EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) – Don Mattingly had quite the year in 2025, capped off with a trip to the world series.
“To be able to win a few rounds and get to the World Series, incredible feeling, obviously I’ve never experienced that before… exhilarating,” said Don Mattingly.
And even with the second longest postseason game in MLB history, 18 innings in game 3, the Fall Classic was finished in a flash.
“Your season comes to a crash landing, because even up to the last at-bat, Kirk is up, we’re down a run, one out. Kirk is going to get this run in. It’s going to happen. Then a pitch later, the season is over.”
After the Blue Jays lost the World Series in 7 games, Don Mattingly parted ways with the organization. The first question for him, not what’s next, but will there be a next.
“All year long I was expecting it to be it. As Lori and I talked about the season, I felt like the time in Toronto was going to be enough.”
Don and his wife were on the same page, but it was their 11-year old son, Louie, who wasn’t so sure.
“Louie was like, ‘Dad, you can’t stop. You’ve got to keep going.’ He loved it, he got to experience the World Series in a way that probably no kid, other than player’s kids, get to do.”
And so, to start 2026, Mattingly announced he’s headed to Philadelphia.
“You sign with the Phillies, and you’re back in action there, and you reunite with another son, Preston. Are you excited to go back and reunite with family,” said Max Parker.
“It’s nice to be on the same team and be after the same goal. He’s been telling me what to do for a long time. When he was in San Diego, and I was in Miami, he was like, ‘Dad you’ve got to pick up this guy, pick up this player.’ I’m like, ‘Preston, I’m not the general manager.’ He’s been telling me what to do for awhile, and now, pretty much, he’s my boss.”
The next chapter of Don’s legacy is just around the corner. It’s already quite the legacy, but one that fell just short once again of being inducted into the hall of fame.
“This one, I think because of the World Series, and it came up right away, and all the talk about it, I think I got more hopeful, so disappointed when it didn’t happen, but then, by the end of the night, grateful.”
Don says the Hall of Fame wouldn’t change much. He’s used his platform for good, with Mattingly Charities, helping kids in his hometown of Evansville. And it’s safe to say, he’s left his mark on baseball.
“I want people to when they think about me, I want them to think about baseball. The fact it just says ‘Donnie Baseball’ is pretty cool.”
But Don says the hall of fame wouldn’t change much. He’s used his platform for good, with Don Mattingly Charities, helping kids in his hometown of Evansville, and it’s safe to say, he’s left his mark on baseball.
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