The Dodgers’ year-by-year record under Don Mattingly, who on Tuesday became the first manager to guide the Dodgers to three straight postseason appearances:
SAN FRANCISCO >> New York Yankees first baseman Wally Pipp led the American League in home runs in 1916 and 1917. He won a World Series in 1923. In 1925, he went into a slump and was benched in favor of a rookie named Lou Gehrig. Pipp never got his job back as Gehrig started 2,130 consecutive games en route to a Hall of Fame career.
Even 90 years later, replacing an established veteran with a young up-and-comer is still hard, whether the manager is Miller Huggins or Don Mattingly, whether the veteran is Wally Pipp or Jimmy Rollins.