Meeting “Donnie Baseball”

[Tedw9]

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?

[rose14]

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]

Great story Chris thanks for sharing it with the forum.

[Mattingly85MVP]

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?