‘Phillies Extra’ Q&A: Don Mattingly on why he walked away from baseball ‘to be with my boys,’ including Preston
The Yankees great and his son, the Phillies' general manager, talked with The Inquirer about their lives in the game. Don discussed why he didn't go overboard in "selling" his son as an executive.
The schedule makers gave Don Mattingly a perfect Father’s Day gift.
Mattingly, the legendary former Yankees captain, is in his third season as bench coach for the Blue Jays, who were in Philadelphia over the weekend. His son Preston is the Phillies’ first-year general manager after three years as minor league director.
And so, the Mattinglys got to spend a few days together.
Before the series, Don and Preston sat down with Phillies Extra, the baseball show from The Inquirer, to discuss their relationship, including Don’s decision to cut short his playing career after the 1995 season to spend more time with his sons.
Here’s an excerpt from our conversation, which has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Watch the full interview below and subscribe to the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Q: Don, it took almost 1,800 games for you to play in the postseason. You finally got there in 1995, and you have that great series against the Mariners, going 10-for-24. And then, after that series, you stop playing at age 34, still productive. Why did you decide that was the right time to step away, and how much did it have to do with your boys?
DM: Yeah, it was definitely more about the boys. You know, ’94 ended up being the strike year, where the World Series ended up getting canceled. We had a good club that year and didn’t make it. … I probably would have stopped after that year if I had a shot to play in the postseason. But once that happened, I was like, ‘I’ve got to take another run at this. We’ve got a good team. Take a chance to get in the playoffs and win it all.’ But it really was more about the boys than anything else.
I still felt like I could play. But the biggest thing for me, it was like, when we were home, when I was at our house in New Jersey, it felt like I was in a hotel room. All I was doing was going to the ballpark, coming back, going to the ballpark, coming back. And so, I still enjoyed the playing part and being around the guys in the locker room, but Preston’s older brother, Taylor and him, they were kind of getting to that age — I think Taylor was getting ready to go into high school … and I just felt like I needed to be home. I was missing a lot.
The boys got tired of coming to New York to do nothing, and they wanted to stay home and play ball in the summer, and things like that. Can’t blame them. So, it just got to the point where it wasn’t enough for me just to be playing and not having really any sort of life after that.
Q: What do you get asked about more — what it was like to play for George Steinbrenner or The Simpsons episode?
DM: Oh, 100%, The Simpsons, for sure, for sure. … There was not a lot that went into it. Me and [Yankees teammate] Steve Sax were in California. We had an off day. They sent a car for us. They take us to this little studio. You do the lines. Nobody’s around. It’s like going in and doing a radio thing, right? And that’s it. And then it turned into years and years, obviously of hearing it back from people.
Q: Don, you were the Yankees hitting coach in 2006 when the Dodgers drafted Preston. And then you guys were together for a few years in the Dodgers organization, Don on the big-league side, Preston, in the minors. I wonder how often you guys would talk baseball in those days.
PM: Yeah, video wasn’t as available as it is in today’s game. I definitely remember either sending him video or just talking on the phone discussing — I was probably struggling, knowing the way my minor league career went, but just talking about my swings and things that were happening to me in the game. And I remember talking baseball. It’s so hard to understand what’s going on if you’re not there with him. So, I think we would definitely have conversations about what was going on over the phone.
DM: … I remember Press going through the draft process. I wasn’t there for that. I’m playing, he’s going through that process. Then he got to rookie ball. Just kind of follow along, talk to him every once in awhile, him telling me about [Clayton] Kershaw being drafted and those guys being roommates. And then you’re just talking. For me, I try to find out, where are you hitting the ball? That tells me a lot — what side of the field are you on? Are you hitting line drives, whatever it is, and that sort of thing. But we didn’t really have video to go cut up the swing. I’d seen him hit before, and so I kind of knew how his swing worked. He always kind of hit the ball to right field early on. So I had a decent idea what was going on with him. But just by following along and listening to him talk.
Q: Don, I remember being in Miami near the end of the 2021 season you and Dave Dombrowski had a long conversation on the field before a game. A few weeks later, the Phillies hired Preston. You’re going to obviously give him a great reference. But I wonder how much you felt like this was a path he could take, given the way he sees the game?
DM: Yeah, once he got with the Padres, you could [see his path]. You could see it because of just his understanding of players and talking about players and understanding of the information, and all the new tech and all the stuff that they had out there. And it’s funny, that conversation with Dave was kind of the opposite of me trying to sing his praises. Because Dave said to me, ‘I’m hearing a lot about your son, Preston.’ I said, ‘Well, I like him.’ But I didn’t try to sell him.
I just said, ‘Hey, Dave, you’ve been doing this a long time. You know it.’ I said, ‘You should interview him and find out.’ I tried not to sing his praises because every dad’s going to sing their son’s praises. But I was more like, ‘You should talk to him and make your own decision.’ I knew Dave’s been one of the best GMs in baseball for a long time, so I’m like, ‘You find out yourself, Dave. You know who can do it, and who can’t.’
Q: Preston, what’s been your impression of doing this job on the big-league side of things rather than running the farm system?
PM: Yeah, I really enjoy the role. Obviously, Dave has been tremendous to work with, being by his side day to day. He always is there to help me learn new things that come up. I think the one thing that I’ve really noticed is there’s something new that comes up every day in the big leagues. Whether that’s with players, whether that’s with staff, whether it’s opposing teams, our roster, there’s always something to do. There’s always somewhere to get better, and there’s always somebody you’re looking to improve. So, I think it’s been a change from the system standpoint. When I was in the minor leagues, it definitely felt like that was very similar from a standpoint of there’s always something going on. Obviously, I think at the major league level the decisions carry a lot more magnitude.
» READ MORE: Playing college basketball at age 26 taught Phillies’ Preston Mattingly how to build a culture
Q: Don, you were four votes shy of getting elected to the Hall of Fame by that Contemporary Era Committee in 2023. I think that committee meets again this December, and I would imagine that you might be up for consideration again on that ballot. Do you still feel like maybe this is going to happen for you?
DM: Yeah, I don’t have a real feel for that. I hope it happens, honestly. And I’ve had years where I was just like, I don’t really care. I’ve always said that I played my cards — they’re not going to change. And the one thing I do realize is when I retired — and I retired for reasons to be with my boys and to be able to be around them and help and be there when they were growing into high school — that I was giving up numbers, and I was giving up production that would have been in those kind of tack-on years. So, I can’t really complain. I knew what I was getting into. I chose my boys over the chance of that. And if that doesn’t happen, then fine.
I’ve seen guys go in that I know I can play with. There hasn’t been a pitcher that’s ever went in that I didn’t feel like I could hit. But there’s also guys that aren’t in that I think are great players that I think, ‘Man, this dude’s a great player, and they’re not in.’ So, I really don’t worry about it that much. But you know, obviously it’s an honor that you want to happen, but you don’t have any control.