Don Mattingly’s last MLB appearance as a player was on October 1, 1995 with the New York Yankees. He hasn’t had a MLB plate appearance, fielded a regular season ground ball or taken a throw at first base since then. He was not a pitcher so he never threw a pitch in a major league game – which means he never gave up a hit or walked a batter. Yet somehow, as the Dodgers manager, it is his fault that J.P. Howell and Jamey Wright walked the bases loaded with one out in the top of the 10th inning on Thursday night in the eventual 3-1 loss in the series opener against the Giants, thus igniting the (seemingly) annual outcry for his firing.

No one will argue that Mattingly has made some bonehead moves during his three-plus seasons as the Dodgers skipper, but the bottom line is that he is not the one making the pitches, swinging the bat, or making the errors that find the Dodgers 3.5 games behind the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants and 2.5 games behind second place Colorado. Yet with every bad pitch, every poor at bat and every misplayed ball, chat rooms and other social media sites light up with the hue and cry calling for Mattingly’s head.

You can bet that it won’t be long before pundits start calling for Mattingly’s head – again. (Photo credit – Ross D. Franklin)

During the Dodgers early struggles last season, it took all of April and May before the national media joined the lynch mob calling for Mattingly’s ouster, but when they did, they did so with gusto – particularly one so-called baseball expert who foolishly reported that his ‘inside sources’ said that Mattingly’s firing was imminent … “perhaps as early as tomorrow” which, of course, never happened.

The Dodgers are struggling – you know it, I know it, they know it and most of all Don Mattingly knows it. And while the manager is ultimately responsible for his team, he is not the one on the field or in the batter’s box. More importantly, he is not the one making the personnel moves and has to play the hand that he is dealt.

But if baseball has taught us anything it has taught us that when times are tough, somebody has to be the fall guy, and if the Dodgers struggling bullpen doesn’t turn things around and soon, that fall guy will most likely be bullpen coach Chuck Crim. But here again, he is not the guy out there on the mound blowing games – but hey, somebody has to go, right? It’s not right nor is it fair, but such is life in the big leagues (remember Dave Hansen?).

Although J.P. Howell was tagged with the loss on Thursday night, it was the two walks, sacrifice fly and base hit given up by Jamey Wright that caused it – and nobody felt worse about it than Wright.
(Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)

For those clamoring for Mattingly’s head please remember this – on June 20, 2013 the Dodgers were in last place in the NL West 12 games under .500 at 30-42 and 9.5 games behind the division-leading Diamondbacks, yet they not only ended up winning the division, they did so by an 11-game margin.

Relax people.