TORONTO — In theory, that could be him instead of Dave Roberts.
He could be the leader of the most expensive collection of talent in baseball history. He could be the two-time World Series champion manager. He could be part of a dynasty.
Don Mattingly said he never viewed his departure from the Dodgers in that context, however.
And when he returns to Dodger Stadium this week as the bench coach of the Toronto Blue Jays, he doesn’t expect to feel anything he wouldn’t feel in a World Series game played at any other stadium.
“I don’t look at it as anything different than preparing to win a game,” Mattingly said.
None of this is surprising.
The former New York Yankees superstar has always been diplomatic about the end of his five-year reign as Dodgers manager.
His split from the Dodgers 10 years ago was never explained in a way that made sense, as both he and the team described it at the time as a mutual decision. The widespread suspicion was that Mattingly wanted greater job security and the Dodgers didn’t think enough of him to prevent him from finding it elsewhere. Soon after he left, Mattingly became the Miami Marlins’ manager. The Dodgers replaced him with Roberts.
Mattingly now says the decision was family-based.
His stepsons were in school, which kept his wife in their offseason home of Indiana. The difficult commute to Los Angeles limited how often he saw her, and that was particularly difficult because their son was less than a year old.
“It really was a family decision,” Mattingly said.
Because of that, he said, “I never looked back on those decisions.”
Mattingly was hired by the Dodgers to be their hitting coach when they were owned by Frank McCourt. He was appointed manager when Joe Torre retired, and he was still in charge when the franchise was purchased by Guggenheim Baseball Management.
The change in ownership resulted in a change of how the team invested in players. Driven into bankruptcy by McCourt, the Dodgers became huge spenders overnight.
“I think it was a positive time for the Dodgers, obviously. There was a lot of negativity around the club and ownership before that. Those guys came in, have totally turned it around and put a positive spin, not only a positive spin but a great product on the field every year.”
With Mattingly still as their manager, the Dodgers looked World Series-bound in 2013, only to lose to the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series after Hanley Ramirez broke a rib. The Dodgers’ best hitter, Ramirez was struck by a Joe Kelly fastball.
Mattingly said he doesn’t play the what-if game when thinking about that team.
“Teams that are meant to win, they overcome and they do whatever it takes,” Mattingly said.
The Dodgers lost in the NL Division Series in each of the next two seasons, to the Cardinals in 2014 and the New York Mets in 2015. The latter season was the Dodgers’ first with Andrew Friedman as the president of baseball operations and last with Mattingly as manager.
Asked if he envisioned the decade of dominance that followed his departure, Mattingly replied, “I don’t know about all that. Because it’s hard to win. You still have to win big series.”
High payrolls, he noted, don’t always result in championships.
When the Dodgers finally won a World Series in 2020, Mattingly was particularly overjoyed for Clayton Kershaw. In each of the three playoffs appearances the Dodgers made under Mattingly, Kershaw made starts on three days’ rest.
“Honestly, if you really, truly look at his postseasons, they weren’t all that bad,” Mattingly said. “I know people made a lot out of them because you expect him to throw shutouts every time you he goes out and never give up a run. But postseason is different. He pitched on short rest two series in a row. Now, the way they’re set up, maybe we wouldn’t have had to do that if he had different quality of starters at that point.
“I’m happy for Clayton. He’s been a great representative for the game. Obviously, he’s had a great career. Great person. Great kid. Does good things. It’s hard to say anything bad about Clayton for everything he’s accomplished and how he’s handled himself.”
Mattingly now finds himself in a similar position as Kershaw was in 2020, as the avalanche of congratulatory messages he’s received has let him know about the number of people that have been cheering for him.
This is his first World Series. Mattingly never reached this point with the Yankees, Dodgers or Marlins.
“If it was any other team playing for him, I’d be really happy for him, right?” Kershaw joked. “I’m happy that he got here.
“With that said, I hope he doesn’t win.”
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