Beyond the diamond: Baseball legend Don Mattingly’s lasting impact off the field
Posted June 4, 2025 10:02 am.
Don Mattingly’s baseball legacy stretches far beyond Yankee Stadium. Now wearing Blue Jays blue for the last few seasons as part of the coaching staff, the former New York Yankees captain is quietly building something just as meaningful off the field — hope for kids back home.
Through Mattingly Charities, the organization he runs with his wife Lori, the Mattingly’s recently crossed a major milestone: over $1 million in grant donations given to youth programs in and around his hometown of Evansville, Indiana.
“It was a great feeling for us,” Mattingly said this week from Rogers Centre, where the Blue Jays are hosting the Philadelphia Phillies. “It’s been a lot of hard work. We really are a pretty small organization — we have two employees, and it’s something that is close to my heart and Lori’s heart. We both grew up there. We both were not necessarily in underserved neighborhoods, but definitely knew what it was like to struggle.”
Mattingly Charities started in 2007 by supporting youth sports in Connecticut, and in 2015, moved to his hometown in Indiana. Over time, the mission has evolved.
“We do believe in team sports and how that helps you grow,” Mattingly said. “But really, we’re finding now that education is more of an avenue to really help more kids. We’re really pushing now for our reading program — wanting to expand it to all kids and get everyone reading. We feel it’s a way to better yourself and give these kids opportunities to know there are places to go, and it doesn’t just have to be sports.”
From literacy programs to youth empowerment grants, Mattingly’s passion for his community runs just as deep as his baseball roots.
He was in New York City this offseason when Blue Jays outfielder Daulton Varsho received his first Gold Glove Award, a moment that meant a lot to the defensive-minded coach.
“It was a great feeling,” Mattingly said. “We felt like he should’ve won it the year before … Defense, for me, shows a side of a player — it shows effort. And it doesn’t get that much attention, so when guys get recognized for it, I love seeing it.”
This week’s Blue Jays–Phillies series comes with another personal twist. Mattingly’s son Preston is in his first season as the general manager of the Phillies.
“Very proud,” he said. “Preston was a kid that just worked his way up through the Padres organization, doing anything they asked him to do, probably not making any money but getting by. To see him get a chance to be a farm director there for a couple of years and then slowly kind of walk up that ladder, I’m happy for him.”
So, is there any father-son trash talk ahead in this series?
Mattingly laughed: “Not too much smack.”
