Sweeny: Past, Present And Future — Donnie Baseball Talks Yankees And Baseball

By Sweeny Murti
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Don Mattingly's return to Yankee Stadium as manager of the Dodgers is unprecedented.

Never has a player as iconic as Mattingly returned to New York in a visiting uniform.

With all due respect to Tino Martinez, Hideki Matsui and others, they are not close to what Mattingly meant to Yankees fans in his prime.

He spent his entire 14-year playing career in pinstripes and his No. 23 is retired, except for the countless No. 23 T-shirts and jerseys that roam the stands during every Yankees home game, still the favorite of every Yankees fan who came of age in the 1980s.

Mattingly, wearing Dodgers road grays, reflected on a number of topics during a 23-minute press conference (funny, right?) at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night.

Listen to the audio below:

WEB EXTRA: SHOULD YANKEE STADIUM BLEACHER CREATURES INCLUDE MATTINGLY IN ROLL CALL?

WEB EXTRA: DODGERS MANAGER DON MATTINGLY LOOKING FORWARD TO RETURN TO BRONX

WEB EXTRA: DODGERS-YANKEES RAINED OUT, DOUBLEHEADER SET 

WEB EXTRA: DON MATTINGLY HAD THE SECOND-GREATEST MUSTACHE IN BASEBALL HISTORY

Mattingly on his relationship with New York Yankees fans:

Mattingly on walking into the old Yankee Stadium for the first time:

Mattingly on losing out to Joe Girardi for the job of Yankees manager in 2007:

Mattingly on the possibility of someday returning to the Yankees as manager:

Mattingly on the turbulent 2013 season in Los Angeles:

Mattingly comparing this turbulent season to playing for George Steinbrenner:

Mattingly was once the face of the Yankees. So how big of a moment is this, seeing Donnie Baseball come back to the Bronx wearing a Dodgers uniform?

Well, tell me if you can imagine Derek Jeter coming back to the Stadium in 2032 wearing another team's colors.

That's what I thought.

Follow Sweeny Murti @YankeesWFAN. 

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