Don Mattingly

Donald Arthur Mattingly (born April 20, 1961), nicknamed "Donnie Baseball" and "the Hit Man", is an American former first baseman, manager and coach serving as the interim manager for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent his entire playing career in MLB with the New York Yankees from 1982 to 1995. A six-time All-Star, he led the American League (AL) in doubles three consecutive years, and in hits and total bases twice each. After winning the AL batting title with a .343 mark in his first full season in 1984, he was named the league's Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1985 after hitting .324 with 145 runs batted in (RBI), the highest total in the league in over 30 years. The following year, he was runner-up for the MVP award after batting .352, leading the AL in hits, doubles, slugging percentage and total bases; his 53 doubles and 388 total bases were the highest totals by any major league player in the 1980s, and his totals of doubles and 238 hits remain Yankees franchise records. In 1987 he tied a major league record by hitting home runs in eight consecutive games, and later that year set another record by hitting six grand slams in one season. Congenital back problems, which forced him to miss part of the 1990 season, also contributed to a decline in Mattingly's power hitting, but after being named the team's captain in 1991, he enjoyed a resurgence in productivity, leading the Yankees in RBI, hits, doubles, runs scored and batting average in 1992. Long frustrated by the team's failure to reach the postseason despite having the best record of any major league team during the 1980s, he helped lead the team to first place in 1994, batting .304, only to have the playoffs...