New York Post, Sunday, November 15, 2020nypost.comD
ON MATTINGLY’Sbaseball
life was elevated lastweek
when hewon theNational
League Managerof theYe ar award
to join Don Baylor, Kirk Gibson,
FrankRobinson andJoe To rre as
the only mento win both Manager
of theYe ar and MVPawards.
“Baseball life” was purposefully
used, becausefo r the last quarter
of a centuryI have recommended
that theva riousco mmittees that
judge candidates after they leave
the standard Hallof Fameballot
should be thinkingof thewhole
baseball life.The standard group
that vo tes (of wh ichI ama mem-
ber) are charged with judging
justa playing career and, anyway,
often lack the information that
willcome post career and ina full
baseball life.
I wrote about thisfi rst in 1996,
suggesting that if Joe To rre’s Ya n-
kees were to win theWorld Series
that year (which they did) that
when hepassed infr ontof the
then-Ve teransCommittee, they
shouldtake his cumulative career
into account.To rre was aborder-
line Hallof Fameplayer who by
1996 was in the14th of the then
maximum15 years on theregu-
larba llot, and itwas obvious that
he wa s never gett ing thevote s to
enter that way.
Tome, this iswhy GilHodges is
sucha no-brainer Hallof Famer.
His statsare similarto To rre’s as
a player, plus as managerof the
1969 Mets Hodges steered oneof
the most improbable, iconoclas-
tic championsof all time. Hisfull
“baseball life” deservesrecogni-
tion inCooperstown.
This is how Mattingly, who fell
off theregularballotin 2015, and
Dusty Baker, who was only on the
regular ballot oneyear in1992, can
gain a second look. In 2020 , they
both improved theirfullrésumés
— theirbaseball li ves.
Maybe both needa champion-
ship asa managerto get to Cooper-
stown. To rre ultimately won fo ur
andwas selected.The expectation
is that Bruce Bochy, who won three
with the Giants, will almostcer-
tainly get in, thoughyou may note
his career.497 winning percentage
is thesame as that of Mattingly.
TheTo day’s Game Era Com-
mittee (anoffs pringof theVe ter-
ansCommittee)is, among other
things, charged with lookingat
“theoverall contributionto the
game” of candidates, though it
stillconsiders an individual in
“therole inwhich they we re most
prominent.” Again,to me, tossthat
out and justconsider thefullbase-
ball life regardless of prominence.
I hate tobring up Harold Baines,
because he isoften criticizedfo r
being in the Hallof Fame, and it is
not like he was campaigning and
— regardless of where you stand
on his enshrinement— hewas a
terrificplayer. But the16-mem-
ber To day’s Game Era Co mmit-
te e elected Baines in December
2018 , likely with strongbackroom
maneuveringby co mmittee mem-
bers andfo rmer White Sox owner
JerryReinsdorf and managerTo ny
LaRussa(whatever happenedto
those kids?).
But Baines had been through
theregular Hallvoting that judged
him asa player and never received
more than 6.1 percent of thevote(75 percent is neededfo r election).
And he had not done anything
post-careerto change his narra-
tive. Thesecommittees should be
thesafe ty netof perspectivefo r
thosewhosebaseball lives keep
becoming more impressive. How
is theto tality of Baines’ba seball
life, fo r example, greater than that
of Hodges?
Whosebaseball life would
you rather have — Mattingly’s or
Baines’?
Baineswas probably never one
of the10 bestplayers in any season
of his career. Matt ingly was ar gu -
ably the bestplayer in the majors
fo r about threeye ar s as a Ya n-
ke e. His careertota ls, ev en with
back issues that shortened his
prime, stand with thoseof To rre.
Asa manager, he won three divi-
sion titles with the Dodgers and
just led the Marlinsto theirfi rst
postseason berth since 2003 and
a first-round winover theCubs.
Again, it isgoingto take more, but
Mattingly’s Hall candidacyfo r a
baseball life is better now than
even two months ago.
Asfo r Baker, it isfo rgotten to
time just how gooda player hewas. Bakerwon aGold Glove,fi n-
ishedfo urth and seventhfo r an
MVP (Baines’ highestfi nish, as an
example, was ninth) andwent to
two All-Star Games. His 116 OPS-
plus is thesame as Hallof Famers
Roberto Alomar and Barry Larkin.
Bakerwas asimilar, but better,
player than LouPiniella, and their
managing careers havemuch in
common,too —successin mul-
tipleplaces.Piniella managed 23
years withfi ve teamsgoing1,835-
1,713, winning six division titles,
making thepl ayoffsseven times,
winning the pennant andWorl d
Series once. Baker has managed 23
years withfi ve teamsgoing1,892-
1,667, winning seven division titles,
10 playoff appearances and one
pennant, but not that elusive title.
Piniella, in thecommittee pro-
cessthat ledto Baines’ election,
fi nished onevote shy of hisown
induction and probably be upfo r
a vote again in December2022. So
when Baker is done managing, per-
haps he will have that shot. Obvi-
ously, a titlewould improvethe
chances. But thefullbaseball life
of Baker (15th all-time in manager
wins) standswith that of Piniella(16th all-time in manager wins).
And Baker’s candidacy— like
Mattingly’s —only improved in
2020. Ye s, therewere expanded
playoffs and the Astroswere under
.500. Still, Baker became thefi rst
managerever to lead fi ve diffe rent
organizationsto the postseason.
After so muchplayoff heartache,
Bakergu ided the Astros through
tw o ro unds and nearly came all
theway back fr oma three-games-
to -none deficit in the ALCS before
losing in Game7 to the Rays.
But it went beyond that. Baker’s
temperament and status in the
ga me helped the Astros navigat e
through the season after it was
revealed that they stole signs ille-
gally in 2017-18.
The team obviously was helped
bythe absence of hostile crowds
in thepandemic season, but by
Baker, too. Though the Astros
are hated, Baker might just be the
most beloved fi gure in thegame.
Heownsa mysticpl ace in the
sport now at 71 as sage and story-
teller, as mentor andfa therfi gure,
as eclectic andcool.
The scopeof his half-century-
plus career includes being on deck
when Hank Aaron hitNo. 715,
managing BarryBondswhen he
hitNo. 71 and beinga wisevoice
withina 60-game season.
It is not done—Baker is still
managing the Astros— but it has
been oneextraordinarybaseball life.
[email protected]Joel
Sherman
Hardball
‘LIFE’
SUPPORT
Entire careers of Mattingly,
Baker show they deserve
Hall consideration
AP (3); UPIDon
Mattingly
Dusty
Baker
HALL YES!Dusty Baker (left
inset, with theDodgers in
1979) and DonMattingly
(rightinset, with theYankees
in 1985) had careers that
combined success as players
and managers.