Don Mattingly's last Yankees manager makes compelling (and personal) Hall of Fame case

If you told a time traveler from 1989 that Don Mattingly — all-caps DON MATTINGLY — was struggling to attain election to the Baseball Hall of Fame, their eyes would cross as they keeled over. Mattingly wasn't just the game's top first baseman six years running. He was a New York Yankee. He was humble. He was born and bred to be corn-fed in the spotlight. He was a central figure in nearly every, "Who ya got?" argument. He was the game's most mimicked batting stance, and the baseball player on the most posters.

Surely, anyone alive in 1989 would've assumed that all Mattingly had to do to get to Cooperstown was survive the minimum 10 years in the big leagues, healthy and somewhat productive. As long as he made it through 1993 intact, he'd be able to coast in on the coattails of his '80s stardom.

Of course, Mattingly's star shined just as brightly behind the scenes, too, beyond his MVP win in 1985, runner-up nod the next year, and nine Gold Gloves. As Buck Showalter relayed on MLB Network on Wednesday, the ripple effects of Mattingly's leadership ran in perfect parallel to his on-field contributions.

Notably, Showalter seemed eternally grateful for the way Mattingly altered his career; both parted ways with the Yankees after 1995, under very different circumstances, but neither man's time in MLB ended there.

Buck Showalter makes profound argument for New York Yankees captain Don Mattingly to make Baseball Hall of Fame

Showalter drilled down on the nuance of his eventual captain's impact, revealing that a young Mattingly's confidence in the minors in Oneonta inspired him to think twice about platooning young players unnecessarily and hindering their rise. You want "old-school baseball"? Mattingly, a converted left fielder, excelled at making difficult and daring throws from first base because of his multi-faceted upbringing. He was as complete as complete can be, and only his injury-ravaged counting stats have kept him out of the Hall thus far.

Two absolute icons of the 1980s are on the ballot this December, and both are Hall of Fame people: Mattingly and Dale Murphy of the Atlanta Braves. It would shock any '80s baseball fan at the end of the decade to be told that both are still fighting, tooth and nail, for recognition 35 years later. The Hall should rectify that mistake this weekend - and once Mattingly is in, they should work on his Mets counterpart, Keith Hernandez, too.