Presented is a 1979 Reitz Memorial High School yearbook from former New York Yankees first baseman Don Mattingly’s senior year. Mattingly is featured in a two-page color spread on pages 8 and 9 under the headline “Tigers Turn Dreams into Exciting Reality” with a feature on his high school baseball team winning the Indiana state championship. “The Review” is a 200-page hardcover book published by Reitz Memorial High School in Evansville, Indiana. The 8½ x 11¼-inch book has a silver cover, with a navy-blue tiger printed on the lower left of the front cover, below a navy-blue and red striped arrow design pointed to the upper right. The spine features the legend “Reitz Memorial High School 1979” in black type. Playing for the Reitz baseball team, Mattingly led the school to a state record 59 straight victories through the 1978–79 season. The Tigers won the state championship in 1978 and finished as the runner-up in 1979. He was All-City, All-Southern Indiana Athletic Conference and All-State in 1978 and 1979. During the four years he played in high school, Mattingly batted .463, leading the Tigers to a 94–9–1 win–loss record. He still holds Reitz Memorial records for hits (152), doubles (29), triples (25), runs batted in (RBIs) (140), and runs scored (99). His 25 triples is also an Indiana state record. A multi-sport athlete, Mattingly was selected to the SIAC all-conference basketball team in 1978. Following his high school career, Mattingly accepted a scholarship to play baseball for the Indiana State Sycamores. His father, Bill, informed Major League Baseball teams that his son intended to honor that commitment and would not sign a professional contract. Mattingly lasted in the 1979 Major League Baseball draft until the 19th round, when he was selected by the New York Yankees. He was not interested in attending college, so he chose to sign with the Yankees, receiving a $23,000 signing bonus.

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