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Dodgers, manager Mattingly separate after third straight defeat in MLB Postseason

"We all felt that a fresh start would be good for both the organization and me," Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said Thursday.

By Doug G. Ware
The Los Angeles Dodgers parted ways with manager Don Mattingly on Thursday, one week after the team was eliminated from the MLB playoffs for the third straight year. The team and Mattingly said the decision to separate was mutual. Photo by Lori Shepler/UPI
The Los Angeles Dodgers parted ways with manager Don Mattingly on Thursday, one week after the team was eliminated from the MLB playoffs for the third straight year. The team and Mattingly said the decision to separate was mutual. Photo by Lori Shepler/UPI | License Photo

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- The Los Angeles Dodgers and manager Don Mattingly agreed on a mutual separation Thursday -- one week after the team was eliminated in the Major League Baseball playoffs for the third straight year, the team said.

Mattingly led the Dodgers to a 92-win season and another National League West crown in 2015, but failed once again to advance far in the postseason. The team was defeated in five games by the New York Mets in the NL Divisional Series.

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A famous first baseman for the New York Yankees between 1982 and 1995, Mattingly led the Dodgers for five seasons -- reaching the playoffs in all but two of those seasons. However, Dodgers fans have become increasingly frustrated at the team's inability to get to the World Series.

Mattingly led the team to a 278-208 record and an NL West title in each of the last three seasons. However, the Dodgers lost in the first round of the playoffs in 2014 and 2015 and the second round in 2013.

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Thursday's departure for Mattingly didn't surprise many, even though the Dodgers skipper compiled a win percentage of .551.

"It's unusual. We get that," Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman said Thursday. "But it played out exactly as I described it. It really was mutual. As we got into the back-and-forth, organically it just crystallized. If there was a reason that happened, we would share it. It's not black or white. There's a huge middle, and it's gray, and we're trying to be transparent. We aren't hiding anything."

"There's always a desire to label this -- was he let go, did he resign?" Dodgers General Manager Farhan Zaidi said. "There are more intricacies I don't want to get into here, but both sides felt it was time for a change."

Zaidi emphasized that Mattingly wasn't discharged because the team failed again to reach the World Series.

"We all share in that blame," he said.

Mattingly's contract was set to expire after next season and Zaidi said the team and Mattingly had discussed an extension just this week. However, he said by Wednesday both parties felt that it might be a good time for change.

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"I'm honored and proud to have had the opportunity to manage the Los Angeles Dodgers," Mattingly said Thursday. "We all felt that a fresh start would be good for both the organization and me."

The Dodgers have six World Series titles in their history, but haven't won a championship since 1988.

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