Don Mattingly, the Missing Link

Or, what do Paul Splittorff and Andy Benes have in common?

Everybody knows that Yankees great Don Mattingly is from Indiana, right?

And most folks know he was born and raised in Evansville.

But Donnie Baseball was far from the first Major League player to hail from Crescent City. That honor would go to Al Schellhase, who debuted with the Boston Beaneaters in 1890.

When you add everything up, Mattingly probably isn’t the best player from Evansville, either — career stats say that title belongs to Phillies/Cardinals/Blue Jays/Reds third baseman Scott Rolen.

But Rolen played his high school ball in Jasper, not Evansville, so if you want to give Mattingly the “greatest” title for his roots at Reitz Memorial HS … go for it.

One place where Mattingly takes a backseat to no one is in being Evansville’s missing link.

See, from the time Schellhase retired in 1891 up until 1963, Evansville’s MLB representation was spotty and streaky. A guy would show up, last a few years, and then there would be a gap.

Overlaps were uncommon, and there were wide expanses of empty years.

In ‘63, though, Dan Schneider made 30 appearances (mostly in relief) for the Milwaukee Braves. And, though he spent 1965 and 1968 in the minors, every other year through 1969 featured at least a couple of Schneider sightings in the Majors.

Then, in 1970, Paul Splittorff debuted for the Royals, followed by Ray Newman with the Cubs in 1971. Though Newman lasted only through 1973, Splittorff carried the Evansville mantle all the way through 1984.

By then, Mattingly was finishing up his third year with the Yanks, but no other Evansville dudes would show up until 1989, when both Jeff Schulz and Andy Benes made The Show.

Without Mattingly, the Evansville streak would have ended.

With him … the bridge to the 21st century pushed on — Rob Maurer, Alan Benes, Scott Rolen, Jamey Carroll, Heath Phillips, Drew Butera, Jay Buente, Aaron Barrett, Jerad Eickhoff followed in the years to come.

As of the end of 2019, Butera, Barrett, and Eickhoff were all still active.

They can thank Mattingly (and Splittorff) for their uninterrupted hometown legacy.

For the record, Mattingly stands second to Rolen among Evansville-born players in most offensive categories — games, plate appearances, at-bats, doubles, home runs, RBI, runs, WAR.

The Hit Man is first in (surprise!) hits and batting average, though.

And, of course, in 80s mustache glory.