Vote Donnie Baseball into the Hall

Donald Arthur Mattingly had one of the more impressive careers in recent baseball history, and since his first appearance on the ballot for the National Baseball Hall of Fame, is support as been declining. Beyond his career numbers he is with out a doubt a very deserving inductee to the Hall, his heart, intensity, leadership and love for the game cannot be measured with simple statistics and maybe that is what is keeping him out of the exclusive company for which he belongs. Yet statistics seem to be the only measure for which the Baseball Writer's Association of America determine who enters the sacred Hall. So let's talk numbers. Mattingly amassed in his career 2153 hits, shy of the 2304 hits accumulated by Kirby Puckett (a very deserving member) Doubles, Mattingly 442, Puckett 414; Homers, Mattingly 222, Puckett 207; RBI, Mattingly 1099, Puckett 1085; BB, Mattingly 588, Puckett 450; Career AVG, Mattingly .307, Puckett .318; Career OBP, Mattingly .358, Puckett .360. As you can see Donnie Baseball is near or exceeding Kirby Puckett in every major offensive of category. So obviously Mattingly's problem must have been on defense. Except Mattingly had nine gold gloves in his career to Puckett's six. Considering that they give three to each league for outfielders, which Puckett was, and only one to First Baseman, it's an even more impressive stat. Don Mattingly also was a six time All Star, and the 1985 American League Most Valuable Player, and finished in the top ten for the AL MVP in three other years, including a second place finish in 1986. So I, along with the many signatures below, urge the members of the BBWAA, to take another look at the Yankee Captain.