#180 Don Mattingly

Card thoughts: This was the last card I got to complete the set. And “Donnie Ballgame” was by far my favorite non-Cub growing up.

The player: For a five year stretch, Mattingly was arguably the best all around player in the game. A lefthanded hitter who hit in a severe crouch, he was adept at reaching the short left porch in Yankee stadium. Mattingly hit for power and average, and almost never struck out. But starting in 1990, after a back injury flared up, it prevented him from becoming a possible hall of famer. He spent his entire career with the Yankees, a remains one of the most popular Yankees of all time.

It’s hard to believe, but Mattingly was behind #164 Steve Balboni on the Yankees first base depth chart in the early 80s, despite being a better fielder and hitting well over .300 at each of his minor league stops. But the Yankees grew alarmed at Balboni’s propensity to strikeout and traded him away. This freed up a space for Mattingly.

In his first season with the club, he was a part time first baseman/outfielder and he hit about .283 with 4 home runs. The next season was the first of three straight MVP-type seasons. Mattingly led the league in hits (207), doubles (44), and batting average (.343). He also drove in 110 runs, and slugged .537. Mattingly made the first of 6 straight all-star squads, although he was voted in by the fans only once as a starter.

In the season represented by this card, Mattingly actually won the MVP award, by leading the league in doubles (48) and runs batted in (145). His RBIs were the most by an AL player since the mid-50s, and his 35 home runs was a career high. Mattingly also won the first of 9 gold gloves.

Mattingly’s amazing three year stretch culminated in what was his perhaps his best year, 1986. He led the league in hits (238), doubles (53), slugging percentage (.573) and OPS (.967). Mattingly’s .352 average was a career high.

The next two seasons, Mattingly was a star player, although not a super star. He still hit over .300, drove in a little over 100 runs, and scored about 90, but he wasn’t the top player in the league anymore. A highlight from this period is when he hit a home run in 8 consecutive games, tying a record held by Dale Long (and subsequently tied by Ken Griffey Jr.) in 1987. This was also the season he hit a record 6 grand slams, which curiously were only grand slams in his career. In 1989, Mattingly had his last season with over 100 RBIs, driving in 113.

The next season, his career started to decline. Mattingly had his worst overall season, while struggling to stay in the lineup because of an injured back. He hit a lowly .256 and hit only 5 homers. The subsequent seasons, Mattingly’s stats improved, but he became more of a slap hitter, still getting a good share of doubles and singles, but little power, although he did hit 14 and 17 home runs in 1992 and 1993. He also appeared in seminal Simpsons episode “Homer at the Bat,” where he played a good-natured homemaker, who was kicked off the team by Mr. Burns after refusing the shave his sideburns. Mattingly was actually once benched for having too long of hair by George Steinbrenner, but it was after the episode had already been written. After the 1995 season (and his only playoff appearance where he hit .417), he retired, finishing with over 1,000 runs and runs batted in, over 2,000 hits and a .303 average.

Mattingly remained with the Yankees after retirement as a roving hitting instructor; he eventually was promoted to the big club as their hitting coach for the 2003 season. He was then promoted again to be bench coach under Joe Torre. Mattingly was widely assumed be Torre’s heir apparent in the manager’s seat when he retired, but the job went to Joe Giradi instead. He followed Torre to LA, where he finally took over for Torre as manager last year.

Rear guard: You can see why I was so excited when I got this card in 1986. You would have sworn that Mattingly was going to be one of the greats, with those gaudy numbers.

Mattingly's first home run was off the Red Sox pitcher John Tudor. It was a solo home run.

Red Ruffing is in the hall of fame for his pitching (although he holds the record for most earned runs and runs allowed), but he was known as a good hitter as well. He was sometimes used as a pinch hitter when wasn't pitching. Ruffing had a lifetime .269 batting average, and hit over .300 eight times in a 22 year career. He only had 36 home runs, however.

#179 Stu Cliburn

Card thoughts: I call these pictures “heroic” shots. Not that Cliburn was ever much of a hero.But this is his rookie card.

The player: Cliburn was already the subject of a “Talkin’ Baseball” feature on the back of the #124 Luis Sanchez card. His twin brother, Stan Cliburn, also made the majors.

Cliburn took forever to get to the majors. He was drafted in 1977 by the Pirates, but didn’t make it to the majors until 1984 (and then only for 1 game). This was due to his consistently high ERAs in the high minors. The Pirates certainly gave up on him: After trying him as a starter in the minors, they released him in 1982. He hooked up with the Angels, who converted him to a short reliever where he was much more effective.

The year represented by this card is the peak for Cliburn’s brief, 3 year career. As a 28-year old rookie, he won 9 games, saved 6, and had a great 2.03 ERA coming out of the bullpen. On the strength of this performance, he placed 5^th in the Rookie of the Year balloting. But then injuries limited Cliburn to only a handful of minor league games the next two seasons. He finally came all the way back in 1988, but was much less effective, with his ERA almost double his 1985 mark. The culprit was too many home runs allowed: 11 in 84 innings.

Cliburn never pitched in the majors after this season, as he continued battling injuries. He currently is a pitching instructor in the Twins minor league system.

Rear guard: Cliburn spent so long in the minors, there wasn't room to put any facts.

This date in baseball history: The first use of a designated hitter occurs in a spring training game in 1973. The batter is Larry Hisle of the Twins.

#178 Ivan De Jesus

Card thoughts: Another sea of red, with a nice, Groucho Marx-style mustache. The position circle should read 3B-SS. This would be De Jesus’ last Topps card.

The player: De Jesus was one of the better all-around shortstops in the league in the late 70s, but he is better remembered as the player involved in the trade that brought Ryne Sandberg to the Cubs.

As a young prospect in the Dodgers system in the mid 70s, De Jesus found himself blocked by Bill Russell. Although he had the potential to be a better all-around shortstop than Russell, the Dodgers were impatient, and made a very poor trade. Along with Bill Buckner (who became a minor star with the Cubs), the Dodgers sent De Jesus to the Cubs for Rick Monday, who never really hit again, and Mike Garman, who had one good season out the Dodgers bullpen.

With the Cubs, De Jesus was installed in the leadoff spot and was a productive hitter on several terrible teams. From 1977-1979, he scored over 90 runs each year, with a league leading 104 scored in 1978. De Jesus was a fast man, although not always that successful stealing, stole almost 100 bases in those years. De Jesus also showed great range and arm strength at short, solidifying a position for the Cubs that had been filled by light hitting Mick Kelleher after Don Kessinger left in 1976.

After 1980, De Jesus’ hitting began to decline, although his fielding remained strong. In 1981, he was atrocious, winning the “negative triple crown:” Having the least home runs (0), runs batted in (13), and average (.194) of any regular player (note that this was only over 108 games in a strike shortened season). The Philadelphia Phillies chose to think the previous four seasons were more indicative of his ability as they pursued De Jesus. The Phillies were concerned that their long time shortstop Larry Bowa was getting too old to handle the position, and they needed someone more athletic to play the deep short required on the artificial turf. Dallas Green, the Cubs general manager and the former manager of the Phillies, agreed to a deal, but only if a little regarded third base prospect named Ryne Sandberg was included. The rest is history.

With the Phillies, De Jesus still played a lot of games and handled a lot of chances at short, but he became the prototypical light hitting middle infielder. His average never rose above .260 in the three seasons he spent as the Phils’ regular shortstop, and he rarely hit a home run. Feeling a young Steve Jeltz was ready to take over the position, they traded De Jesus and #112 Bill Campbell to the Cardinals for #39 Dave Rucker at the end of spring training in 1985.

This was a curious move, as the Cardinals already had a long time star shortstop, Ozzie Smith manning the position. But the Cards envisioned De Jesus as a pinch hitter/runner and late inning defensive replacement (for Ozzie Smith? Were they crazy?). He mostly backed up Terry Pendleton at third, although out of the 59 games he played, only 33 were spent in the field at any position.

The next three years, De Jesus spent most of his time as an insurance policy at AAA for the Yankees, Giants, and Tigers. For a player who spent most of his career playing nearly every game, he would end his time playing less than 10 games for each of these clubs.

After his playing days were over, De Jesus became a coach and manager in the Dodgers, Mariners, Astros, and Cubs minor league systems. In 2010 and 2011, De Jesus finally became a major league coach for managers Lou Pinella and Mike Quade. Cubs fans will not miss De Jesus’ terrible third base coaching during the 2011 season.

 

Rear guard: One of the weird cards that has a miscut back, but the front is fine. 

De Jesus had 160 hits in 1980. 5 of those hits came in a 16-12 slugfest against the Cardinals. As a leadoff man, De Jesus hit for the cycle (which would be a better Topps citation). Amazingly, he hit for the cycle entirely off starting pitcher Bob Forsch (Forsch gave up 14 hits and 9 runs that day). Teammate Barry Foote, who never hit much in the majors, had the day of his life with 8 RBIs.

This day in baseball history: Marvin Miller, former official in the United Steelworkers Union, is elected as the first president of the baseball players union in 1966.