With the Philadelphia Phillies firmly in playoff contention heading into the All-Star break, interim manager Don Mattingly said he would be interested in leading the club full time.
"Oh, I would do it," Mattingly told ESPN's Buster Olney before Wednesday's game at the Cincinnati Reds, when asked if the idea of him managing beyond this year is brought to him by Philadelphia. "I kind of committed myself to two years with the Phillies when I came over. So, whatever [president of baseball operations] Dave [Dombrowski] wants to do in that regard.
"But yeah, I think I would like to do it."
Since Rob Thomson was fired in April, Mattingly has led a remarkable turnaround in Philadelphia over the past two months. At the time of Thomson's dismissal, the Phillies were 9-19, tied with the New York Mets for MLB's worst record.
But since April 28, Mattingly's first game as interim manager, the Phillies are 42-22 (.656) -- the second-best record in MLB, behind Milwaukee (44-20, .688).
In April, Dombrowski acknowledged that he offered Philadelphia's managerial job to Alex Cora, one day after Cora was fired in stunning fashion by the Boston Red Sox.
Cora ultimately declined the offer, prompting Dombrowski to name Mattingly, then the team's bench coach, as Thomson's interim replacement for the rest of the season.
Mattingly now works for one of his sons -- Preston Mattingly is the Phillies' general manager -- in what is believed to be the first father-son manager-GM combination in baseball history.
Mattingly, spending his 23rd straight season as a major league manager or coach, had his mind set on retirement after he left his role as bench coach for the Toronto Blue Jays under manager John Schneider following last year's World Series.
He reversed course after a talk with his family and latched on with the Phillies, enticed by the chance to work with his son and with Thomson, his friend from their Yankees days.
Mattingly managed the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2011 to 2015 and the Miami Marlins from 2016 to 2022. He was the 2020 NL Manager of the Year after he led the Marlins to their first playoff appearance since 2003.
Mattingly played 14 seasons as a first baseman in the major leagues, all for the Yankees, from 1982 to 1995. He was a six-time American League All-Star and the 1985 AL Most Valuable Player before retiring. Mattingly captained the Yankees in his final five seasons.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.