TTM Success - Don Mattingly

Finally, I got a TTM success back from Don Mattingly.  It only took me three tries.  I had seen successes from Spring Training where Mattingly signed up to four cards, so I sent him the three cards he has in the 1987 set, as well as this oddball ad for Magic Motion Discs.  I had a whole stack of the ads in a box of cards that Mom had gotten me a while back, so I figured it would be a cool throw-in to my TTM request.

It was cool, until I got the cards back and all three of my 1987s were unsigned, and the ad card was the only one he signed.  I did laugh, however, at my misfortune.  I mean, I still got Mattingly TTM, and I bet I am one of the very few folks who actually have a signed copy of this oddball ad.  In the meantime, my good buddy Dugan got me a 1987 base Mattingly signed IP, which will be shown off soon.

Mattingly (b. 1961) played in the majors from 1982 to 1995 for the Yankees.  He had 2,153 hits, 222 home runs and a .307 batting average across 14 seasons.  He won the AL batting title in 1984 when he batted .343.  He was the 1985 AL MVP Award winner.  He was a six-time All Star and a 9-time Gold Glove Award winner.  His career was cut short due to a back injury, leaving the Yankees one season before they won the World Series, missing his chance at a ring.

He has managed in the majors since 2011, managing the Dodgers (2011 to 2015) and Marlins (2016 to present) to a total record of 650-601 (.520 win %).  His teams reached the playoffs three times, but fell short of the World Series each time.

He appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot 15 times, but only reached a peak of 28.2% of the vote.  One has to think that he would have a decent enough of a change via the Veterans Committee someday.

I mailed to Mattingly on February 8 via Marlins Spring Training and got the card back signed on May 19, for a 100-day TAT.