Nobody knows for sure whether Don Mattingly will resume his major-league baseball career.

Not even his mother.

"He'd probably like to stay up there (with the New York Yankees)," said Mary Mattingly. "But they (the media) have given him a hard time the last month. That's what he said."

Mattingly, who turns 35 in April, issued a statement on Tuesday through his spokesman, Ray Schulte, that said the Yankees should find another first baseman while he contemplates retirement. The Evansville native hit .288 in 126 games last season, with seven home runs and 49 runs batted in.

"He has given tremendous thought to what he is saying and he understands the ramifications," Schulte said. "He is unable to decide whether he wants to play or not.

"His allegiance is to New York, and if he decides to play, he would go back to (the Yankees) first."

There has been speculation that the Yankees would like to acquire Seattle's Tino Martinez, Atlanta's Fred McGriff or Oakland's Mark McGwire to take Mattingly's place.

"It's like a slap in the face for Donnie," Mary Mattingly said.

Mattingly and his family are on vacation, and his mother was unsure when they would return to Evansville.

"He did tell his daddy (Bill Mattingly) it (the criticism) was kind of rough the last month . . . not with the fans; they were great to him."

She said her son won't make a definitive decision about next season until this winter.

"I think later on down the road he'll maybe know more about what he wants to do. He told us he knows he can play more ball. There's more ball in him," Mary Mattingly said.

"His wrist is kind of bad. They might take care of that (possibly through surgery). He'll see how that comes out."

She said he never mentions his back problems. However, he takes exercise equipment with him on the road to strengthen his back. Just a few months after signing a five-year contract extension in April 1990, he was disabled by back pain, which diminished much of his power. He hasn't hit 20 home runs or driven in 90 runs in a season since then.

"It comes ready with the luggage. He works with it all the time to keep his back in shape," she said.

Yankees owner George Steinbrenner told Mattingly's agent, Jim Krivacs, he wanted the free agent back next season.

"I am very grateful and appreciative that Mr. Steinbrenner has been actively pursuing me, through Jim, to sign an agreement to play next year," Mattingly said in the statement.

"Donnie is a Yankee and always will be a Yankee as far as we are concerned," Steinbrenner said in the statement. "We're pleased that he has made it known that he wants to spend the rest of his career with the Yankees. We'll do everything we can to accommodate and support his decision concerning the 1996 season."

Would Mattingly want to play for another team?

"He doesn't say that. The (media) say that," she said. "They say he would be better off with another team.

"He's been with them 14 years. I think he's a true Yankee. But who knows? He might go someplace else and finish up." BY GORDON ENGELHARDT, Courier staff writer

Copyright© 1995 The Evansville Courier, a Scripps Howard newspaper