LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Don Mattingly spent 14 seasons as the face of the New York Yankees, and though his career once appeared to be on track toward the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the sweet-swinging former first baseman is satisfied with his place of honor in Yankee Stadium's Monument Park.
The current Marlins manager was among the 10 players considered by voters on the 2018 Modern Baseball Era ballot, the results of which were revealed on Sunday. Jack Morris and Alan Trammell were elected into the Hall of Fame, while Mattingly did not receive the requisite percentage of votes.
Steve Garvey, Tommy John, Dale Murphy, Dave Parker, Ted Simmons and Luis Tiant were also up for consideration, as was Marvin Miller, who served as the first executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association from 1966-83.
Mattingly spent 15 years on the ballot with voting members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, never coming close to the 75 percent necessary for Hall of Fame induction. His best showing was 28 percent in 2001, Mattingly's first year on the ballot.
"I don't think I have the numbers," Mattingly once said. "Part of it is longevity, and I wasn't able to do that and do the things that I did early in my career."
Over a six-year run that started in 1984, Mattingly averaged 26 home runs, 114 RBIs and a .327 average, representing the Yankees on the American League All-Star team in each of those seasons. No player during that stretch had more RBIs than Mattingly's 684, while only Wade Boggs (1,269) had more hits than Mattingly's 1,219.
Mattingly won the AL MVP Award in 1985, batting .324 with 35 homers and 145 RBIs, and he also finished in the top five in the MVP Award voting in '84 and '86. Mattingly, who edged teammate Dave Winfield in a memorable race for the the AL batting title in 1984 (.343), also won nine Gold Glove Awards at first base over a 10-year span.
But from 1990-95, Mattingly averaged fewer than 10 home runs and 64 RBIs per season, topping the .300 mark just once, in the strike-shortened 1994 season.
Mattingly's No. 23 was retired by the Yankees in 1997, and a plaque was posted in Monument Park to honor his career.
"A humble man of grace and dignity," the plaque reads. "A captain who led by example. Proud of the pinstripes tradition and dedicated to the pursuit of excellence. A Yankee forever."