Tampa

LATE IN 1989, Mike Blowers, then a struggling young Yankees slugger, was taking early batting practice in Seattle and trying desperately to learn to hit to rightfield. Champ Summers, an eminently forgettable hitting coach, was having trouble reaching him. Then Don Mattingly ventured out of the Kingdome tunnel in street clothes and spied the frustrated Blowers. Within moments, Mattingly was in the box with Blowers, providing helpful tips. Quickly, Blowers felt much better about his swing, and himself. Mattingly cared.

When the future Yankees icon came to the Bronx as a 22-year-old from Evansville, Ind., the only big talk was coming from George Steinbrenner, who was telling us this unknown would be better than Darryl Strawberry. And Steinbrenner was right. Back then, Mattingly spoke only with his stick. Yet by the time he left he was the unquestioned leader of his storied clubhouse.

They will miss Mattingly around here. Not necessarily for his seven home runs and 49 RBI - that might be a good month and a half for Tino Martinez, the new first baseman. They will miss Mattingly for his inspiration, his expertise and his aura. It isn't possible to measure how much.

"He was the stabilizing force," said reliever Paul Gibson. "He had ridden so many lows and highs. The way he handled himself, he was a model for how to to play in New York."

Now they're looking for new models. There will be no captain this season, which makes sense. Mattingly is that revered. There is still a great mystery as to why Mattingly retired, and whether it is merely temporary. The more pertinent question now, however, is whether anyone can fill the leadership void left by the former captain.

With the Yankees' lineup stacked with sluggers and the rotation reinforced with $5-million-a-year pitchers, the big talk here is what to do for inspiration. Not everyone believes it is necessary to have one leader, or leaders, in this game of individuals. And maybe that's true in St. Louis or Pittsburgh or Milwaukee. But here, where the media can be overwhelming and the owner overbearing, players can be overcome with anxiety.

Sometimes the out-of-towners and young players need guidance about how to deal with the press or the owner. Sometimes they need a shield. Mattingly was that shield. "He soaked up a lot of the media attention," Gibson said. "If they were talking to him, that means they weren't talking to somebody else."

Mattingly reluctantly accepted the captaincy from Stump Merrill before the 1991 season. It was about the only thing Merrill got right as Yankees manager. At first, Mattingly squirmed in his new role. He never was a talker. But by the end, he was as comfortable with his captaincy as he was around first base. In the end, the quiet, young Midwesterner who hardly spoke when he arrived in 1983 was knocking Steinbrenner in the papers. Last year's team was Mattingly's. "When it got close to playoff time, he got a little more aggressive, a little more enthusiastic," Jim Leyritz said.

Steinbrenner isn't taking applications for the leadership position. In the owner's mind, David Cone should get the first crack. Whether it has anything to do with the club-record $6.5 million Steinbrenner is paying him, the owner didn't say.

"David Cone is essential to this team. I've lost one of the great leaders," Steinbrenner said. "Leadership to me is going to come from a certain number of people . . . Boggs . . . Cone is essential. I watched how players looked at Cone in Seattle. They looked at Cone with respect."

Being a smart fellow, Cone isn't surprised by this challenge. As soon as Steinbrenner called him from that pay phone, poured out his heart, opened the vault and tabbed Cone "Mr. Yankee," Cone knew what that meant. "It's not like I'm blind. I knew what I was getting into," Cone said. "I can help. But I don't think a pitcher can lead day-in and day-out. I think we'll have leadership by committee. I'm sure some guys will step forward. Everybody always deferred to Donnie."

Cone already is warming up by advising new multimillionaire Kenny Rogers about dealing with New York. There is some concern about Rogers because he was born in the middle of a Florida strawberry patch and pitched his whole big-league career in Arlington, Texas. There is some concern the talented Rogers could become the next Ed Whitson or Terry Mulholland.

Cone is affable and cerebral, but he has pitched in pinstripes for only 2 1/2 months. And he performs once every five days. Under these conditions, it is nearly impossible to become the new Mattingly.

Boggs is the other obvious candidate, which makes sense to everyone outside of Boston. Boggs was supposed to be some sort of self-absorbed statistics freak but he has proved to be just the opposite. Boggs, who played through a painful hamstring injury last fall, has the respect of his teammates. But he also has a unique way of looking at things. His thoughts on hitting can be fully understood by only two people - himself and Norm Crosby.

Some other possibilities: Tim Raines, Jimmy Key and Joe Girardi. Paul O'Neill already has taken himself out of the running. He's got the stats but he's not the type. Leyritz boldly nominated himself - "I've always been a leader . . . when I played," Leyritz said - but others say he needs to play a few more years and tone down his act a few more notches.

"What's he got, four, five years? Give him a couple more years," Boggs said. "Jumbo speaks his mind. He's very vocal."

In the tradition of Mattingly, the Yankees prefer a quiet leader. Mattingly called team meetings only occasionally. But when he spoke, everyone listened. Mattingly set the agenda anyway. He set it by getting to the park early and leaving late. He set it by helping struggling teammates. When Mike Stanley was slumping last year, Mattingly told him, "Let's do lunch, today." They talked hitting, and Stanley regained his stroke.

Mattingly also set the agenda by playing with a blurry eye, a weakened wrist and particularly a painful back.

Raines, the leader of the White Sox, doesn't relish the idea of filling Mattingly's shoes. Besides, he said, "I'm not quiet. I'm the type who has fun."

Girardi, the catcher, resident intellect and past leader of the Cubs and Rockies, said, "I don't know the dynamics of this room to formulate a position on who the leader should be." Besides, his polysyllabic talk could lose teammates.

Nobody seems more confident and composed than Key, who only looks like he's sleeping. "Nothing ever fazes him," Boggs said. "He's the Rock of Gibraltar in a baseball uniform." Of course, to have any chance replace Mattingly, Key's surgically repaired rotator cuff has to remain in one piece.


Captain by Committee?

It may take several players to fill the leadership void created by the departure of longtime Yankee captain Don Mattingly


David Cone: George Steinbrenner says players look to star pitcher with respect.


Wade Boggs: Well respected for playing through a painful hamstring injury last season.


Jim Leyritz: Some teammates say he needs to play a few more years.

Jon Heyman

Copyright 1996, Newsday Inc.