In his latest sign of disgust with the Yankees organization, captain Don Mattingly expressed his unhappiness with the way he has been treated by the club in a television interview that airs tomorrow night, at one point suggesting he has been "spit on" by the only organization he has known.

Mattingly has made a series of recent public statements criticizing his treatment by the organization, and they provide a clear indication that he neither expects nor wants to return to the team he has played for since 1982. Mattingly, 34, has maintained that he wants to avoid becoming a distraction as the Yankees drive toward a potential postseason berth, yet he does not shy away from candid and telling responses when questioned about his future.

In response to a question from Roy Firestone about whether he would understand the Yankees choosing Boston slugger Mo Vaughn to replace him if they had the chance, Mattingly concurred he would understand such a move before adding, "You know there's times, you have no doubt, there's time to move on. But I think there's ways to handle it, too, you just don't kick a guy and spit on him and `go get out the door' type thing . . . "

In an interview published July 22 in Newsday, Mattingly intimated that George Steinbrenner was behind a smear campaign to run him out of town. Mattingly suggested then that he believed Steinbrenner was behind a tabloid story with the back-page headline, "Done Don," and that the article was intended either to drive his price down or simply force him out of New York.

Mattingly told Newsday then, "You can't escape it. There is no escape. I've seen them do it to Goose [Gossage]. I've seen them do it to Willie [Randolph]. And I've seen them do it to Nettles and Guidry and Winnie. You just don't escape. It's kind of part of the end here. I don't know what it is. They want to discard you." Steinbrenner has denied that was the case.

Mattingly later expanded on the "get out the door" theme in the TV interview to be aired tomorrow at 8 p.m. on ESPN, saying, "I don't like the way it's been handled, to tell you the truth. The way I've been treated. To me, I don't feel like I've changed any since I've got there. I feel like I've played the same style.

"I always played hard and given everything I had, after 12 years and on the 13th year to be kind of `get down and get out of here' type attitude, more than anything else, not that that's what's wanted by all the people but that way it's kind of handled: You're useless now, goodbye. That's not the way I've acted. That's not the way I've played for all this time."

In two other recent interviews, Mattingly said he might be happier playing in Japan and also that he expected these to be his last games for the Yankees. In an interview published in USA Today on Aug. 28, Mattingly said, "I've thought about Japan a little bit," and went on to say he likes that the focus is on baseball over there, rather than outside distractions. The following day, Mattingly said he was "a little embarrassed" that his comment created such a big stir and carried the potential to distract the team.

A couple days later, in an interview with MSG Network's Al Trautwig, Mattingly said, "It's a situation where I really feel it's my last 20 games with the Yankees." Mattingly was discussing his back trouble then, and explaining why he wanted to remain on the field for the September stretch drive he hopes will result in his first postseason berth.

Mattingly, hampered recently by recurring back trouble, is batting .284 with six home runs and 45 RBI after last night's 2-1 victory over the Blue Jays.

Mattingly's five-year, $19.3-million contract expires at season's end, when he will become one of several prominent Yankee free agents. Mike Stanley, Jack McDowell, David Cone and Wade Boggs also are free-agent eligible. There has been some speculation that the Yankees might employ prospect Russ Davis as their third baseman next season and move Boggs to first, but that appears to be only one of several options.

Vaughn and Seattle's Tino Martinez also have been mentioned in media reports as possible successors to Mattingly. However, it would take a rules change to make either of those players free agents after this season. By Jon Heyman. STAFF WRITER

Copyright 1995, Newsday Inc.