Don Mattingly's baseball career seems over--at least for now. The Associated Press reported Monday that a source who has been in contact with Mattingly's advisors said the free-agent first baseman will issue a statement saying he won't be playing at the start of next season.

Mattingly, who will be 35 on April 20, wants to see how he likes retirement. He hit .288 last season with only seven homers and 49 RBIs in 458 at-bats, getting a $4.02-million salary in the final season of a $19.3-million, five-year contract he agreed to in April 1990, about three months before severe back pain struck. He filed for free agency after the World Series. White, Lonnie

Copyright, The Times Mirror Company; Los Angeles Times, 1995.