1982




Named International League All-Star as outfielder.
Was promoted on 9/7 with Steve Balboni, Curt Kaufman, and Mike Patterson.
Made ML debut on 9/8 vs Baltimore, replacing Dave Winfield in left field.
First AB was on 9/11 vs Milwaukee (Jim Slaton).
Notched first career hit on 10/1 vs Boston, an 11th-inning single off Steve Crawford.
Recorded the first RBI of his career, a SF, on 9/29 at Cleveland off Tom Brennan.



1983




Won the James P. Dawson Award as top rookie in spring training.
Was in the starting lineup for the Yankee home opener.
Optioned to Columbus on April 14.
Hit 8 HR with 39 RBI and .346 BA with Clippers before being recalled on 6/20, when Bobby Murcer retired.
Hit first major league HR off John Tudor on 6/24 at Fenway Park.
Hit in 24 of 25 games, 7/13 to 8/11, going hitless (0-2) in both ends (7/24 & 8/18) of th "pine tar" game.
Played a third of an inning at second base in 8/18 conclusion of "pine tar" game.
Played first base on 7/4 when Righetti no-hit Boston.


1984




Became the first Yankee to win the AL batting championship since Mickey Mantle in 1956.
Battled teammate Dave Winfield until last day of the season, winning .343 to .340.
Was named to first AL All-Star Team in his first full season in the majors.
Led AL with 207 hits, 44 doubles and 59 multi-hit games.
Second with .537 slugging pct.
Top road hitter in league at .364.
Was the first LH Yankee batter to hit .340 since Lou Gehrig hit .351 in 1937.
Led AL first basemen with .996 fielding pct. (5 E, 1236 TC).


1985




Named American League MVP.
Beat George Brett in the voting, 367 to 274, and received 23 of the 28 first place votes.
Led the majors with 145 RBI, 48 doubles, and 15 sacrifice flies.
Led AL with 370 TB, 21 GWRBI, and 86 extra base hits.
Led AL first basemen with .995 fielding percentage.
Suffered minor tear of medial meniscus cartilage of right knee in February while working with weights at his home. On February 22, underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair the damage.
Had minor surgery on 11/12 on the extensor tendon of his right pinky finger.


1986




Finished 2nd in the AL MVP voting behind Roger Clemens.
A mid-season NY Times poll of 417 Major League players named Mattingly the best player in the game.
Led the majors with 238 hits, a .573 slugging percentage, 388 total bases (led ML second consecutive year), 86 extra-base hits for a second consecutive year and 53 doubles (led ML for third consecutive year, the first player to lead AL or ML 3 straight years since Tris Speaker from 1920-23).
His 238 hits broke the former Yankee record of 231 set in 1927 by Earle Combs.
His 388 total bases were most by a Yankee since Joe DiMaggio posted 418 TB in 1937.
Became the 10th player to lead the majors in TB two consecutive years, the first since Mike Schmidt (1980-81) and the only Yankee besides Babe Ruth (1923-24).
His 53 doubles broke the former Yankee mark of 52 set in 1927 by Lou Gehrig.
Tied for first in the AL and tied for third in the majors with 15 game winning RBI's.
Went into the final series of the season chasing Wade Boggs, .357 to .350, in the AL batting race. While Boggs sat out the 4-game set with a sore right hamstring, Don went 8-19 (.421 BA, 5-R, 2-2B, 2 HR and 4 RBI) to raise BA to .352. In order to surpass Boggs he would have need 12 hits in the 19 AB's (BA would have been: Mattingly, .3574; Boggs, .3568).
Became only the eighth Yankee to ever hit at least .352.
Became the first player to lead the Yankees in average, hits, doubles, and RBI three straight years since Lou Gehrig 1932 to 1934.
Through the end of the 1986 played in 282 consecutive games (final 120 of 1985; 162 in 1986).
His .996 fielding percentage led AL first baseman for third consecutive year and is the only Yankee to ever lead the league in fielding percentage 3 straight years at any position.
Led AL first basemen with 160 games and 1483 total chances.
Won second straight Gold Glove Award.
His 79 multi-hit games led the club.
Got his 500th career hit with his first hit of the season on Opening Day, 4/8 vs Kansas City off Dan Quisenberry.
Tied ML record with 3 sacrifice flies on 5/3 against Texas.
Had career-high 24-game hitting streak.


1987



During pre-game routine on 6/4 at Milwaukee, injured his back fielding ground balls.
Injury forced him to be placed on the 15-day DL on 6/9 and was activated on 6/24. During this absence the Yankees were 11-7.
Upon his return, hit in 18-22 games at .411 (25 runs, 8-2B, 12 HR, 33 RBI), raising BA to .342.
On July 17th, became the first AL player to hit at least one home run in each of seven consecutive games as the New York Yankees disposed of the Texas Rangers, 8-4.
On July 18th, hits a home run in his 8th consecutive game, tying the ML record set by Dale Long in 1956 (31 years), but the Yankees lose to Texas 7-2. His streak would end the next day when the Rangers romp the Yankees 20-3.

Opponents and Pitchers of Mattingly's 10 HR's in eight games:
July 8 vs Twins: M. Smithson (1st inning - 3-run) and J. Berenguer (6th inning)
July 9 vs White Sox: R. Dotson
July 10 vs White Sox: Joel McKeon (2nd inning - grand slam)
July 11 vs White Sox: Jose DeLeon (3rd inning)
July 12 vs White Sox: Jim Winn (7th inning)
July 13 - 15 - AS Break
July 16 at Rangers: C. Hough (2nd inning - grand slam) and Mitch Williams (8th inning - 2 run)
July 17 at Rangers: Paul Kilgus (6th inning)
July 18 at Rangers: Jose Guzman (4th inning)
On 7/20 tied ML record of 22 putouts by a 1st baseman in a 9-inning game, also held by Tommy Jones (St. Louis Browns, 5/11/06), Hal Chase (N.Y. Highlanders, 9/21/06, G1), and Ernie Banks (Chicago Cubs, 5/9/63).
Hit Major League record sixth grand slam of the season backed the four-hit pitching of Charles Hudson to lead the New York Yankees to a 6-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox. Bruce Hurst was the Red Sox pitcher who gave up the home run to Mattingly in the 3rd inning. Roberto Kelly, Rickey Henderson, and Willie Randolph were the men on base when Mattingly hit the grand slam into the third deck.
Twice named AL Player of the Week, for weeks ending 7/12 and 7/19.
Missed games of 7/21 to 7/22 at Minnesota with a slightly sprained right wrist suffered on 7/18 after hitting hisrecord-tying HR.
On 9/22 at Milwaukee, recorded the 500th RBI of his career, a bases-loaded, 2-run single in the seventh inning off Ted Higuera.
Became first player in the 7 year history of the Elias Sports Bureau 's report for the MLBPA to compile a perfect 1.000 score, ranking first in each category used to measure production of first baseman: plate appearances, BA, OBP, HR, and RBI.
Selected to fourth consecutive AL All-Star Team.
Became the first Yankee to lead club in BA, hits, doubles, and RBI in 4 consecutive seasons.
Also named AL Player of the Month for July, hitting .374 (37-99, 21 runs, 10 HR, 24 RBI).
His .996 fielding percentage was the best in the AL for the fourth straight year (1,000 total chances).



1988


Did not homer until the 32nd game (5/10 vs Chicago), going 124 AB without a HR.
Suffered a strained muscle in his right side on 5/27 at Seattle during batting practice and went on the 15-day DL.
Ended season with a .993 fielding percentage, fifth-best in the AL (had finished first in the previous four seasons).
Committed a career-high 9 errors.
Named to fifth straight AL All-Star team.
Was the first Yankee to lead club in hits 5 straight years since Mantle(1955 to 1959).
Won fourth consecutive Gold Glove Award.
Third inning single on 7/3 at Chicago off of Bill Long was his 1,000th career hit and became the 33rd Yankee to reach that milestone.
Ejected on 5/6 at Texas by Tim Welke arguing a 9th inning K.
Ejected again on 8/13 at Minnesota by umpire Larry Young in the eighth inning after a check swing strikeout.



***this was taken from http://www.donniebaseball.com/

You think this kid gives it his all?

May,3 1986 on a sunny day in Texas. We were playing the Rangers. I hit 3 sacrifice flies that day. This was a perfect example of what is now called "Donnie Ball". The players today have a need to be dramatic. Everyone wants to hit one out of the park. There is no "I" in team fellas.