Don Mattingly leaves Joe Torre's side because of family matters

BY ANTHONY McCARRON
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Wednesday, January 23rd 2008, 4:00 AM

Almost three months after he was a finalist for the Yankees' managerial job, Don Mattingly has asked the Dodgers to scale back his responsibilities as a member of Joe Torre's new coaching staff in Los Angeles.

Mattingly was supposed to be the Dodgers' hitting coach this year, but he was replaced yesterday by Mike Easler. Instead, Mattingly is going to serve as what the Dodgers called a "major league special assignment coach."

According to sources with knowledge of the situation, Mattingly and his wife of 28 years, Kim, have agreed to separate. Mattingly, the sources said, felt he should spend as much time at home in Evansville, Indiana, to be with his 16-year-old son, Jordon, a high school sophomore, rather than uproot him and bring him to Los Angeles.

Ray Schulte, Mattingly's agent, would only say that Mattingly asked for the switch for "family reasons."

"It was Donnie's request and the Dodgers were gracious enough to grant his request. Donnie's prioritizing his family first," Schulte said. "Everything, health, is fine. Everything is good in that respect. It's like any other family - they need to prioritize and that's what Donnie's doing right now. He still feels like part of the Dodger organization."

In a statement released by the Dodgers announcing the move, Mattingly said, "I'm very grateful that the Dodgers have allowed me to take care of these family matters and I hope that everyone can respect our privacy during this time. I truly appreciate the support of all Dodger fans since joining the organization and I look forward to helping the team win in 2008 and beyond."

Both Hank Steinbrenner and GM Brian Cashman said no family concerns came up when Mattingly, 46, interviewed to become Yankee manager. "That didn't have any bearing on the manager's job," said Steinbrenner, who had not heard Mattingly changed his Dodger role. "I hope everything's OK."

"The manager interview was about the best guy for the job," Cashman wrote in an e-mail. "(Joe) Girardi was that guy, plain and simple."

Mattingly was a serious candidate to replace Torre as Yankee manager - some believed he was the favorite - but the Yanks ultimately chose Girardi instead and Mattingly went West with Torre when Torre was named Dodgers' skipper.

It's unclear how this might affect Mattingly's future as a potential manager. He is expected to assist L.A.'s major league coaching staff at spring training when the Dodgers report next month and then be available for "other duties throughout the season," the team said in a release.

Mattingly and his wife, who were high school sweethearts, have been married since Sept. 8, 1979. The couple has three children - 22-year-old Taylor, a former Yankee farmhand, 20-year-old Preston, a Dodger prospect, and Jordon.

When Mattingly retired after the 1995 season, he went into a self-imposed exile of sorts at his farm in Evansville. He cited a desire to be home while his older sons were completing high school. The Yankees tried several times to hire him as their hitting coach, but he rebuffed them. He spent seven seasons as a spring training instructor from 1997-2003 before agreeing to become hitting coach for 2004, a post he held for three seasons until he switched to bench coach last year.

As part of his attempt to lure Mattingly back to full-time duty, George Steinbrenner put a clause in Mattingly's contract that provided for numerous flights for Mattingly's wife to fly from Indiana to New York during the season.

News source：http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/2008/01/23/2008-01-23_don_mattingly_leaves_joe_torres_side_bec.html