On Tuesday, my childhood hero, Donald Arthur Mattingly, was a guest on the Dan Patrick Show. I won’t lie, I was more than excited for this. I have a hard time seeing him in a Dodger cap, but I’m really happy he has the opportunity to show his skills as a skipper.
Listening to the interview reminded me why I have a man-crush on this guy. He is always prepared, always professional and a true leader by example. In his playing days, Donnie always played hard, always ran to first (ahem Mets), and was never afraid to get dirty. He also seems to have amassed a ton of baseball knowledge. He would study pitchers and go up to the plate prepared. Granted his back gave out towards the end of his career as evidenced by the numerous batting stances throughout his playing days. But he always tried his hardest.
Most of the interview with Dan Patrick was about his new managerial role, but the one thing that stuck out for me was when Patrick asked him if he wanted his players to play as he did. Mattingly was intense, focused, driven, but most of all prepared night in and night out. Donnie’s answer was that he wanted his players to be prepared and to do their best every time out there. That’s a classy answer. He understands that all players are driven by different things and are wired differently, but as long as they do their best and put forth a team effort they will succeed.
I have numerous memories of Donnie Baseball from seeing his 6th Grand Slam in a season sitting in the 3rd base boxes as a kid to being at the stadium on “Don Mattingly Day” as a teenager to later, finally meeting him and shaking his hand as an adult. I wish him nothing but the greatest success and hope he returns to pinstripes someday. 
--Lem Allen BYB Freelance Contributor
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