GLENDALE , Ariz. — Of course, Don Mattingly has noticed the similarities. It is his life, after all, and Joe Torre is both friend and mentor, so how could he have missed it?
"I have seen the way his career and my career have matched up," Mattingly said. "I hope it keeps matching up."
They might not be mirror images, but they are close. Let us count a few ways:
- They were borderline Hall-of-Fame players who each won one MVP award.
- As players both kept missing great runs. Torre joined the Braves in 1960 right after Milwaukee had been the NL's dominant team of the late 1950s. He joined the Cardinals in 1969 right after St. Louis had been the dominant team of the 1960s. He refused a trade to the Yankees in 1976 — as they were heading to the World Series for the first time in 12 years — because he thought he could become player-manager of the Mets. Torre never reached the playoffs as a player.
Beginning in 1976, the Yankees went to the playoffs five times in six seasons through 1981 (winning two titles). Mattingly joined the Yankees in 1982. The Yankees made the playoffs just once in Mattingly's tenure, getting eliminated in the Division Series in 1995. He retired after that and the Yanks began a dynasty in 1996.
- In their first 19 years after playing regularly, Torre and Mattingly continued to be star crossed. Torre (who played briefly in 1977, but was mostly done after 1976) managed Mets teams before Frank Cashen changed the arc of the franchise. He managed Braves teams before Bobby Cox did the same. Through 1995, he managed the Cardinals after Whitey Herzog's distinguished run.
Mattingly became a coach for Torre in 2004, the year the Yankees became the first team ever to blow a three-games-to-none lead in the playoffs (to Boston in the ALCS). In the next three seasons, the Yankees lost in the first round of the postseason. Mattingly followed Torre to the Dodgers and Los Angeles lost in the NLCS twice in the next three years. Mattingly became the Dodgers manager in 2011 and Los Angeles has lost in the playoffs twice since.
It is easy to forget now, but going into the 1996 season, Torre was viewed as one of the great bridesmaids in baseball history, having never reached the World Series in any fashion. But then, in his mid-50s, Torre and his wife, Ali, had Andrea on Dec. 14, 1995, he went to spring training in February and won his first title in October.
In his mid-50s, Mattingly and his wife, Lori, had Louis on Nov. 19, Mattingly went to spring training in February and …
Mattingly and Torre in 2010Photo: Reuters
Mattingly chuckles at the comparison. But acknowledges just how tough winning a title is having spent so much of a baseball life without ever having even reached the Fall Classic.
But the implications should Mattingly not have a big October could be dire for him. The Dodgers are the new Yankees. They project to about a major league record $266 million payroll. The expectations are title or bust. There already were questions whether Mattingly would be brought back for this season after two playoff crashes.
Anything short of at least getting to the World Series will put his employment in dire circumstances.
He is dealing with a redone front office — the most expensive ever there, too — with Andrew Friedman being imported from Tampa Bay and Farhan Zaidi from Oakland, taking the analytics that brought success to small markets and adding money to Moneyball.
Mattingly says only a foolish manager would not use analytics in 2015, but he has been encouraged how much his new bosses value character and playing the game properly, too. Still, one of the strong buzzes in the game is that if the Dodgers are not big successes this year, Mattingly will be replaced by someone more attuned to the analytics.
When I talked to Friedman a few days ago, he would not discuss long-term plans, but said Mattingly is a great person who has been open to all the concepts.
And the front office has tried to make Mattingly's route to October easier. The Dodgers tried to defuse a problematic clubhouse temperature by trading Matt Kemp and letting Hanley Ramirez leave in free agency while concentrating on character and roster diversity in reconfiguring the team. They have tried to have a steadier plan for the mercurial Yasiel Puig.
Mostly, though, the roster remains loaded with talent with Puig, Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Adrian Gonzalez. There is some concern No. 3 starter Hyun-jin Ryu (shoulder) could be lost for a while.
But Los Angeles is blessed with elite prospects and deep coffers. This is a team poised to win.
"Every year you manage, you should feel like you are going for that [a title]," Mattingly said.
This might be his last best chance. Will the similarities to Torre continue?
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