Mattingly

While watching MLB Network today, they were doing a piece on the All-Time team of the 1980's.
The first baseman, of course, was Don Mattingly.
For some youngsters, they might find it hard to believe that the Yankees weren't always in the post-season. Those 1980's Yankees teams weren't very good but Don Mattingly is one guy who made watching the Yanks worthwhile.
There are only a few batters that make you stop what you are doing to watch them hit. You could be running out of the house because of a fire but would stop if Mattingly was coming to bat on TV.
Watching some of his highlights today makes it easy to remember why he was one of the most popular Yankees ever. Too bad that he, like Bobbby Murcer, played on a lot of bad teams.
I'll have a dilemma this upcoming season. While the Rockies are my adopted National League team, I'll also have to pull for the Dodgers since Donnie Baseball is their manager. I mean, how can I root against one of my favorite players of all-time?
I'm looking forward to seeing how Mattingly does as a manager. A lot of great players turned out to be horrible managers. Maury Wills and Ted Williams come to mind. On the flip side, a lot of mediocre players ended up being great managers, like Walter Alston and Sparky Anderson.
So while Mattingly was a must see at-bat when he was playing, I found myself watching him again today, making him a must see highlight. Some players you miss watching when they are done playing. Mattingly is one of those guys. As for his glove, he's the second best first baseman I've ever seen, behind Keith Hernandez.
What a player he was. Just a shame that his back went out on him and he never reached his full potential. He was a Hall of Fame player, without question. His stats just fall short due to injury. Very similar to Todd Helton's career path.