Game of My Life New York Yankees by Dave Buscema

Author:Dave Buscema
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sports Publishing
Published: 2013-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Crouched and coiled, Mattingly lay in wait for a pitcher, ready to pounce, his swing jolting out as his body would spring up. Lonnie Major/Allsport/Getty Images.

*** *** ***

TheYankees made him a 19th-round pick in ‘79, but they were soon to discover all that time Mattingly spent in the dark of batting cages would shove him into the spotlight.

He could hit.

He knew it.

They’d know it.

The cockiness was contained in his head, where Mattingly would challenge himself on each pitch.

He tore his way through the minors, hitting .332, though he didn’t develop a power stroke until he learned to take aim at Yankee Stadium’s short right-field fence.

But he turned heads in an era when the Yankees viewed their minor-leaguers as kids who should be traded, not seen.

There were about a half-dozen veteran first basemen blocking Mattingly’s path when he experienced his first taste of big-league life in ‘82.

An ill-begotten collection of all-star names no longer exhibiting all-star talent.

So Mattingly started playing the outfield, too, because, hey, man, he just wanted to play. Eventually, he’d show off that elastic flexibility in spurts at first, giving glimpses of the Gold Gloves to follow.

But, shoot, before he could do all that, he just wanted to figure out how to handle this place, man.

Good thing they gave him that September call-up in ‘82 to settle himself.

Driving in from Triple-A Columbus, Ohio, coming up on that big Yankee Stadium sign, a blue-lit shroud standing out as you started to approach.

“Yankee Stadium, the whole deal—pretty intimidating,” Mattingly said.

So were the people inside it.

“The scariest thing for me coming up was, ‘Where do I meet the bus?’” Mattingly said. “‘What’s it gonna be like getting on the bus with everybody?’ You know, I mean, you’re getting on the bus with Gossage and Nettles and Piniella and Murcer and Randolph and Guidry, and these guys are world champions.

“It’s like, ‘Mannnnn, what is this bus like?’”

The bus, it turned out, wasn’t so bad.

The batting wasn’t as easy, Mattingly going two for 12. Except, Mattingly still knew it could be.

“I knew there wasn’t a guy that I faced that, when I was going good, I wouldn’t have hit,” Mattingly said.

*** *** ***

There was an article in Yankees magazine printed in ‘84 that painted a picture of a smirking Lou Piniella.

Then the Yankees batting coach, Sweet Lou was infamous for startling roommates in the middle of the night by standing in front of a mirror in his underwear, practicing his swing during his playing days.

He couldn’t perfect his swing enough. Couldn’t stop practicing. So, when Mattingly finished up another endless run in the batting cage by flinging his batting gloves and deciding “I stink!” ... Piniella knew he had himself a hitter.

Here’s where Donnie Baseball was born, starting the first season of a three-year tear that left him standing as, arguably, the best player in the game.

He slapped the ball to left.

Drove it to right.

Found some power with Piniella’s help and smacked 23 home runs.

Pounded dents into the outfield wall with 44 doubles.

And the average?

Best in the league.

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