Former MVP Mattingly Added To Group Trying To Bring MLB To Nashville
Image Credit: Peter Bond / CC
The Center Square [By Jon Styf] –
Former American League Most Valuable Player and Florida Marlins Manager Don Mattingly has been added to the push to bring Major League Baseball to Nashville.
The Stars announced Tuesday that Mattingly will be a baseball advisor for the proposed team, which currently has an ownership group headed by former MLB pitcher Dave Stewart. Mattingly managed the Marlins from 2016-22 and recently became bench coach for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Mattingly’s role will be “counsel on key strategic matters and work to gain support in bringing a Major League Baseball franchise to Nashville.”
“The approach that Dave Stewart and his team have in Nashville is exactly what the game of baseball needs,” Mattingly said. “I am glad to see MLB taking an active approach on these important issues. We need more diversity in the game, and it starts from the top-down.”
The group is hoping to bring a new expansion franchise or current team to the city for the 2026 or 2027 MLB seasons, planning a stadium in Nashville near Tennessee State University.
The group has claimed a stadium for the team would be built with “almost all private funding.”
This summer, The Tennessean reported the Nashville Stars raised $4.5 million through offering partial ownership to investors who committed $25,000. The paper reported the stadium would be part of the development of a downtown rail line and a Cumberland River water transportation system that ends at the stadium.
Mattingly played one season, in 1981, for the Nashville Sounds. He was named the Yankees’ Minor League Player of the Year after batting .316 with seven homers and 98 RBIs that year.
“Simply put, Don Mattingly knows baseball,” Stewart said. “He was a pure hitter, played near-flawless defense, and has been successful as a manager and coach because of his baseball mind. He is well-respected around the game of baseball, and we are lucky to have him with us.”
About the Author: Jon Styf, The Center Square Staff Reporter – Jon Styf is an award-winning editor and reporter who has worked in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan in local newsrooms over the past 20 years, working for Shaw Media, Hearst and several other companies. Follow Jon on Twitter @JonStyf.
