About Don Mattingly
Donald Arthur Mattingly, nicknamed "Donnie Baseball" and "the Hit Man", is an American former first baseman, manager and coach who currently serves as the bench coach 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 6-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. His 1,634 games at first base then ranked tenth in AL history, his 1,104 assists ranked ninth, and his 1,500 double plays were tied for fifth; his 14,148 putouts were the fifth most in the AL since 1940. The Yankees retired his uniform number (23) in 1997, making him the only Yankee to have his number retired without having won a World Series with the team.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.