Yankees Legend Misses Hall of Fame Again

New York Yankees legend Don Mattingly will, once again, not be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Mattingly was named on just six of the 12 needed ballots from the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Mattingly's next chance at baseball immortality will be in 2028 when the committee votes again.

Mattingly was one of eight members on this year's ballot that included former Barry Bonds, Carlos Delgado, Jeff Kent, Dale Murphy, Gary Sheffield, Fernando Valenzuela and former Yankee and Cy Young winner Roger Clemens.

Kent was the lone member on the ballot to be inducted into the 2026 Hall of Fame class. He was named on 14 of 16 ballots.

Mattingly's Notorious Hall of Fame Battle

This will be the 19th time that Mattingly has missed the Hall of Fame. He failed to meet the required number of votes in 2018, 2020 and 2022, and has been in consideration for Cooperstown since 2001.

Mattingly discussed his Hall of Fame chances in November.

"I will say I hope I get in. Obviously, everybody would like to be recognized for that," Mattingly said.

The battle between Mattingly and the Hall of Fame has been about his stats. Mattingly doesn't have the career numbers or the milestones of most Hall of Famers, such as trailing other Yankees legends like Rickey Henderson, Dave Winfield and Derek Jeter in WAR, and never reaching 3,000 hits or 500 home runs.

Mattingly's Peak

Mattingly may not have had the career numbers, but he does have one of the most impressive peaks of all time. Mattingly's six-year tear from 1984-89 consisted of 160 home runs, 1,978 total bases, a .327 batting average, a .902 OPS and a 147 OPS+. And that's just the numbers.

Mattingly was also named the AL MVP in 1985, won three Silver Slugger awards and five Golden Glove awards. He also finished second in MVP voting in 1986 and received votes in 1987 and 1989.

Nashville Sounds first baseman Don Mattingly gets his bat ready for a spring camp exhibition game against the Altanta Braves at the New York Yankees minor league complex in Hollywood, Fla., on April 3, 1981. | Frank Empson / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

He ended his 14-year career with six All-Stars, a .307 batting average, 2,153 hits, 222 home runs and 1,099 RBIs. Mattingly also added four more Golden Glove awards and was in MVP contention in 1993 and 1994 before being forced to retire due to a back injury in 1995.

Post-Playing Days

Mattingly played during a Yankees championship dead period. He joined the club in 1982, after the World Series titles of 1977 and 1978, and retired just before the 1996 World Series win and the 1998-2000 three-peat.

Mattingly returned to New York to coach the Yankees under manager Joe Torre from 2004-07 and again missed winning a title, which the Yankees later did in 2009. Mattingly has made several coaching stops since his time with his former team and has been the manager of the Toronto Blue Jays since 2023.

Mattingly made his first-career World Series appearance just over a month ago, but his Blue Jays fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7.

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