OK, I'm going to try (maybe) to make this the last installment
  in the Don Mattingly namesake series, but this is one letter and
  photograph I simply couldn't resist.
     Former New York Yankee first baseman Lou Gehrig may have been
  known as the "Iron Horse," but this Mattingly is just a plain old
  adorable horse, as I learned from this letter from Sophie Coppedge,
  9, of Brookline, Mass.
     "My brothers Luke and Walker showed me your article on boys
  named after Don Mattingly. Lots of moms and dads like the name
  Mattingly. I like it too because Don Mattingly is my favorite
  player in baseball even though I live in Boston. My brother Luke
  has 159 Don Mattingly baseball cards. We love the Yankees.
     "I think I am the only little girl who named her pony Mr.
  Mattingly. I call him `Tingly' for short. He is a great pony and we
  go to lots of horse shows together.
     " `Tingly' and I have won lots of ribbons."


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