Joe Torre, the new manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, is not in Nashville at baseball’s winter meetings. But Don Mattingly, the Yankees’ icon who is now the Los Angeles Dodgers’ new batting coach, is here. Not long ago, Mattingly hoped he would have been here as the Yankees’ manager. But that position went to Joe Girardi.

Mattingly says he is here to learn as much about his new organization as possible. He is studying videotapes of the Los Angeles Dodgers and videotapes of National League pitchers. Mattingly compared the learning process to how he felt when he returned as a Yankees coach after being out of baseball for several years.

When Mattingly, who spent his entire career with the Yankees, was asked if it would feel weird to wear a different uniform, he said: “It doesn’t feel that way right now, not with the way it played out. It happened. I took a shot, and it didn’t work out. Now I’m doing this.”

Before Mattingly would agree to the job with the Los Angeles Dodgers, he first asked his son, Preston, a Los Angeles Dodgers’ minor leaguer, to sanction it. Preston scoffed at the question.

“He said: ‘Dad, I’ve been dealing with you my whole life. This won’t be any different,’ ” Mattingly recalled.

Mattingly, who was disappointed about not getting to manage the only team that he had ever been associated with, seemed at peace with his new position. He and Girardi attended a charity dinner together last week, and Mattingly said they remained friendly. Mattingly still wants manage, but, this time, he was not the Yankees’ choice.

 

 

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