ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — For a generation, Don Mattingly embodied the Yankees ideal. He was the team’s best player, its captain and a revered figure for the way he carried himself.
When he retired after the 1995 season, the Yankees acquired first baseman Tino Martinez from the Seattle Mariners as his replacement. Martinez would prove to be a shrewd acquisition, a valuable contributor on four World Series champions who was a worthy enough successor to Mattingly that he was honored last summer with a plaque in Monument Park.
But Martinez’s transition to New York was not so smooth.