2001 --- Signing appearance
Mattingly will be making a signing appearance courtesy of Pastime Productions at a show in New Jersey. If anyone has more information regarding this please let me
know so I can post it for everyone to see.
November 30, 2001 --- Mattingly making an appearance at Ground Zero
For the first time, Mattingly will be visiting the site of the World Trade Center attacks. While there he will visit with firefighters,
police officers and workers. I am sure they will all appreciate the appearance very much.
November 17, 2001 --- Mattingly makes an appearance at the Field of Dreams
Mattingly made an appearance at the Field of Dreams store at the Scottsdale Fashion Square in Scottsdale, AZ. If anyone has pictures of him
signing or any other information please contact me.
July 2001 --- Mattingly announced as spokesperson for MLB Authenticated
Mattingly has been announced as a spokesperson for MLB Authenticated. This is a program that aims to authenticate autographed memorabilia, trying to crack down on the huge number of fakes that exist.
Click here to listen to the interview on MLB Radio (July 20, 2001). Also in this interview, he touches on his plans for the future, the 2001 HOF inductees, memories of his rookie year and '85 and '86, status of his back, his retirement and reasons why he did, the recent Yankees World Championships, comments on Joe Torre and Lou Pinella, what he misses about the game, and much more.
April 20, 2001 ---- Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday Donnie Baseball, happy birthday to you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Hitman was born on this day in 1961.
February 24, 2001 ---- CBS Sportsline and the Associate Press reports "Mattingly happy with full time role as parent
Here is the article as quoted for CBSsportsline.com:
Don Mattingly is happy as a spring training instructor and has no interest in becoming a fulltime coach just yet.
"I'm pretty much in the same boat I was last year," the former Yankees captain said as he began his second straight spring as a teacher in camp.
"I'm thrilled to be able to come and be part of it," Mattingly said. "It's an opportunity to keep the foot in the door."
Mattingly, just the 10th Yankees captain and currently the last, will be with the team for three weeks. His priority remains watching his three children -Taylor (15), Preston (13) and Jordan (9) grow up.
"I definitely want to be part of that," said Mattingly, who retired after the 1995 season - just before the Yankees started their string of four World Series titles in five years.
Mattingly said he might be interested in a fulltime coaching in a few years.
When the Yankees fired hitting coach Chris Chambliss during the offseason, manager Joe Torre contacted Mattingly to see if he was interested.
"Not really," Mattingly said. "It was back on the road, and I didn't want to go back on the road. I didn't want to be gone. It is an honor when somebody wants you."
Mattingly hit .307 with 222 homers and 1,099 RBI over 12-plus seasons with the Yankees. He wasn't bothered at the lack of support in his first year of eligibility for the Hall of Fame. He received 28.2 percent of the votes, far short of the 75 percent needed.
February 21, 2001 ---- Don's official site announces....
Don's official site that he has arrived on Tampa to spend 4 weeks at Yankees spring training. I am going to Florida in less than 2 weeks. I will be 1.5 hours from Tampa so I am gonna definitely attempt to go to some games. Look for pics and updates.
January/February, 2001
Donnie Baseball has been featured in many new baseball products by UpperDeck and Fleer. In 2000, the first card he was featured on was a 2000 Topps Stadium Relics autograhped card which included a piece of Yankee Stadium along with Don's signature. Next, he was featured in Fleer Greats of the Game. He had one regular issue card, an autographed card, and a game-used Yankee Clipping jersey card. UpperDeck then chose to include a game-used bat card numbered out of only 500 in the Yankee Master Collection. UpperDeck liked him so much he was also featured in one of their new products, Yankees Legends. He has two regular cards, a New Dynasty insert, game-used bat cards (2 version - a gold and a silver), a game-used jersey card, and lastly a game-used autographed jersey card.
For 2001, Topps is the first to put him in a product. He is in Topps 2001 with a Rooke Reprint as well as on a Combos Decade of Excellence which also features Berra, Jackson, Jeter, etc. The most recent release is 2001 Topps Chrome which is the same as the previously mentioned 2001 Topps except they are chrome and they also have the refractor versions of each of the cards.
To be released on February 21, 2001 by Fleer is 2001 Fleer Greats of the Game. This was the most anticipated release of 2000 and it is once again back in 2001. Mattingly will be featured on a regular issue card as well as have an autographed card. I will work on getting pics of all of these cards. Once I do, they will be put in the Gallery.
December 3, 2000 --- Don's Appearance in Secaucus, NJ
Don did a signing for Steiner Sports.
Below is a picture of him at the signing.
September 4, 2000 --- Mattingly makes first Old Timer's Day appearance - Mattingly returned to Yankee stadium for the first time (to play) since retiring in 1995. At the young age of 39, Mattingly is playing after being retired for only 5 years. Mattingly said he didn't feal like an old timer - "...I feel pretty good today, really."
April 11, 2000 --- Greats of the Game
Just wanted to show my fellow Mattingly fans what Mattingly's jersey card from the 2000 Fleer Greats of the Game looks like. I am so happy and honored to have this card be a part of my collection.
March 16, 2000 --- Fleer Greats of the Game is released on this day!
I can't believe it. In this great product, to be released by Fleer on March 22nd, Mattingly will have his first, and only so far, Game Used jersey card. I can't wait to see it, and hopefully I will get my hands on it soon. As soon as I do I will let you know and I will put up a scan for all to see.
March 2000 --- Donnie Baseball makes an appearance in Hawaii and then makes his way to Spring Training
Ahhhh, Hawaii. If I would have been allowed to miss 10 days worth of classes I would have been able to go to Hawaii where Mattingly was making an appearance. It was the famous Kit Young show. I am still upset that I could have gone but couldn't at the same time. Anyways... now he is down at Spring Training. I saw an interview of him on the news and I sat right in front of the TV, I don't think I even blinked. I didn't wanna miss a second. I felt like a little kid again, getting to see my hero on TV one more time. Could you imagine if he took the DH spot, how sweet would that be! I doubt it would happen, but we can hope for him being a manager in the future!
October 27, 1999 --- Yankees win their 25th World Championship Title
Yeah!!! Congratulations to the Yankees on winning another World Series. Clemens pitched an excellent game and got the win. I would like to remind everyone to pray for the three players, Scott Brosius, Luis Sojo, and Paul O'Neil, who lost their fathers this year, O'Neils' father passing away just this morning. I commend them on their great courage and their ability to continue helping the Yankees even through very rough times. Congratulations also goes to the MVP of the World Series - Mariano Rivera. Hopefully their is many more titles in the Yankees future. I look forward to next year!
October 24, 1999 --- Mattingly chats on Espn.com
For about an hour before and during game 2 of the World Series, Donnie held a chat session answering fans questions. I am going to put up a transcript of the chat, so check back very soon!
October 7, 1999 --- Mattingly throws out first pitch
On this Thursday night, Mattingly threw out the first pitch before the Yankee - Rangers playoff game. The Yankees ended up winning 3 to 1. He threw the pitch to his former teammate Jim Leyritz and the crowd gave him a thunderous ovation as he walked off the field. Before taking the field, Mattingly said: "It's a great honor to be asked to do this." "I've seen a lot of guys throw out the first pitch, from Mr. (Joe) DiMaggio to Yogi Berra. It's a little uncomfortable being that guy," Mattingly said of the experience. I am hoping this will be the first of many more appearances to come in the very near future. Donnie Baseball expressed interest in becoming more involved with the Yankees and said that he will probably go to spring training as an instructor. He is also planning to attend Old Timers Day next summer (usually in August).
August 12, 1999 --- Don Mattingly Honored in Nashville
Don Mattingly had another number retired, except this time it was for the Nashville Sounds and it was number 18. Mattingly was the first to have his number retired for the Sounds, which happened in a ceremony at Greer Stadium. If you would like more information, you can check out the Sounds website.
May 18, 1999 -- Other than some additions to his farm and his web page layout changing, not much is going on with Donnie. At least from what I can tell. According to his web page he has no scheduled appearances. If anyone knows otherwise, please email me! As for me, I have been purchasing his cards through various auction sites on the net. I finally got his Donruss RC, I now have all three of his rookie's. I will be updating my card list soon. Also I plan on adding a want list so maybe some of you visitors will be able to help me in my quest! Lastly, from your suggestions, I plan on adding some sounds and videos to the site. I will do this as soon as I get my new hard drive.
Late October, 1998 -- I purchased the Hitman Poster
You know the Hitman picture that you see when you first come to my site, well I actually have the real thing now, which I am ecstatic about. I have been looking for this poster forever. I purchased it from Donnie's official site and it has his signature on it. This is my first autographed item of Don Mattingly's.
