Goodfellas
06-25-2009, 06:25 AM
Dodgers hitting coach Don Mattingly joined the show to discuss the team. Here are some of his takes:
-- Mattingly says Manny Ramirez deserves to reach the Hall of Fame one day despite his suspension for performance-enhancing drugs.
"He's put up numbers for way too long," Mattingly said.
Mattingly said he's hesitant to judge Ramirez without know how much performance-enhancing drugs affected his career.
"It's tough for me to measure a guy for his whole career," Mattingly said. "This a mistake that he made. It's a one-time thing or who knows? It's a tough call on all this stuff."
-- Mattingly said the steroid era probably does strengthen his Hall of Fame prospects. But he doesn't get upset that suspected 'roiders may go to Cooperstown before him. "I don't look back and begrudge anyone," Mattingly said.
"I didn't play long enough," Mattingly said. "Honestly, if I had played five more years and piled on some numbers, I think my numbers would look different," Mattingly said.
-- Mattingly said he was away from the game after he retired in 1995 and didn't know about the enormous impact steroids were having in the late 1990s.
"You're not seeing guys on a daily basis and seeing the ball come off the bat and going 'that's kind of crazy,'" Mattingly said.
-- Mattingly said that Manny's mental makeup will make it easy for him to come back after the long lay-off.
-- Mattingly says Manny Ramirez deserves to reach the Hall of Fame one day despite his suspension for performance-enhancing drugs.
"He's put up numbers for way too long," Mattingly said.
Mattingly said he's hesitant to judge Ramirez without know how much performance-enhancing drugs affected his career.
"It's tough for me to measure a guy for his whole career," Mattingly said. "This a mistake that he made. It's a one-time thing or who knows? It's a tough call on all this stuff."
-- Mattingly said the steroid era probably does strengthen his Hall of Fame prospects. But he doesn't get upset that suspected 'roiders may go to Cooperstown before him. "I don't look back and begrudge anyone," Mattingly said.
"I didn't play long enough," Mattingly said. "Honestly, if I had played five more years and piled on some numbers, I think my numbers would look different," Mattingly said.
-- Mattingly said he was away from the game after he retired in 1995 and didn't know about the enormous impact steroids were having in the late 1990s.
"You're not seeing guys on a daily basis and seeing the ball come off the bat and going 'that's kind of crazy,'" Mattingly said.
-- Mattingly said that Manny's mental makeup will make it easy for him to come back after the long lay-off.