Look, I get it. He’s “Donnie Baseball.” He had the mustache, and the pinstripes, and the awards. People talked about him as being the best player in baseball.
But he wasn’t, let’s be clear about that. At no point in time was Don Mattingly the best player in baseball. In fact, he was never the best player in his league, or his division, or - other than three seasons early in his career (1984, 1986, 1987) - even on his own team. And yes, that includes his MVP season in 1985, when teammate Rickey Henderson was pretty clearly a better all-around player.
That said, he was excellent. For four years, 1984-87, Mattingly’s 25.1 combined WAR was 6th-best in all of baseball, and the best among first basemen. The five players in front of him (Wade Boggs, Henderson, Tony Gwynn, Tim Raines, Cal Ripken) are all in the Hall of Fame, and the three guys immediately behind him (Alan Trammell, Mike Schmidt, Ozzie Smith) are all in the Hall, too. Obviously, Mattingly could really hit, combining power with contact in a unique way, and fielded his position wonderfully. He led the league RBI, batting average, slugging, OPS, OPS+, hits and total bases (twice each), and doubles (three times). He won that MVP award, and nine Gold Gloves, and made six All-Star teams. It was a great career.
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