There is no better teacher of hitting than Don Mattingly. He has the information, intelligence, experience, and passion to give players—at all levels—what they need to be successful. When Don made the decision to coach at the major-league level for the New York Yankees I knew he’d be outstanding. He is very energetic. He has no problem handling an enormous workload. There’s no limit on what he wants to learn and how he is able to communicate with the players. He would make a great major-league manager right now. He has no problem with the fear of failing—that’s not even part of his vocabulary. Don has a fire burning inside of him to be the best, and to help others achieve their personal best. Don is always there for his players. And believe me, players in the big leagues right now demand so much more from their coaches because of the information that we get for them.
Don has at his fingertips all the information our players need: what a pitcher is likely to throw when he’s ahead or behind in the count, his tendencies and patterns to try to get hitters out. But Don’s value to the Yankees goes way beyond his teaching skills and value as a hitting coach. His personality is so good. It’s almost like Donnie is still a player, to be honest, and that ability to banter with guys like Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada and Jason Giambi is an invaluable asset to me as a manager. Whatever your goals in baseball, Don Mattingly is the perfect source of information to get you headed in the right direction.
—Joe Torre
Yankee Stadium
August 2006