BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
The reason why Baseball is such a true passion of mine is not only have I played the game, but have covered it for over 45 years.
The relationships one makes in this game are truly remarkable.
I’ve made so many that it would be hard to list all of them.
On Saturday, August 23, 2025, there is one person that I wanted to do an interview with in person.
We’ve talked so many times at Marlins Media Availabilities, Zoom Calls and privately, but there was some unfinished business to take care of. We worked together through Covid-19.
He was born on April 20, 1961 and is 64 years old in Evansville, Indiana.
He made his MLB debut for the New York Yankees on September 8, 1982 and his last appearance on October 1, 1995 for the Bronx Bombers.
His nickname is “Donnie Baseball” and spent his entire 14-year MLB Career with the New York Yankees, and later managed the Los Angeles Dodgers for five years and the Miami Marlins for seven years.
Don Mattingly has a lot of memorabilia in the Baseball Hall of Fame, but the only thing that’s missing is a plaque.
He hit .307, amassed 2,153 hits, added 222 home runs and has 1,099 RBI.
Other players have made it to Cooperstown with similar numbers.
The reality is a back injury cut Mattingly’s career short, but he still has a chance to be inducted through the veterans committee.
My good friend, Bob Ryan from the Boston Globe definitely believes Mattingly belongs in the Hall of Fame. Ryan is a voter for the Baseball Hall of Fame and is inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in Basketball. I value his opinion immensely!
My interview with Bob is in this story. I hope you enjoy it.
This Baseball Lifer and I go back many years dating back to the 1980’s when we were both in the Yankees farm system.
I wrote for the Hallandale Digest covering the Fort Lauderdale Yankees and New York in Spring Training. Don played for the Greensboro Hornets and marched his way through the system and landed in the Bronx.
Although he’s not in the Hall of Fame yet, his No. 23 is retired and is in Monument Park as an honoree with the Yankees.
He’s the only player without a World Series to earn that honor.
But to me, Mattingly is a friend and a brother!
He’s the older brother that I never had!
I love this guy!
When we’re not talking baseball on the microphone, we’re talking about life.
In recent years, I’ve been dealing with head trauma such as concussions and now have Alzheimer’s Disease.
Don felt bad when he heard this information. Don has always been there to give me moral support.
The Toronto Blue Jays were in Miami to face the Marlins the weekend of August 22-24.
We contacted the Blue Jays communication department to see if Don would come on the Motor City Mad Mouth Show for about 10-15 minutes.
Last year, the Blue Jays did approve us to attend a game in Toronto and we reminisced on the field.
We told the Blue Jays that Don and I have been friends for years dating back to the 1980’s.
We received an email back from the Blue Jays and Don, true to who he is, gladly appeared on my show and our interview lasted nine minutes.
As my friend and mentor Craig Mish looked on, Don and I did our thing and we talked about the Hall of Fame as well as other Baseball Topics.
Once again, the interview lasted nine minutes and we covered everything that I had outlined. I knew Don had to take care of his coaching responsibilities on the field and also caught up with other people in Miami where he was very liked by all.
When the interview was over, we took pictures with each other and exchanged hugs.
Mish came up to me and said, “Scotty, I thought you were going to go 15 minutes, and you did a good job making it shorter. Short interviews are the way to go.”
Those kind words by Mish were worth a Kodak moment as Craig is another great friend!
The Blue Jays Communications Department told Candy Ebling that Mattingly rarely grants one-on-one interviews, but he was glad to accommodate me and understood the value of our friendship.
Candy told the traveling Blue Jays Communications Department Representative that we plan on covering the team during Spring Training in Dunedin, Fla.
They said they’ll be more than happy to accommodate us.
I hope that when that happens, that if it’s meant to be, Mattingly finally gets his due in Cooperstown and will finally have his moment on a bright summer day in Upstate New York.
Back in the 1990’s when I was in Cooperstown, I spent $350 for a Hydrostone Statue with Mattingly holding a bat in his hand swinging. It’s currently sitting in My Studio.
While he’s comfortable in his own skin, as his accomplishments speak for themselves and is honored by the Yankees in New York, former Dodgers Manger Tom Lasorda once told me, “Because God Delays, Doesn’t Mean that God Denies.”
The same can be said that he hasn’t been to a World Series yet.
The Yankees made it in 1981 before he arrived and lost, then won it in 1995 the year he retired.
My sentimental favorite is to see the Blue Jays at least get and hopefully win the World Series.
A championship ring on Mattingly’s finger would have true meaning to this Baseball Lifer.
It’s time for Mattingly to get his moment in immortality!
In recent years, the Baseball Hall of Fame has seen many of its members unfortunately pass away.
Words of wisdom from Lasorda, another man that I cherish who has meant a lot to me throughout my lifetime are always things that I keep in my mind!
But Don Mattingly is simply one of a kind!
I’m truly grateful to the New York Yankees, Miami Marlins and Toronto Blue Jays for giving me one more amazing memory with a person that I view as the older brother that I never had at LoanDepot Park in Miami!
This was a day where a Detroiter/Midwesterner had the opportunity to hang with a fellow Midwesterner from Evansville and will always remember.
Once upon a time, the Detroit Tigers had a AAA team in Evansville called the Triplets. Mattingly and I once talked about this.
Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can follow him on X @TribuneSouth.
To see his broadcasts, there is no charge to subscribe to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.
Scott has a book, “Lessons From The Microphone” that can be purchased on Amazon-Kindle and Barnes & Noble. This book talks about Old School Media vs New School Media.
