THE SIDELINES : Mattingly May Be Out for Season
Don Mattingly, bothered by a sore back all season, may be out for the rest of the season.
Mattingly’s hellish season took yet another turn for the worse Wednesday, when the pain in his lower back intensified to the point that he went into Stump Merrill’s office and told him that he could not play in Nolan Ryan’s try for win No. 300.
Mattingly insisted on watching Ryan from the dugout, but Merrill said the six-time All-Star probably will travel to New York for further tests rather than accompany the club to Cleveland. Merrill cringed at the thought of losing Mattingly for a long time, but he said he knows that is a real possibility.
Asked if the rest of Mattingly’s season is in jeopardy, Merrill paused several seconds before saying: “Hopefully not, but I wouldn’t rule it out. He’s the last who ever would agree to that type of thing. We do one thing with him: We don’t play him until he’s 100%.”
Mattingly, who has a history of back trouble, experienced lower back spasms for the first time this year on July 2 in Kansas City.
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