After more than four decades in professional baseball, Don Mattingly is going to the World Series for the first time.

The former Yankees first baseman, who played in the Bronx for 14 years without ever making it to the Fall Classic, punched his ticket on Monday night when the Blue Jays beat the Mariners , 4-3, in Game 7 of the ALCS. With Toronto winning its first pennant in 32 years, Mattingly, the club’s bench coach, now has his first opportunity to win it all after spending 17 seasons as a coach and 12 more as a manager following his playing career.

The closest Mattingly ever came as a player was in 1995, when he and the Yankees made the playoffs in the final year of his career. Mattingly hit .417 against Seattle in the ALDS, adding the biggest home run of his career in the Yankees

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