Don Mattingly career timeline: How ex-Dodgers manager reached first World Series in more than 30 years with Blue Jays originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Don Mattingly has remained a faithful servant to the game of baseball for much of the last 40 years.
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The Toronto Blue Jays bench coach has worn a lot of hats since the New York Yankees called him up during the 1982 season.
More often than not, Mattingly has delivered in his various posts. He was a wondrous talent as a player, collecting a treasure trove of awards while manning first base in The House that Ruth Built.
As a manager, Mattingly was similarly effective. He’s a Manager of the Year winner who has four postseason appearances to his name, most of which came with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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Mattingly has seen it all throughout his years-long dalliance with MLB. But he hasn’t seen a World Series trophy. At least not yet.
With that, here’s what you need to know about Mattingly’s World Series history — or lack thereof — ahead of Toronto’s Fall Classic joust with the Dodgers.
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Has Don Mattingly won a World Series?
Mattingly has yet to get his hands on the Commissioner’s Trophy.
A six-time All-Star and AL MVP winner, Mattingly is remembered fondly as a player. He was the Yankees’ highest-profile player throughout his 14-year career, serving as a synapse between Ron Guidry, Graig Nettles, Willie Randolph and Thurman Munson-led sides of the 1970s and the buzzsaw that won four World Series in five years in the late-1990s and early-2000s.
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Although his closet is filled with individual honors, New York suffered a dry spell during his prime. The Yankees only qualified for the postseason once during Mattingly’s career, struggling to compete with the Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox — all of whom either won or made it to the Fall Classic.
Prior to his first playoff berth — in his final MLB season in 1995 — Mattingly ranked No. 29 all-time in regular season games played without making a postseason.
Mattingly has found slightly more team success in the dugout. He spent seven seasons serving as a special instructor to the Yankees’ spring training, while in 2004 he was named hitting coach. He served admirably in the position for three seasons, anchoring a Pinstripers attack that launched 242 shots into the great abyss in 2004 — a then-franchise record.
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Mattingly set sail for the Dodgers in 2008, joining Joe Torre’s staff after not receiving the managerial position with the Yankees. He succeeded to manager when Torre retired after the 2010 season. Wins were aplenty across Mattingly’s five seasons in charge; the Dodgers captured three-straight postseason berths from 2013-2015.
But the Fall Classic eluded them; Los Angeles fell to the St. Louis Cardinals in 2013, the San Francisco Giants in 2014 and the New York Mets in 2015.
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After leaving the Dodgers by mutual consent following the conclusion of the 2015 season, Mattingly headed down south, landing a contract with the Miami Marlins. He led Miami to a postseason berth in 2020, picking up the NL Manager of the Year award as a result. Nevertheless, his side fell well short of the World Series and in 2022, he left the franchise via mutual consent.
What is Don Mattingly doing now?
Mattingly swiftly picked up a job following his Marlins exit, joining the Blue Jays as a bench coach in Nov. 2022. He has retained that position across the past three seasons.
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Don Mattingly record with Dodgers
Mattingly posted a 446-363 record during his time in Tinseltown, good for second-best in Dodgers history upon his departure. Here’s a closer look at his numbers over the years:
Year
W-L
Win %
Finish
2011
82-79
.509
Third in NL West
2012
86-76
.531
Second in NL West
2013
92-70
.568
First in NL West, lost in NLCS
2014
94-68
.580
First in NL West, lost in NLDS
2015
92-70
.568
First in NL West, lost in NLDS
Total
446-363
.551
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