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110-631: As manager As coach Donald Arthur Mattingly (born April 20, 1961) is an American professional baseball coach , and former first baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). He is the bench coach for the Toronto Blue Jays of MLB. Nicknamed " the Hit Man " and " Donnie Baseball ", he spent his entire 14-year MLB playing career with the New York Yankees and later managed
220-633: A World Series with the team. Returning to the Yankees as a coach in 2004 for manager Joe Torre , he followed Torre to the Dodgers in 2008, and succeeded him as the Dodgers' manager in 2011. The Dodgers and Mattingly mutually parted ways after the 2015 season, and he became manager of the Miami Marlins in 2016. He remained with the Marlins until they mutually parted ways after the 2022 season. Donald Arthur Mattingly
330-651: A batter could foul off any number of pitches with no strikes counted against him; this gave an enormous advantage to the batter. After the 1919 World Series between the Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds, baseball was rocked by allegations of a game-fixing scheme known as the Black Sox Scandal . Eight players— "Shoeless" Joe Jackson , Eddie Cicotte , Claude "Lefty" Williams , George "Buck" Weaver , Arnold "Chick" Gandil , Fred McMullin , Charles "Swede" Risberg , and Oscar "Happy" Felsch —intentionally lost
440-493: A black player's head. Now, however, baseball is fully integrated, and there is little to no racial tension between teammates. Between 1943 and 1954, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League fielded teams in several Midwestern towns. Major League Baseball Major League Baseball ( MLB ) is a professional baseball league and the highest level of organized baseball in
550-759: A captain who led by example, proud of the pinstripe tradition and dedicated to the pursuit of excellence, a Yankee forever." Additionally, his uniform number with the Double-A Nashville Sounds (18) was retired by the team in a ceremony at Herschel Greer Stadium attended by Mattingly on August 12, 1999. Mattingly was on the Hall of Fame ballot from 2001 to 2015, never getting enough votes for induction. In his first year, he received 145 votes (28.2%), but this steadily declined; by 2009, only 12% of voters still put him on their ballots. In 2015, Mattingly's eligibility expired after fifteen attempts. He had been grandfathered onto
660-406: A chance for recreation and for taking their minds off their work even more than before." With the approval of President Roosevelt, spring training began in 1942 with few repercussions. The war interrupted the careers of stars including Stan Musial , Bob Feller , Ted Williams , and Joe DiMaggio , but baseball clubs continued to field their teams. Branch Rickey, president and general manager of
770-514: A five-game series against the Seattle Mariners in 1986. Mattingly had a better year in 1986, leading the league with 238 hits and 53 doubles, and breaking the single-season franchise records set by Earle Combs (231 hits) and Lou Gehrig (52 doubles); both records had been set in 1927. He also recorded 388 total bases and a .573 slugging percentage. He batted .352 (second in the league), hit 31 home runs (sixth) and drove in 113 runs (third). He
880-424: A former teammate in the minor leagues, attributed Mattingly's calmness to the controversies he was subjected to as manager of the Dodgers to Mattingly's regularly having to deal with even more craziness during his time with the Yankees. The Yankees retired Mattingly's number 23 and dedicated his plaque for Monument Park at Yankee Stadium on August 31, 1997. The plaque calls him, "A humble man of grace and dignity,
990-500: A grand jury in Pittsburgh related to cocaine trafficking. The 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike from August 12, 1994, to April 25, 1995, caused the cancellation of over 900 games and the forfeit of the entire 1994 postseason. Routinely in the late 1990s and early 2000s, baseball players hit 40 or 50 home runs in a season, a feat that was considered rare even in the 1980s. It later became apparent that at least some of this power surge
1100-629: A late-inning defensive replacement against the Baltimore Orioles . He recorded his first at-bat on September 11 against the Milwaukee Brewers , popping out to third base in the seventh inning. His first career major-league hit occurred in the bottom of the 11th inning against the Boston Red Sox on October 1, a single to right field off Steve Crawford . He only had two hits in 12 at-bats that season. Mattingly spent his rookie season of 1983 as
1210-664: A league-best 177 hits. He won the league MVP award and was named to the postseason All-Star team. With the Double-A Nashville Sounds in 1981, he hit .316 and led the Southern League with 35 doubles. He was selected to play in the Southern League All-Star Game and named to its postseason All-Star team. Despite Mattingly's hitting ability, concerns existed about his lack of speed and power . Bob Schaefer , his manager at Greensboro, said that
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#17329235716521320-633: A little better in subsequent campaigns—but in their eighth season (1969) the Mets became the first of the 1960s expansion teams to play in the postseason, culminating in a World Series title over the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles. In 1966, the major leagues moved to the "Deep South" when the Braves moved to Atlanta. In 1968, the Kansas City Athletics moved west to become the Oakland Athletics . In 1969,
1430-646: A man for many reasons. Color is not one of them." That year, Robinson won the inaugural Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award (separate NL and AL Rookie of the Year honors were not awarded until 1949). Less than three months later, Larry Doby became the first African-American to break the color barrier in the American League with the Cleveland Indians. The next year, a number of other black players entered
1540-413: A new National Agreement which tied independent contracts to the reserve-clause contracts. The agreement also set up a formal classification system for minor leagues, the forerunner of today's system that was refined by Branch Rickey . Several other early defunct baseball leagues are considered major leagues, and their statistics and records are included with those of the two modern major leagues. In 1969,
1650-431: A one-armed outfielder, got the chance to advance to the major leagues. However, MLB rosters did not include any black players through the end of the war. Black players, many of whom served in the war, were still restricted to playing Negro league baseball . Wartime blackout restrictions , designed to keep outdoor lighting at low levels, caused another problem for baseball. These rules limited traveling and night games to
1760-452: A part-time first baseman and outfielder. He hit .283 in 279 at-bats. He hit his first home run on June 24 against John Tudor of the Red Sox. Mattingly became the Yankees' full-time first baseman in 1984. With a batting average of .339, he was selected as a reserve for the 1984 All-Star Game . Heading into the final game of the season, Mattingly and teammate Dave Winfield were competing for
1870-477: A postseason record of eight wins and 11 losses and was the first manager in franchise history to guide the team to three straight postseason appearances. In fall of 2015, Mattingly signed a four-year contract to manage the Miami Marlins . Mattingly led the Marlins to win 79 games in his first year (the most wins for the team since winning 80 in 2010), which had him place fifth in the final voting for NL Manager of
1980-492: A rebellion by players against the hated "reserve clause", which restricted the free movement of players between clubs. Teams came and went; 1882 was the first season where the league's membership was the same as the preceding season's, and only four franchises survived to see 1900. Competitor leagues formed regularly and also disbanded regularly. The most successful was the American Association (1882–1891), sometimes called
2090-553: A record matched by Travis Hafner during the 2006 season. Mattingly's grand slams in 1987 were also the only grand slams of his career. In June 1987, Mattingly reportedly injured his back during some clubhouse horseplay with pitcher Bob Shirley , though both denied this. Nevertheless, he finished with a .327 batting average, 30 home runs, and 115 RBIs, his fourth straight year with at least 110 RBIs. Between 1985 and 1987, Mattingly hit 96 home runs with just 114 strikeouts. Mattingly hit 18 home runs and recorded 88 RBIs in 1988, but still
2200-502: A scholarship to play baseball for the Indiana State Sycamores . Mattingly lasted in the 1979 Major League Baseball draft until the 19th round, when he was selected by the New York Yankees . His father, Bill, informed Major League Baseball (MLB) teams that his son intended to honor his college commitment and would not sign a professional contract. Don Mattingly was not interested in attending college, so he chose to sign with
2310-414: A shock. Mattingly underwent extensive therapy in the offseason, but his hitting ability was never quite the same. Though he averaged .290 over his final five seasons, he became more of a slap hitter, hitting just 53 home runs over that time. He did see a brief resurgence in power in 1993, hitting 17 home runs and driving in 86 runs in 134 games, as the Yankees finished second in the division behind Toronto. In
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#17329235716522420-528: A single-game MLB attendance record in their first home appearance with 78,672 fans. In 1961, the first Washington Senators franchise moved to Minneapolis–St. Paul to become the Minnesota Twins . Two new teams were added to the American League at the same time: the Los Angeles Angels (who soon moved from downtown L.A. to nearby Anaheim ) and a new Washington Senators franchise. The NL added
2530-526: A spectacular 1985, winning the MVP award in the American League . He batted .324 (third in the league) with 35 home runs (fourth), 48 doubles (first), and 145 RBIs (first), then the most RBIs in a season by a left-handed major league batter since Ted Williams drove in 159 in 1949. His 21 RBI margin over second place in that category was the largest in the American League since Al Rosen 's 30 RBIs in 1953. He led
2640-534: A successful Baltimore chop, the batter hits the ball forcefully into the ground, causing it to bounce so high that the batter reaches first base before the ball can be fielded and thrown to the first baseman. The adoption of the foul strike rule—in the NL in 1901, in the AL two years later—quickly sent baseball from a high-scoring game to one where scoring runs became a struggle. Before this rule, foul balls were not counted as strikes:
2750-664: Is the third-wealthiest professional sports league by revenue in the world after the National Football League (NFL) and the National Basketball Association (NBA). Baseball games are broadcast on television, radio, and the internet throughout North America and in several other countries. MLB has the highest total season attendance of any sports league in the world; in 2023, it drew more than 70.75 million spectators. MLB also oversees Minor League Baseball , which comprises lower-tier teams affiliated with
2860-684: The American League batting title , with Mattingly trailing Winfield by .002. On the final day of the season, Mattingly went 4-for-5, while Winfield batted 1-for-4. Mattingly won the batting title with a .343 average, while Winfield finished second with a .340 average. Mattingly also led the league with 207 hits. He hit a league-leading 44 doubles to go with 23 home runs. He was second in the league in slugging percentage (.537) and at-bats per strikeout (18.3), fourth in total bases (324), fifth in RBIs (110), sixth in sacrifice flies (9), and 10th in on-base percentage (.381). Mattingly followed up his breakout season with
2970-787: The Boston Braves became the Milwaukee Braves , the St. Louis Browns became the Baltimore Orioles , and the Philadelphia Athletics became the Kansas City Athletics . The 1958 Major League Baseball season began to turn Major League Baseball into a nationwide league. Walter O'Malley , owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers and "perhaps the most influential owner of baseball's early expansion era," moved his team to Los Angeles, marking
3080-721: The Commissioner of Baseball . Operating outside the Minor League Baseball organization are many independent minor leagues such as the Atlantic League , American Association , Frontier League , and the feeder league to these the Empire Professional Baseball League . Japan has had professional baseball since the 1930s. Nippon Professional Baseball consists of two leagues, the Central League and
3190-588: The Great Depression , baseball's popularity had begun a downward turn in the early 1930s. By 1932, only two MLB teams turned a profit. Attendance had fallen, due at least in part to a 10% federal amusement tax added to baseball ticket prices. Baseball owners cut their rosters from 25 men to 23, and even the best players took pay cuts. Team executives were innovative in their attempts to survive, creating night games, broadcasting games live by radio, and rolling out promotions such as free admission for women. Throughout
3300-653: The Houston Astros and the New York Mets in 1962. The Astros (known as the "Colt .45s" during their first three seasons) became the first southern major league franchise since the Louisville Colonels folded in 1899 and the first franchise to be located along the Gulf Coast . The Mets established a reputation for futility by going 40–120 during their first season of play in the nation's media capital—and by playing only
3410-583: The Los Angeles Dodgers for five years and the Miami Marlins for seven years. Mattingly graduated from Reitz Memorial High School in Evansville, Indiana , and was selected by the Yankees in the 1979 amateur draft . Debuting with the Yankees in 1982 after four seasons in Minor League Baseball , he emerged as the Yankees' starting first baseman after a successful rookie season in 1983. Mattingly
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3520-657: The National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP). The NABBP existed as an amateur league for 12 years. By 1867, more than 400 clubs were members. Most of the strongest clubs remained those based in the Northeastern United States. For professional baseball 's founding year, MLB uses the year 1869—when the first professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings , was established. A schism developed between professional and amateur ballplayers after
3630-762: The New York–Penn League Hall of Fame in 2015. In 2001, Mattingly was inducted into the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame; his plaque displays his phenomenal high school and professional careers. In 1987, he was named the American Legion Graduate of the Year, for his success in the major leagues following his American Legion baseball career. Mattingly married Kim Sexton on September 8, 1979; they divorced after his playing career ended, amid reports of Kim's issues with alcoholism. Mattingly and Kim share three sons: Taylor, Preston , and Jordon. Taylor
3740-701: The Pacific League , each with six teams. South Korea has had professional baseball since 1982. There are 10 teams in KBO League . Taiwan has had professional baseball since the 1990s. The Chinese Professional Baseball League absorbed Taiwan Major League in 2003. There are currently 6 teams in the CPBL. Other Asian leagues include three now defunct leagues, the China National Baseball League , Israel Baseball League , and Baseball Philippines . During
3850-736: The Phoenix Desert Dogs of the Arizona Fall League , prevented him from attending the 2010 winter meetings. In 2014, he had another son, Louis. Mattingly's older brother, Randy Mattingly , played quarterback at the University of Evansville and was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the fourth round of the 1973 NFL draft before playing in the Canadian Football League . During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Don Mattingly
3960-481: The Texas Rangers . In 1977, baseball expanded again , adding a second Canadian team, the Toronto Blue Jays , as well as the Seattle Mariners . Subsequently, no new teams were added until the 1990s and no teams moved until 2005. By the late 1960s, the balance between pitching and hitting had swung in favor of the pitchers. In 1968—later nicknamed "the year of the pitcher" —Boston Red Sox player Carl Yastrzemski won
4070-567: The United States and Canada consists of the National League (founded in 1876) and the American League (founded in 1901). Historically, teams in one league never played teams in the other until the World Series , in which the champions of the two leagues played against each other. This changed in 1997 with the advent of interleague play . The Philadelphia Phillies , founded in 1883, are
4180-780: The first and second Negro National Leagues (1920–1931 and 1933–1948), the Eastern Colored League (1923–1928), the American Negro League (1929), the East–West League (1932), the Negro Southern League (1932), and the Negro American League (1937–1948). In 2021, baseball reference website Baseball-Reference.com began to include statistics from those seven leagues into their major-league statistics. In May 2024, Major League Baseball announced that it
4290-442: The "beer and whiskey league" for its tolerance of the sale of alcoholic beverages to spectators. For several years, the NL and American Association champions met in a postseason championship series—the first attempt at a World Series . The two leagues merged in 1892 as a single 12-team NL, but the NL dropped four teams after the 1899 season. This led to the formation of the American League in 1901 under AL president Ban Johnson , and
4400-531: The 1870s. In 1876, the National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs (later known as the National League or NL) was established after the NA proved ineffective. The league placed its emphasis on clubs rather than on players. Clubs could now enforce player contracts, preventing players from jumping to higher-paying clubs. Clubs were required to play the full schedule of games instead of forfeiting scheduled games when
4510-528: The 1950s and 1960s. The AL and NL added eight clubs in the 1960s: two in 1961, two in 1962, and four in 1969. Player discontent with established labor practices, especially the reserve clause, led to the organization of the Major League Baseball Players Association to collectively bargain with the owners, which in turn led to the introduction of free agency in baseball. Modern stadiums with artificial turf surfaces began to change
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4620-557: The 1960s and 1970s, as baseball expanded, NFL football had been surging in popularity, making it economical for many of these cities to build multi-purpose stadiums instead of single-purpose baseball fields. Because of climate and economic issues, many of these facilities had playing surfaces made from artificial turf , as well as the oval designs characteristic of stadiums designed to house both baseball and football. This often resulted in baseball fields with relatively more foul territory than older stadiums. These characteristics changed
4730-458: The 1990s. During the 1980s, baseball experienced a number of significant changes the game had not seen in years. Home runs were on the decline throughout the decade, with players hitting 40 home runs just 13 times and no one hitting more than 50 home runs in a season for the first time since the Dead-ball era (1900–1919). The 1981 Major League Baseball strike from June 12 until July 31 forced
4840-434: The 2003 season, the Yankees named Mattingly the hitting coach. He spent three seasons in that role, receiving much praise from the Yankees organization and his players. Under Mattingly, the Yankees set an all-time franchise record with 242 home runs in 2004. After the 2006 season, Mattingly shifted to bench coach, replacing Lee Mazzilli . After the 2007 season, when Joe Torre declined a one-year contract extension, Mattingly
4950-486: The American League batting title with an average of just .301, the lowest in the history of Major League Baseball. Detroit Tigers pitcher Denny McLain won 31 games, making him the only pitcher to win 30 games in a season since Dizzy Dean in 1934. St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Bob Gibson achieved an equally remarkable feat by allowing an ERA of just 1.12. Following these pitching performances, in December 1968
5060-810: The American and National Leagues both added two expansion franchises . The American League added the Seattle Pilots (who became the Milwaukee Brewers after one disastrous season in Seattle) and the Kansas City Royals . The NL added the first Canadian franchise, the Montreal Expos , as well as the San Diego Padres . In 1972, the second Washington Senators moved to the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex to become
5170-468: The Brooklyn Dodgers, began making efforts to introduce a black baseball player to the previously all-white professional baseball leagues in the mid-1940s. He selected Jackie Robinson from a list of promising Negro league players. After obtaining a commitment from Robinson to "turn the other cheek" to any racial antagonism directed at him, Rickey agreed to sign him to a contract for $ 600 a month. In what
5280-618: The Dodgers got off to a rough start due to various injuries, and were in last place in May, leading to much media speculation that he would soon be fired. Once players got healthy, though, the team went on a tear and managed to win the NL West and beat the Atlanta Braves in the 2013 National League Division Series (NLDS) in four games. They then lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS in six games. After
5390-439: The Dodgers in 2008. Mattingly succeeded Mike Easler as Dodgers' hitting coach that July. The Dodgers were the National League runners-up in 2008 and 2009 (losing to the Philadelphia Phillies in both National League championship series), largely behind the bat of midseason acquisition Manny Ramirez . In the 2009–10 offseason, Mattingly was a finalist for the managerial position with the Cleveland Indians , for which Manny Acta
5500-711: The Dodgers when they came to town, abandoning the Negro league teams that they had followed exclusively. Robinson's promotion met a generally positive, although mixed, reception among newspaper writers and white major league players. Manager Leo Durocher informed his team, "I don't care if he is yellow or black or has stripes like a fucking zebra. I'm his manager and I say he plays." After a strike threat by some players, NL President Ford C. Frick and Baseball Commissioner Happy Chandler let it be known that any striking players would be suspended. Robinson received significant encouragement from several major-league players, including Dodgers teammate Pee Wee Reese who said, "You can hate
5610-513: The Great Depression, no MLB teams moved or folded. The onset of World War II created a shortage of professional baseball players, as more than 500 men left MLB teams to serve in the military. Many of them played on service baseball teams that entertained military personnel in the US or in the Pacific. MLB teams of this time largely consisted of young men, older players, and those with a military classification of 4F , indicating mental, physical, or moral unsuitability for service. Men like Pete Gray ,
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#17329235716525720-415: The MLB Playing Rules Committee voted to reduce the strike zone from knees to shoulders to top of knees to armpits and lower the pitcher's mound from 15 to 10 inches, beginning in the 1969 season. In 1973, the American League, which had been suffering from much lower attendance than the National League, sought to increase scoring even further by initiating the designated hitter (DH) rule. Throughout
5830-413: The National Agreement of 1903, in which AL and NL agreed to respect each other's player contracts, including the contentious reserve clause . The period before 1920 was the dead-ball era , when home runs were rarely hit. Professional baseball was rocked by the Black Sox Scandal , a conspiracy to fix the 1919 World Series . Baseball survived the scandal, albeit with major changes in its governance as
5940-607: The Special Baseball Records Committee of Major League Baseball officially recognized six major leagues: the National League, American League, American Association, Union Association (1884), Players' League (1890), and Federal League (1914–1915). The status of the National Association as a major league has been a point of dispute among baseball researchers; while its statistics are not recognized by Major League Baseball, its statistics are included with those of other major leagues by some baseball reference websites, such as Retrosheet . Some researchers, including Nate Silver , dispute
6050-421: The Tigers to a 94–9–1 win–loss record . He still holds Reitz Memorial records for hits (152), doubles (29), triples (25), runs batted in (RBIs) (140), and runs scored (99). His 25 triples are also an Indiana state record. A multisport athlete (basketball, football and baseball), Mattingly was selected to the SIAC all-conference basketball team in 1978. Following his high school career, Mattingly accepted
6160-471: The Tigers, Mattingly led the school to a state record 59 straight victories through the 1978–79 season, losing to the Logansport Berries. The Tigers won the state championship in 1978 and finished as the runner-up in 1979. Mattingly was the L.V. Phillips Mental Attitude recipient in 1979. He was All-City, All- Southern Indiana Athletic Conference (SIAC), and All-State in 1978 and 1979. During the four years he played in high school, Mattingly batted .463, leading
6270-404: The United States and Canada . One of the "Big Four" major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada , MLB comprises 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. Formed in 1876 and 1901, respectively, the NL and AL cemented their cooperation with the National Agreement in 1903, making MLB
6380-406: The United States and Canada. The minor leagues are divided into classes AAA, AA, High-A, A, and Rookie. These minor-league divisions are affiliated with major league teams, and serve to develop young players and rehabilitate injured major-leaguers. "Affiliated baseball" (archaically, " organized baseball ") is often applied as an umbrella term for all leagues — major and minor — under the authority of
6490-486: The World Series in exchange for a ring worth $ 100,000 ($ 1,712,780.35 in 2022 dollars). Despite being acquitted, all were permanently banned from Major League Baseball. Baseball's popularity increased in the 1920s and 1930s. The 1920 season was notable for the death of Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians . Chapman, who was struck in the head by a pitch and died a few hours later, became the only MLB player to die of an on-field injury. Both leagues quickly began to require
6600-451: The World Series, and his tenure with the Yankees marks the team's largest drought without a World Series appearance. The Yankees made the series in both 1981 (the year prior to Mattingly's rookie year) and their 1996 championship season (the year after his last with the club). After retiring as a player, Mattingly spent seven seasons as a special instructor during Yankees' spring training in Tampa, Florida, from 1997 through 2003. Following
6710-461: The Yankees, receiving a $ 23,000 signing bonus . Mattingly began his professional career in Minor League Baseball with the Oneonta Yankees of the Class A-Short Season New York–Penn League in 1979. He hoped to bat .500 for Oneonta and was disappointed with his .349 batting average, which never went lower than .340. He batted a league-leading .358 in 1980 for the Greensboro Hornets of the Class A South Atlantic League in addition to recording
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#17329235716526820-424: The Year . In 2020, Mattingly led the Marlins to the NL Wild Card , leading them to the playoffs for the first time since 2003. He also won the NL Manager of the Year award. On July 8, 2021, Mattingly's mutual option for the 2022 season was picked up by both the Marlins and him. On September 25, 2022, Mattingly stated that the Marlins and he mutually agreed that he would finish the season as manager, and not return to
6930-426: The ballot after the committee restricted eligibility to ten years. Mattingly is now eligible to be inducted into the Hall of Fame via the Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee . He was shortlisted for the 2018, 2020, and 2022 ballots, but did not receive enough votes for induction. Mattingly has been honored by two minor-league halls of fame. He was inducted in the South Atlantic League Hall of Fame in 1994 and
7040-476: The big leagues and they ended up winning the World Series in the first year of Mattingly's retirement, not to mention the Yankees had the best record in the American League in 1994 before the strike. This World Series drought (1982–1995) was the longest in Yankees history since the start of the Babe Ruth era, and it was worsened by the strike, which ended a promising chance for a World Series title. Buck Showalter , Mattingly's last manager during his playing days and
7150-474: The cancellation of 713 total games and resulted in a split-season format. In 1985, Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb 's all-time hits record with his 4,192nd hit, and in 1989 Rose received a lifetime ban from baseball as a result of betting on baseball games while manager of the Cincinnati Reds . Rose was the first person to receive a lifetime ban from baseball since 1943. 1985 also saw the Pittsburgh drug trials which involved players who were called to testify before
7260-403: The center field fence, and the Huntington Avenue Grounds of the Boston Red Sox , which was 635 feet (194 m) to the center field fence, thus home runs were rare, and "small ball" tactics such as singles , bunts , stolen bases , and the hit-and-run play dominated the strategies of the time. Hitting methods like the Baltimore chop were used to increase the number of infield singles. On
7370-443: The club was no longer in the running for the league championship, which happened frequently under the NA. A concerted effort was made to curb gambling on games, which was leaving the validity of results in doubt. The first game in the NL—on Saturday, April 22, 1876 (at Jefferson Street Grounds in Philadelphia )—is often pointed to as the beginning of MLB. The early years of the NL were tumultuous, with threats from rival leagues and
7480-573: The condition of the baseball itself. The baseball used American rather than the modern Australian wool yarn and was not wound as tightly, affecting the distance that it would travel. More significantly, balls were kept in play until they were mangled, soft and sometimes lopsided. During this era, a baseball cost three dollars, equal to $ 52.72 today (in inflation-adjusted USD ), and owners were reluctant to purchase new balls. Fans were expected to throw back fouls and (rare) home runs. Baseballs also became stained with tobacco juice, grass, and mud, and sometimes
7590-463: The end of the 2010 season, Mattingly was announced as his replacement. To acquire some managerial experience, Mattingly managed the Phoenix Desert Dogs of the Arizona Fall League in 2010. Mattingly made his managerial debut on March 31, 2011, by defeating in-state rival and defending champion San Francisco Giants 2–1 at Dodger Stadium . Despite the background of a bitter divorce battle between Dodgers' owner Frank McCourt and his wife that put
7700-547: The final game of the series (and of his career), Mattingly again broke a tie with a two-run double. The New York bullpen faltered and Seattle won in the 11th inning of the decisive game five. The Yankees acquired Tino Martinez to succeed Mattingly after the 1995 season. Unsigned for the 1996 season, Mattingly decided to sit out for the year, and rebuffed an inquiry by the Baltimore Orioles , which tried to sign him at midseason. Mattingly officially announced his retirement in January 1997. For his career, Mattingly never appeared in
7810-404: The first major league franchise on the West Coast. O'Malley also helped persuade the rival New York Giants to move west to become the San Francisco Giants. Giants owner Horace Stoneham had been contemplating a move to Minnesota amid slumping attendance at the aging Polo Grounds ballpark when O'Malley invited him to meet San Francisco Mayor George Christopher in New York. After Stoneham
7920-478: The first week of April. Six teams in each league then advance to a four-round postseason tournament in October, culminating in the World Series , a best-of-seven championship series between the two league champions first played in 1903. The New York Yankees have the most championships with 27. The reigning champions are the Los Angeles Dodgers , who defeated the New York Yankees in the 2024 World Series . MLB
8030-520: The fiscal health of the Dodgers into jeopardy, Mattingly managed to take the Dodgers to a winning record that season due to his mentorship of many young players such as MVP candidate Matt Kemp and Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw : "He's so positive", Kershaw said. "All he asks of us is just go out there and play the way we're supposed to. Do things the right way on the field, and he's happy with you. When it's simple like that, it's easy to play for, and it's fun to play for." In 2013, Mattingly and
8140-570: The founding of the Cincinnati club. The NABBP split into an amateur organization and a professional organization. The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players , often known as the National Association (NA), was formed in 1871. Its amateur counterpart disappeared after only a few years. The modern Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves franchises trace their histories back to the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players in
8250-510: The game in the 1970s and 1980s. Home runs dominated the game during the 1990s. In the mid-2000s, media reports disclosed the use of anabolic steroids among MLB players; a 2006–07 investigation produced the Mitchell Report , which found that many players had used steroids and other performance-enhancing substances , including at least one player from each team. Each team plays 162 games per season, with Opening Day traditionally held during
8360-429: The hole " between the corner and middle infielders. Starting pitchers were no longer expected to throw complete games ; it was enough for a starter to pitch 6–7 innings and turn the game over to the team's closer , a position which grew in importance over these decades. As stolen bases increased, home run totals dropped. After Willie Mays hit 52 home runs in 1965, only one player ( George Foster ) reached that mark until
8470-515: The juice of licorice, which some players would chew for the purpose of discoloring the ball. Also, pitchers could manipulate the ball through the use of the spitball (In 1921, use of this pitch was restricted to a few pitchers with a grandfather clause ). Additionally, many ballparks had large dimensions, such as the West Side Grounds of the Chicago Cubs, which was 560 feet (170 m) to
8580-459: The late 1980s. LaRussa had managed the dominant Oakland Athletics teams of the era. Mattingly recalled that despite the A's superiority to the Yankees, they still played intensely. On January 7, 2014, Mattingly and the Dodgers agreed on a three-year contract extension for him to remain as manager of the Dodgers. On September 29, 2015, Mattingly became the first manager in the history of the Dodgers franchise, in both Brooklyn and Los Angeles, to lead
8690-590: The late 19th and early 20th centuries, players of black African descent were barred from playing the major leagues , though several did manage to play by claiming to be Cubans or Native Americans . As a result, a number of parallel Negro leagues were formed. However, after Jackie Robinson began playing with the major-league Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, the Negro leagues gradually faded. The process of integration did not go entirely smoothly; there were some ugly incidents, including pitchers who would try to throw directly at
8800-448: The league in sacrifice flies (15), total bases (370), and extra-base hits (86), and was second in the AL in hits (211) and slugging percentage (.567), third in intentional walks (13) and at bats per strikeout (13.9), sixth in runs (107), and ninth in at-bats per home run (18.6). He batted .354 with two out and runners in scoring position. Mattingly was also recognized in 1985 for his defense, winning his first of nine Gold Glove Awards . He
8910-592: The major league clubs, and the MLB Draft League , a hybrid amateur-professional showcase league. MLB and the World Baseball Softball Confederation jointly manage the international World Baseball Classic tournament. In the 1860s, aided by soldiers playing the game in camp during the Civil War , "New York"-style baseball expanded into a national game and spawned baseball's first governing body,
9020-591: The major leagues. Satchel Paige was signed by the Indians and the Dodgers added star catcher Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe , who was later the first winner of the Cy Young Award for his outstanding pitching. MLB banned the signing of women to contracts in 1952, but that ban was lifted in 1992. There have been no female MLB players since then. From 1903 to 1952, the major leagues consisted of two eight-team leagues whose 16 teams were located in ten cities, all in
9130-557: The major-league status of the Union Association by pointing out that franchises came and went and that the St. Louis club was deliberately "stacked"; the St. Louis club was owned by the league's president and it was the only club that was close to major-league caliber. In December 2020, Major League Baseball announced its recognition of seven leagues within Negro league baseball as major leagues:
9240-471: The nature of professional baseball, putting a higher premium on speed and defense over home-run hitting power since the fields were often too big for teams to expect to hit many home runs and foul balls hit in the air could more easily be caught for outs. Teams began to be built around pitching—particularly their bullpens—and speed on the basepaths. Artificial surfaces meant balls traveled quicker and bounced higher, so it became easier to hit ground balls " in
9350-527: The northeastern and mid-western United States: New York City had three teams and Boston , Chicago, Philadelphia , and St. Louis each had two teams. St. Louis was the southernmost and westernmost city with a major league team. The longest possible road trip, from Boston to St. Louis, took about 24 hours by railroad. After a half-century of stability, starting in the 1950s, teams began to move out of cities with multiple teams into cities that had not had them before. From 1953 to 1955, three teams moved to new cities:
9460-399: The oldest continuous same-name, same-city franchise in both Major League Baseball and all of American professional sports. In addition to the major leagues, many North American cities and towns feature minor league teams. An organization officially styled Minor League Baseball , formerly the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, oversees nearly all minor league baseball in
9570-578: The oldest major professional sports league in the world. They remained legally separate entities until 2000, when they merged into a single organization led by the commissioner of baseball . MLB is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan . Baseball's first all-professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings , was founded in 1869. The first few decades of professional baseball saw rivalries between leagues, and players often jumped from one team or league to another. These practices were essentially ended by
9680-641: The organization considered moving him to second base, from which he would throw right-handed. Mattingly was batting .325 for the Columbus Clippers of the Triple-A International League when he made it to the majors late in the 1982 season. He was named to the league's postseason All-Star team and finished third in the voting for the International League MVP Award . Mattingly made his Major League debut on September 8, 1982, as
9790-466: The playoffs in 1994, when the players' strike ended the season prematurely with the Yankees having the best record in the American League. In 1995, Mattingly finally reached the playoffs when the Yankees won the AL wild card on the next-to-last day of the season. In the only postseason series of his career, facing the Seattle Mariners , Mattingly batted .417 with six RBIs and a memorable go-ahead home run in game two, his final game at Yankee Stadium. In
9900-515: The point that the 1942 season was nearly canceled. On January 14, 1942, MLB Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis wrote to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt , pleading for the continuation of baseball during the war. Roosevelt responded, "I honestly feel that it would be best for the country to keep baseball going. There will be fewer people unemployed and everybody will work longer hours and harder than ever before. And that means that they ought to have
10010-518: The relatively weak National Commission was replaced with a powerful commissioner of baseball with near-unlimited authority over the sport. MLB rose in popularity in the decade following the Black Sox Scandal, and unlike major leagues in other sports it endured the Great Depression and World War II without any of its teams folding. Shortly after the war, Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier . Some teams moved to different cities in
10120-522: The resulting bidding war for players led to widespread contract-breaking and legal disputes. The war between the AL and NL caused shock waves throughout the baseball world. At a meeting at the Leland Hotel in Chicago in 1901, the other baseball leagues negotiated a plan to maintain their independence. A new National Association was formed to oversee these minor leagues. After 1902, the NL, AL, and NA signed
10230-528: The role in 2023. Mattingly managed the MLB All-Star Team at the 2018 MLB Japan All-Star Series . Mattingly finished his career with 2,153 hits, 222 home runs, 1,007 runs scored, 1,099 RBIs, and a .307 lifetime batting average. He is commonly cited as the best Yankee player to have never played in a World Series. His career had bad timing, as the Yankees lost the World Series the year before he broke into
10340-407: The season, Mattingly called out Dodger management for its perceived lack of support of him during the season and said that he wanted a multiyear contract in place to return in 2014. Mattingly finished second in the voting for National League Manager of the Year . Mattingly stated that one of his managerial idols was Tony La Russa . Mattingly admired La Russa from his playing days with the Yankees in
10450-409: The strike-shortened 1994 season, he posted a .304 average, the first time since 1989 that he hit over .300. Mattingly's defense remained stellar, but he was not always physically able to play. Mattingly made his major-league debut in 1982, the year after the Yankees lost the World Series . The team did not reach the postseason in any of Mattingly's first 13 years, although they arguably would have made
10560-531: The team to the playoffs in three consecutive seasons. The Dodgers lost in five games to the New York Mets in the NLDS. On October 22, 2015, the Dodgers and Mattingly mutually agreed to part ways, and he stepped down from his position with one year left on his contract. He had a 446–363 record with the Dodgers, with a winning percentage of .551, which was second-best in Los Angeles Dodgers history. He finished with
10670-454: The use of new, white baseballs whenever a ball became scuffed or dirty, helping bring the "dead-ball" era to an end. The following year, the New York Yankees made their first World Series appearance. By the end of the 1930s, the team had appeared in 11 World Series, winning eight of them. Yankees slugger Babe Ruth had set the single-season home run record in 1927, hitting 60 home runs; breaking his own record of 29 home runs. Afflicted by
10780-399: Was "absorbing the available Negro Leagues numbers into the official historical record." The period between 1900 and 1919 is commonly referred to as the "dead-ball era". Games of this era tended to be low-scoring and were often dominated by pitchers, such as Walter Johnson , Cy Young , Christy Mathewson , Mordecai Brown , and Grover Cleveland Alexander . The term also accurately describes
10890-412: Was 0 for 3). This record was later tied again by Ken Griffey Jr. , of Seattle in 1993. Mattingly also set a record by recording an extra-base hit in 10 consecutive games. Mattingly had a record 10 home runs during this streak (Long and Griffey had eight during their streaks). Also that season, Mattingly set a major-league record by hitting six grand slams in a season (two during his July home-run streak),
11000-457: Was a finalist for the Yankees' manager position, along with Joe Girardi and Tony Peña . The Yankees offered the managerial position to Girardi, who accepted. After not being offered the position of manager for the Yankees, Mattingly joined Torre with the Los Angeles Dodgers as the team's hitting coach. On January 22, 2008, Mattingly was replaced as hitting coach, citing family reasons, instead serving as major-league special-assignment coach for
11110-555: Was beaten in the American League MVP voting, though, by pitcher Roger Clemens , who also won the Cy Young Award that year. Mattingly also became the last left-handed player to field a ball at third base during an MLB game. In 1987, Mattingly tied Dale Long 's major-league record by hitting home runs in eight consecutive games, from 8–18 July (the All-Star game occurred in the middle of the streak; Mattingly, starting at first base,
11220-581: Was born on April 20, 1961, in Evansville, Indiana . Mattingly is ambidextrous . He pitched in Little League Baseball and was also a first baseman , throwing both right-handed and left-handed, and was a member of the 1973 Great Scot Little League championship team in Evansville, Indiana , under the coaching of Pete Studer and Earl Hobbs. In American Legion baseball for Funkhouser Post #8, Mattingly played at second base , throwing right-handed. Playing for Reitz Memorial High School 's baseball team,
11330-454: Was considered such an asset defensively that Yankees management assigned him to play games at second base and third base early in his career, though he was a left-handed thrower. Mattingly appeared as a left-handed throwing second baseman for one-third of one inning, during the resumption of the George Brett " Pine Tar Incident " game in 1983. He also played three games at third base during
11440-643: Was drafted in the 42nd round (1,262nd overall) of the 2003 Major League Baseball draft by the New York Yankees , and played in 24 games for the Gulf Coast Yankees in the rookie league before an injury cut short his season. After sitting out all of 2004 and 2005, Taylor retired from baseball in 2005 after only 58 professional at-bats. Preston is the general manager for the Philadelphia Phillies . Mattingly remarried on December 10, 2010, in his hometown of Evansville, Indiana. The wedding, and his managing
11550-417: Was eventually hired. On November 30, 2022, the Toronto Blue Jays announced that Mattingly would join the team as its bench coach. Ahead of the 2024 season, Mattingly was given the additional title of offensive coordinator, overseeing the team's hitting coaches and video coordinator. Following the 2024 season, Mattingly's role was reverted to that of a traditional bench coach. When Torre decided to retire at
11660-562: Was in the top 10 in the league in batting average at a .311 average. He rebounded in 1989 to 113 RBIs, but his average dipped to .303. Mattingly's five runs scored on April 30, 1988, marked the 12th time it has been done by a Yankee. Mattingly's back problems flared up anew in 1990; after struggling with the bat, he had to go on the disabled list in July, only returning late in the season for an ineffective finish. His statistics line—a .256 average, five home runs, and 42 RBIs in almost 400 at-bats—came as
11770-603: Was later referred to as "The Noble Experiment", Robinson was the first black baseball player in the International League since the 1880s, joining the Dodgers' farm club, the Montreal Royals , for the 1946 season. The following year, the Dodgers called up Robinson to the major leagues. On April 15, 1947, Robinson made his major league debut at Ebbets Field before a crowd of 26,623 spectators, including more than 14,000 black patrons. Black baseball fans began flocking to see
11880-459: Was named to the American League (AL) All-Star team six times. He won nine Gold Glove Awards (an AL record for a first baseman), three Silver Slugger Awards , the 1984 AL batting title, and was the 1985 AL Most Valuable Player . He served as captain of the Yankees from 1991 through 1995, when he retired as a player. The Yankees later retired Mattingly's uniform number (23), making him the only Yankee to have his number retired without having won
11990-449: Was persuaded to move to California, Time magazine put O'Malley on its cover. MLB Commissioner Ford C. Frick had opposed the meeting, but the dual moves proved successful for both franchises—and for MLB. Had the Dodgers moved out west alone, the St. Louis Cardinals —1,600 mi (2,575 km) away —would have been the closest NL team. Instead, the joint move made West Coast road trips economical for visiting teams. The Dodgers set
12100-480: Was the owner of a restaurant in Evansville, Indiana, called "Mattingly's 23", after the uniform number he wore for most of his career. Professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Major League Baseball in
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