When the Los Angeles Dodgers were 9.5 games out of first place on June 21, all hope was lost with this team.

However, the next 50 regular season games, the Dodgers won 42 games, lost only eight and catapulted to first place in the National League West. The Dodgers then went on to win their first division title since 2009. The team upset the Atlanta Braves in the first round of the 2013 MLB Playoffs, but came up short against the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series.

This remarkable turnaround the Dodgers displayed during the 2013 season was not only the work of the players, but the man calling the shots, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly. Mattingly’s ability to set the right lineup and pitching rotation and call the right signs helped the Dodgers’ shock the MLB in 2013.

After enjoying success in 2013, Mattingly sits in a tough position. The manager has the ability to return to the Dodgers for the 2014 season or turn his back to the organization and look to manage another MLB team.

Why would Mattingly want to leave the beaches and palm trees of beautiful Los Angeles and a team that has the potential to win a world series in 2014? Wouldn’t he be crazy to leave his current situation?

However, ESPN.com reports Mattingly is still frustrated with how the Dodgers were on the verge of firing him early on in the season before the team went on their magical run.

“When you’re put in this situation, the organization basically says, ‘we don’t know if you can manage or not,’” Mattingly said. “So, that’s the position I’ve been in all season long, so that’s not a great position for me as a manager. That’s the way it is, that’s the way the organization wanted it last year, that’s fine.”

ESPN.com reports that Mattingly will likely sign with the Dodgers, but if the team can’t reach a multiyear deal and show their support for him, the chances of the manager leaving town will skyrocket.

Dodgers’ General Manager Ned Colletti must do whatever he can to make sure Mattingly stays in the city of angels. If Dodgers are going to go on a run similar to the 2013 season, Mattingly must remain wearing Dodger blue.

Mattingly, a former player with the New York Yankees, knows how the game runs and what it takes to win.

When the Dodgers struggled in early May, Mattingly didn’t just sit back and let his players try to fix their problems. Instead he had no problem benching Andre Ethier, the struggling All-Star outfielder.

Mattingly was handed a team which produced multiple MLB All Stars. However, dealing with the personalities of some of those players, along with trying to turn these individual players into a team, shows proof of his hard work.

“All grit and no talent isn’t going to make you successful,” Mattingly said in an interview with usatoday.com. “But all talent and no grit isn’t going to get you there either.”

In the 2013 postseason, Mattingly set up the Dodgers to be successful. He threw the right rotation and gave pitchers enough rest in between starts. He set strategic lineups, which put the Dodgers in a position to score runs. Playing without Matt Kemp, All Star outfielder and former MVP runner up, in the postseason hurt Mattingly and the Dodgers. Not having a healthy Hanley Ramirez also played into the effect of the Dodgers’ struggles against the Cardinals.

Mattingly fulfilled his role as manager and put his team in a position to succeed. If the Dodgers want to have success in 2014, Mattingly must be in a Dodger blue uniform opening day handing the lineup card to the umpire.