In his first two weeks in a Yankee uniform, Tino Martinez hasn't made many fans forget about Don Mattingly.

If anything, his play made them long for the days of "Donnie Baseball."

But given time, Martinez will make it a lot easier to see No. 24 at first base instead of No. 23.

Yesterday was a perfect example. In the Yankees' 12-3 thumping of the Rangers at the Stadium, Martinez showed signs of finally breaking out of his season-long slump. He went 2-for-4 with a sacrifice fly and two RBI, and made a great play in the field.

His breakout couldn't have come at a better time. The last thing Martinez wanted was to go 0-for-Yankee Stadium in the first homestand. But that's where he was heading before yesterday. Martinez was hitless in his first 16 trips to the plate in the Big Apple before he rapped a first-inning single up the middle against Kevin Gross.

"I was hoping today that I'd be able to get a couple of hits before the road trip," Martinez said. "I've been hitting the ball hard here and there and would get nothing for it."

Martinez, an easygoing guy, didn't want to make a big deal about his slow start. This is the norm and not anything new, according to Martinez. Still, he couldn't deny that he felt a lot of pressure lifted after collecting some much-needed knocks. "It's definitely a relief to get a few hits and help the team a little bit," he said. "It helps you relax and gets you going. That's exactly what I needed."

Especially after Saturday's game. And not just because he went 0-for-5. After striking out in the ninth inning, fans in the upper deck started chants of "Donnie Baseball."

Martinez, acquired from the Mariners in the offseason in exchange for Russ Davis and Sterling Hitchcock, couldn't help but hear the crowd. It was that loud. "That was brutal," Martinez said. "But I expect when I'm playing that bad for fans to boo me.

"Today I played well and they cheered. It's good. It's not like they're holding a grudge. It was good to hear that."

The Bronx cheers on Saturday were predictable. If things aren't going well with something new, call for the guy who used to be there. "New York fans are tough," said Yankees manager Joe Torre, who got his share of boos with the Mets in the late '70s. "If you get to playing flat here, then you can't hear.

"But he had nothing to do with Mattingly deciding not to play. Joe Girardi's in the same boat. It wasn't Girardi's decision not to bring Mike Stanley back."

That's why Martinez didn't deserve the abuse he got Saturday. As good as Mattingly was for the Yankees, fans have to move on and forget him. Like it or not, Martinez is the Yankees' first baseman.

If you want to see Mattingly, you have to go to Evansville, Ind. And you won't see him with a bat in his hands. He'll be tending to his horses instead.

"It's tough when you replace a legend," Wade Boggs said. "He's caught in a situation right now. But base hits and RBIs will cure all of that."

Martinez, 28, got two of each yesterday. The best thing about both of his singles was that they were up the middle, and his sacrifice fly was a shot to leftfield.. Martinez had been too anxious at the plate and often lunged at the ball. "He had enlarged the strike zone," Torre said. "He wasn't very patient, and he's a patient hitter."

Said Martinez, who was moved to second in the batting order from his normal No. 5 slot: "It helps everything. I know I'm staying back on the ball now, which I wasn't doing the first three days. I needed to do that. Once you get that feeling back, it kind of carries over."

Martinez didn't do it with just the bat, but with the glove, too. He made a great play on a hard-hit ball by Rusty Greer in the sixth inning. Fans near first base were so impressed that they even started cheering, "Tino, Tino."

His play yesterday should finally allow Martinez, who raised his batting average to .132, to relax. Martinez was having a hard time feeling comfortable. Some of it, no doubt, had to do with his new big contract and moving on to a new team and environment. But it had nothing to do with Mattingly.

"It wasn't a Mattingly thing," said Martinez, who will earn $4 million in the first year of his five-year contract. "It was just myself, trying to do too much. I've done it before in the past.

"It's not good to start off slow anywhere. Any season, you want to try to get off to a good start. I started out slow in Seattle and started out slow here. Coming in under the circumstances - big contract, new team, new fans - it's a little tougher and you want to try a little harder and it's a little harder to relax."

And once Martinez got going last season, he wound up putting together a breakthrough season, setting career highs in 10 offensive categories. Overall, he hit .293 with 31 home runs and 111 RBI, fifth in the AL.

That's the guy most fans thought the Yankees were getting, not the guy who has shown up thus far. And although he probably would have wanted to end his slump in a little more dramatic fashion - like when as a Mariner he blasted that monster homer off Yankees reliever Bob MacDonald that landed in the black seats in centerfield, making Martinez just the eighth player to reach that spot - he'll take his singles and head to Milwaukee.

"All I needed was that one little cheap hit to get through to relax me and help me get going," Martinez said. "One good game didn't help me to arrive.

"I want to play consistent all year and when the season is over, I'll feel like I arrived here."

And, no doubt, have the feeling that fans realize Mattingly has completely departed, too.

Rob Parker

Copyright 1996, Newsday Inc.