Maybe the death of the dumb, decades-old Yankees hair policy was an omen because everything’s going Don Mattingly’s way this year.

Mattingly, ridiculously benched by the Yankees in 1991 for long hair, is having a dream season. If Mattingly’s Blue Jays can pull off an upset over his old Dodgers team, it will complete what’s been a perfect baseball year for Mattingly, 44 years after he debuted as a surprise Yankee superstar.

Mattingly, a Jays coach and constant John Schneider confidant, helped the Jays dominate the Yankees in a division series, eliminating the team with whom Mattingly starred 14 years and coached four years. Mattingly’s Jays then took out the Mariners in a seven-game ALCS thriller.

Blue Jays bench coach Don Mattlingly talks with the assembled media on Oct. 23, 2025 in Toronto in preparation for Game 1 of the World Series which begins Friday. AP

And now, Mattingly’s team has a chance against the Dodgers, where he served as the first manager of the current Guggenheim regime and reached his first League Championship Series in 2013 before he left LA for the Marlins two years later, replaced by current Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts.