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Don Mattingly reminisces about the '80s on the season premiere of 'Old Baseball Cards'

Welcome to the new season of “Old Baseball Cards,” the Yahoo Sports nostalgia show fueled by baseball cards. For our first episode of 2019, we’re bringing in one of the pillars of ’80s baseball — New York Yankees legend, Miami Marlins manager and Donnie Baseball himself, Don Mattingly.

In this episode, Mattingly chooses a pack of 1982 Fleer, finds some players he played with and shares some memories of the players he loved as a kid. I opened 1988 Topps because Mattingly was the man on that box. I even bust out an issue of Beckett, which has Mattingly on the cover.

Along the way, we find one coach who has been with him since his days with the Los Angeles Dodgers, a few old Yankees teammates and we heed Mattingly’s warnings about soon-to-be Hall of Famer Lee Smith. It’s a fun episode with a special shout-out from Mattingly at the end, so stick around for that.

(Yahoo Sports)
(Yahoo Sports)

If you’re new to our show, we open packs of cards from the ’80s and ’90s with baseball players, coaches and famous fans. It all started with a bunch of unopened cards in my garage that my grandma bought when I was a kid. She thought they’d be worth a bunch of money one day, just like everybody in the ’80s. They’re not, so instead we open them with baseball people and get invaluable reactions and stories.

If you like this episode, we have plenty more great ones below that you might dig. In particular, I’d recommend our episodes with A.J. Ellis, George Brett and Dave Roberts.

Previously on Old Baseball Cards
THE TOP 10 OF LAST SEASON:
Randy Johnson | George Brett | Dave Winfield | Gary Vee | Jerry Dipoto | Mike Krukow | HQ’s Scott Rogowsky | Felipe Alou| Torey Lovullo | Nick Swisher

OTHER MUST-SEE EPISODES: David Ross | Tim Raines | Thomas Ian Nicholas aka Henry Rowengartner | Pedro Martinez | Bronson Arroyo | Eric Davis | Dusty Baker | Hank Azaria | Alex Rodriguez | Scott Boras | A.J. Ellis | Bernie Williams | Chase Utley | John Smoltz |

COMPILATIONS: Best trades of 2017 | Best finds of 2017 | Best Guests of 2017 (Part 1) | Best Guests of 2017 (Part 2) | The Best of People Eating 30-Year-Old Gum | The Best Finds of 2018 | Favorite Guests of 2018

CROSSOVER EPISODES: The Miz | Metta World Peace | Jazzy Jeff

STARS FROM BACK IN THE DAY: Fred Lynn | Eduardo Perez | J.J. Putz | Luis Gonzalez | Duane Kuiper | Edgar Martinez | Ryne Sandberg | Frank Thomas | Sandy Alomar Jr. | Delino DeShields | Cliff Floyd | Dan Plesac | Aaron Boone | Bobby Bonilla | Andre Dawson | Ivan Rodriguez | Jack Morris | Jeff Nelson | Mark Teixeira | Rick Ankiel | Kevin Millar

MANAGERS/COACHES: Terry Francona | Joe Maddon | Bruce Bochy | Clint Hurdle | Buck Showalter | Brad Mills | Bob Melvin | Dave Roberts | Gabe Kapler | Alex Cora | Dave Martinez | Ron Gardenhire | Scott Servais

CURRENT PLAYERS: Alex Bregman | CC Sabathia | Curtis Granderson | Noah Syndergaard | Kyle Hendricks | Clayton Kershaw | Todd Coffey | John Axford | Dee Gordon | Adam Eaton | Rajai Davis | Brad Ziegler & Tyler Clippard | Buster Posey, David Price & Anthony Rizzo

CELEBS: Kurt Busch | Bill Nye | Mr. Belding | Alyssa Milano | Josh Duhamel | Joel McHale

ETC: Chris “Mad Dog” Russo | Josh Kusnick | Jeff Passan | Ken Kendrick

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Mike Oz is a writer at Yahoo Sports. Contact him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!