One thing is certain - the son of Jeff and Cathy Stefanick will
  never need the initial of his last name to identify him.
     His first name, Mattingly, should be sufficient.
     Jeff and Cathy welcomed little Mattingly Francis Stefanick into the
  world (to be specific, Denville, N.J.) on Dec. 1, 1993.
     "The one constant positive of the New York Yankees is Don
  Mattingly," said Jeff, 28, a quality control technician for Tetley
  Tea. "Class, respect and performance are all things that everyone
  knows him for. But Don Mattingly is also a solid family man who has
  remained steady. He keeps my hopes alive each spring."
     Jeff and Cathy call their son Matt for short, at least for now.
  They brought him to a recent Yankee FanFest, but unfortunately
  didn't get to meet his namesake.
     Cathy, a junior high school teacher, had no problem with the
  unusual choice of name.
     "She loved it as soon as we came up with it," Jeff said. Mattingly
  wouldn't have been their choice for a girl: "I think we'd have
  chosen Jocelyn or something."
     But by September, the Stefanicks knew their impending offspring was
  going to be a boy, so there was one less important decision to
  worry about.
     "Even as Don may pass into the baseball twilight, my son Mattingly
  will always be there to keep giving me hope, just as Don has done
  for me throughout my youth and adulthood," Jeff said. "I'm proud to
  associate my son with such a fine person as Don Mattingly."
     Jeff also wondered whether there might be other parents out there
  who had named their children after baseball heroes.
     Several players themselves have named their sons after colleagues
  or their own heroes. And that's not even including such players as
  Ken Griffey Jr.  Chicago White Sox outfielder Tim Raines named his
  son Andre after his former teammate and close friend Andre Dawson.
  Dawson is also young Andre's godfather.
     Pete Rose named his son Tyler after Ty Cobb, whose all-time hit
  record Rose himself broke.
     Orioles first baseman Rafael Palmeiro, who came up through the
  Chicago Cubs system, named his son Patrick Ryne, after former
  teammate Ryne Sandberg.
     Oakland outfielder Stan Javier is the son of former major leaguer
  Julian Javier, and was named for Stan Musial.
     Detroit utilityman Mickey Tettleton was named for Mickey Mantle,
  who in turn was named for Mickey Cochrane.


Copyright 1994, USA TODAY BASEBALL WEEKLY, a division of Gannett Co., Inc.