THE PRESSURE NOW FALLS ON MATTINGLY

"If we lose, we're failures."

That quote above came from Dodgers manager and Yankee Icon, Don Mattingly. This is a guy that played for George Steinbrenner, a guy who never played for second place. George has been quoted saying "Second place is really first place loser." also been quoted as saying . Randy Levine, has been quoted as saying "When you don't win the World Series, it is a bitter disappointment."  Our captain Derek Jeter was brought through the same farm system as Don Mattingly was before him and subscribes to the same mentality.  They speak the same way because they grew up the Yankee way... and so do we, so I get Mattingly and his important quote. The Dodgers made big moves with guys like Hanley Ramirez and Josh Beckett and Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford during the season, and Zack Greinke and Hyun-Jin Ryu now.  They have plenty of money and their eye on the prize.

The Yankee way has been pounded into our players heads for years and us fans follow the philosphy. We love our Yankees, but we love them to win the whole damn thing. That's why 1996 through 2000 were so damn special. The only downside was Don Mattingly never won a ring with us and now, the Dodgers have handed him the keys to win it all next season...no pressure right?

Mattingly needs a ring, the Dodgers have the dough to give him all the parts he needs to do it. No doubt a few years under his belt as a manager have made him more experienced and while I rarely root for another club, I root for Don Mattingly and always will.

I often wonder about if Donnie's back didn't crap out on him, if he would have been part of that 1996 team, or even maybe 1998, you never know. Nothing against Tino Martinez, but as Yankee fans, everybody feels for Mattingly...Everybody.

Well, now he has his chance in another shade of blue, and with the same type of make-up of talent that the Yankees used to pull off in the offseason. Look, the Dodgers have a shot. And Donnie's right saying what he said to Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports, HERE, if they don't win it all, with the talent they have, the season will be a true failure. Unfortunately, as a manager, it will all fall down on Donnie and he'll be to blame. Is it fair? No. No one needs that.

Hey look... Maybe it will work out in our favor. Maybe if things don't work out OR they do in Dodgertown, it will be right about the time Joe Girardi ends his contract in the Bronx. Then, maybe Donnie comes back to New York to manage our club. I see it now... Donnie Baseball's the Manager, Jorge Posada's the bench coach, Derek Jeter is the hitting coach. The pitching coach is Andy Pettitte and 1st and 3rd base coaches are Bernie Williams and Mariano Rivera.  It's like the band never broke up...or maybe this is all just wishful thinking.

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