Mattingly At Bat
Autographed by Don Mattingly
oil pastel on velum
size: 39" x 23"

This was the first professional baseball game I had ever been to. My Uncle Ed, a huge Yankees fan, brought us to the game and told me who all the hot players were. I remember when Mattingly came to bat Ed said, oh this guys great, you have to get him. The photos came out and I did the drawing. Then I rallied the services of some friends to go to New York with me in attempts to get it signed. We drove like mad to get to the stadium in time for the pre-game warm up. No luck. All the players were off the field. I flagged a security guy over and he told me I was too late - Sorry unacceptable answer! Next - The guy on the field wearing a suit - he must be somebody. Did I get lucky - it was Mattingly's manager. He took the piece into the locker room and got it signed. Mattingly's comment "I wish the stands were that full". Then we went to Mickey Mantles to see if Bill Mazer would talk about it on the air. His producer (or some guy in a suit that seemed important) told me to go get the piece. Yeah- how cool! I went to the car to get the painting and the car had been towed away. Geez - there goes my career down the toilet- my big break and the *#@*#* car got towed! Anyway I finally got over it, paid ALL of my money to get the car back, and headed home. All was well until the car broke down in Little Italy. Thank God for those nice Italian boys who got it going again.
Your mama's raised you proper!