New York Yankee first baseman Don Mattingly's season officially ended on Aug. 12. But thanks to Municipal Bond Investors Assurance Corp., Capital Re Corp., and the help of computer projections, two Westchester County, N.Y., charities will benefit as if the season ended on Oct. 2 as originally planned.
At the time the baseball season was halted by a players strike, Mattingly had 113 hits and 51 runs batted in. Extrapolating Mattingly's statistics over the course of a full season, MBIA and Capital Re combined to donate $35,900 for the Westchester Association for Retarded Citizens and Westchester-Putnam Special Olympics.
MBIA pledged $100 for each Mattingly hit and Capital Re pledged $200 for each RBI. Since the Yankee captain was on a pace to end the season with 189 hits and 85 RBIs, MBIA will contribute $18,900 and Capital Re $17,000 to the charities.
"While I'm very disappointed with the end of the baseball season, I'm delighted that the strike didn't affect MBIA's and Capital Re's donation to help children and adults in Westchester County with mental retardation," Mattingly said in a prepared statement.
This marks the ninth consecutive year MBIA has donated $100 for every Mattingly hit and the sixth season of Capital Re's participation. The contributions now total $173,900 by MBIA and $77,000 by Capital Re.
In addition to the pledges by the financial guarantors based on Mattingly's production, the Westchester charities also benefit from the MBIA Invitational, an annual golf and tennis tournament. This year's tournament raised more than $350,000, bringing the 10-year total to nearly $2 million, MBIA's press release said.
