Don Mattingly may well be one of the most underrated Yankees of the past half-century, especially among casual baseball fans, or fans of non-Yankee teams. The heart of the Bronx Bombers during the World Series-less 1980’s, Mattingly’s excellence is overshadowed by the Core Five and their playoff success, as well as his own injury-hastened exit from baseball.
Given that the Yankees won more games in the 1980’s as a whole than any other team in baseball, it’s reasonable to think that if the Wild Card existed during the prime of Mattingly’s career, the Yankees would have made the playoffs at least a couple times.