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ChrisCavalier
06-30-2010, 03:17 PM
In a separate thread I mentioned that I was going to have the privilege of meeting Don Mattingly yesterday. In response to that comment, one of the forum members commented “I hope you had a good time meeting Don and have some stories to share with us.” Well, I thought I would just take a moment to share a few things from the experience.

My opportunity to meet Mr. Mattingly came via a friend who was helping get a number of baseballs signed by “The Hit Man”. My friend was going to meet Mr. Mattingly in San Francisco and was gracious enough to offer me the opportunity to come along. Obviously, I accepted the invitation. So, yesterday we drove to Parc 55 hotel in San Francisco and meet Mr. Mattingly for the signing. My buddy and I got everything prepared as there were quite few baseballs to be signed. While we were scheduled to meet at 10:00, I have had athletes keep me waiting before so I was mentally prepared to wait if that were the case. However, at almost exactly 10:00, Mr. Mattingly entered the conference room where we had everything set up. Notably, after spending some time getting to know him, I think the reason Mr. Mattingly was right on time was out of respect to my friend and I (even though he didn’t actually know us personally).

We ended up spending almost an hour in the room together as Mr. Mattingly signed the baseballs and we got to chat about everything from family, sports, current players and even pets. Ironically, my friend who invited me to the signing has a dog that was sprayed by a skunk that very morning. Much to my amazement, when my friend mentioned his dog getting sprayed, Mr. Mattingly immediately got on his cell phone to call a friend to confirm the best way to help get rid of the smell. It struck me right away that Mr. Mattingly, despite all his notoriety, was genuinely a really nice guy. In fact, my friend mentioned that he had once meet Mr. Mattingly about 20 years earlier (my friend is also friends with Reggie Jackson) and that my friend was asked to drive Mr. Mattingly somewhere. One of the things my friend remembered was Mr. Mattingly reaching over to unlock his door when he was getting ready to get in the car. While that may not seem like a big deal, I believe there are some athletes that wouldn’t think to do such a thing. Along those lines, my friend commented that the action confirmed his overall impression of what a nice guy Mr. Mattingly was.

I am sure there are a number of people on these boards who are like me in that they are more impressed with an individual’s strength of character than they are someone’s physical abilities. With that said, I was enormously impressed with “Donnie Baseball”. From his genuinely kind demeanor, to his interest in hearing about mine and my friends’ families, to his kindly taking the time to autograph a few items for my friend and I after the signing, it was great to see such a fantastic athlete also be such a good guy. In fact, though he didn’t receive a return call about the dog during the signing, my friend got a text message from Mr. Mattingly right after we left with a potential remedy for my friend’s situation. True to my impression of his character, Mr. Mattingly obviously sent the text to my friend as soon as he received the return call.

On a side note, Mr. Mattingly looked like he was in great shape. In fact, I was wondering what he would do to a baseball if we hit the diamond together and I tossed a few pitches at him. While that would be an awesome experience, I think it’s much better for my ego never to find out.

-Chris

BULBUS
06-30-2010, 03:31 PM
Awesome story Chris!

I met Mattingly at two different signings. Both times he took the time to answer questions, chat and take pictures. The huge line at the first signing moved slower than all heck, but it was well worth it.

I grew up watching him play and he will always be my all-time favorite!

-Chris

yankees24
06-30-2010, 03:39 PM
great story Chris, Donnie is indeed a class act and I only regret not having been able to watch him play growing up. will you be making the signed baseballs available to purchase here in the forums? thanks!

stretch
06-30-2010, 03:39 PM
Thanks for sharing.

Cheers!

joelsabi
06-30-2010, 03:43 PM
Chris, great story. I always like these type of encounter stories. I have only heard positive stuff about Mattingly.

Any photos?

Your post reminded me of this post too showing his down to earth demeanor.
http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/showpost.php?p=69383&postcount=29

Lokee
06-30-2010, 05:42 PM
Awsome story thanks for sharing ! :)

Tedw9
06-30-2010, 06:24 PM
Awesome story Chris! Thanks for taking the time to share with us. I always enjoy hearing about the good experiences fans have with athletes.

I agree 100% with you about collecting players because they are good people. I've met a couple of athletes who were just super nice to me and everyone there and because of that, I became a fan. It makes collecting their items that much more enjoyable.

Congrats on having such a great experience, it sounds like you had a blast. Do I see a Don Mattingly game used jersey or bat in your future? :D

rose14
07-01-2010, 08:43 AM
I can say that Don Mattingly is one of the nicest and more personal players to have played in the last 30-40 years.

I used to live in Evansville, IN (his hometown) during the late 1980's and early 1990's while going to college and I used to see him all the time. I worked at a local pharmacy close to his home and would make deliveries to his home quite frequently. During the off-season I would see him probably weekly at either his home or at his restaurant, Mattingly's 23 in Evansville. I got to know Don and his wife Kim rather well.

Since I got to know him from coming to his home through the pharmacy we struck up a friendship since he knew that I was such a baseball fan and collector. Everytime I would see him we would talk for at least 10-15 minutes. There were even a couple of time he invited me to have lunch with him at his restaurant during the off-season. I once had the chance to give him a rare original photo from one of his first games as a professional in the minor leagues that he had never seen. He thought it was very cool and thanked me several times after he received it.

It was cool because I never asked for anything but it seemed almost everytime I made a delivery to his house when he was there he would give me something to add to my collection whether it was a bat, batting gloves, signed photo, etc. He also autographed a lot of other items for me over the years.

I hope he is rewarded soon with a manager's job because he has paid his dues and really is one of the good guys in the game.

dcgreg25
07-01-2010, 12:08 PM
Great story Chris thanks for sharing it with the forum.

Mattingly85MVP
07-01-2010, 11:07 PM
loving the thread...he is a great guy, met him a few times at signings as well and just him talking to the fans/taking pictures with everyone without any complaint was refreshing for once. Hope he gets that elusive WS ring as a manager (still wishing that happens as the yankees manager, maybe someday he'll be back)

Anyone have any GU Donnie items for sale?