NYB: "1) To date, Don Mattingly is the best pure hitter I have ever seen. I dont think anyone this side of Tony Gwinn worked at it harder, and if he didnt hurt his wrist/back, this Will Clark comparison wouldnt even be a footnote."
Excellent points. Props will be forthcoming ..
But to add to this: Mattingly was, from 1984 to 1987, THE BEST PLAYER IN BASEBALL. Period. There are anti-Yankee people who will put on their goggles and jump down my throat, but its the truth. An informal poll of the players in 1986 even bore that out.
In those years, the Hit Man was good for 100+ runs, 200+ hits, 40 to 50 2B, 30+ Homers, 110+ RBI, & a .330+ Average each and every season. Those totals were astronomical in the mid-80's, and matched by NONE of his peers. In those days, you either had a Carew-Gwynn-Boggs type who hit .330 with no power/run-production, or the Murray-Murphy-Strawberry-Schmidt who hit homers with a .260 to .301 Average. Mattingly was the only player in baseball who did BOTH. Tack onto the fact that he was the run-away winner of the Gold Glove every season and one of the best defensive players in the history of his position, and you get what type of player that I'm talking about.
He was destined to be the next LOU GEHRIG. And I've never seen a player who was ever put in the Iron Horse's category.
Now, in mid-season 1987, Mattingly developed back spasms. He was put on the DL for the first time in his career. These were physical problems that really surfaced in the next season, as he returned from the DL to tie Dale Long's Major League record by Homering in 8 straight games, starting with his 1st game back. He also set a ML record with 6 Grand Slams in 1987.
In 1988, Donny's back bothered him again - he played through it, but he finished with then-career lows in RBIs (88 - his first season under 100), and Batting Average: .311.
In 1989, Donny rebounded, healthy again, (most people forget this) to finish 2nd in the AL in RBI with 113. By his previous standards, his numbers were not as impressive, but he was still one of the best players in baseball. Just not THE best anymore.
In 1990, his back completely collapsed, missed 60 games, and the freefall of back injuries that would plague the tail end of his career really came to a head.
That's not to say there weren't highlights: Donny was still the Yanks' best clutch player in those seasons, he hit .304 in his 2nd to last season in '94, and he was the Yanks' best player in his lone post-season series in 1995: led the team with a .417 AVG against Seattle. But overall, his back never allowed him to be the player that he was, or the sure-fire HOF'er that he should have been.
NFBuck: "Its a real shame he retired before winning a ring."
Donny's only shot at a ring was lost because of the Players Strike in 1994. The Yanks had the best record in the AL at 70-43 when the strike hit. People forget: they had a great shot to win it all that season too: we could've been looking at 5 rings in 7 seasons if not for Gene Orza, Don Fehr, and Bud Light. You Yankee haters should be thanking your lucky stars for the Strike.
