In the history of any franchise, you can pick out a handful of keystone signings that help usher in a new chapter in the annals of the team. A decade of mismanagement under CBS ownership left the Yankees in the wilderness, contributing to a 14-year World Series drought, the longest in the franchise’s history since the nascent years as the Highlanders.
With George Steinbrenner’s purchase of the team and promise to return the once-proud franchise to their glory years, changes were on the horizon. Fading
into the review mirror were the days of Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, meaning a new slate of stars had to be assembled in the Bronx. Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, Goose Gossage, Willie Randolph, Sparky Lyle, Ron Guidry, Lou Piniella, Chris Chambliss, Mickey Rivers, Ed Figueroa, and Bucky Dent all arrived in the first half of the 1970s via the Draft, trade, or free agency to form the core of the eventual back-to-back World Series winning Bronx Zoo. However, it was the 1973 trade for Graig Nettles that truly signaled the sea change in the franchise’s fortunes.
Graig Nettles
Born: August 20, 1944 (San Diego, CA)
Yankees Tenure: 1973-83
Graig Nettles was born on August 20, 1944, in San Diego, CA, the second of three sons to Wayne — a former police officer and high school teacher — and Florence Nettles. He was a star dual athlete for San Diego High School, earning a scholarship to play college basketball before switching to baseball as an upperclassman. He was drafted by the Twins in the fourth round of the inaugural 1965 amateur draft after starring over the summers for the semi-professional Alaska Goldpanners in Fairbanks.
Under the tutelage of his future manager with the Yankees, Billy Martin, then managing in the Twins minor league system, Nettles rose quickly though the levels. He was handed a pair of September cups of coffee in 1967 and 1968 before Martin’s promotion as the big league manager in 1969 earned Nettles a permanent role in the majors. Blocked at third by Harmon Killebrew, Nettles was dealt to Cleveland the following season, for whom he would play two seasons before being granted a trade by GM Gabe Paul — later his GM in New York — to the Yankees alongside Jerry Moses for Charlie Spikes, John Ellis, Jerry Kenney, and Rusty Torres following the conclusion of the 1972 season.
“If I could have picked the spot I wanted to go, it would have been the Yankees. I always wanted to play for New York and for Ralph Houk. I hope I’ll satisfy the team and be here for ten years or so.”
In his debut season in the Bronx, Nettles batted .234/.334/.386 with 22 home runs and 81 RBI in 160 games. Notably, he crushed the team that traded him away, with four home runs and seven RBIs during a doubleheader in Cleveland on April 14th and his first six home runs of the year coming against his former employers as part of an eleven homer spree in his first 22 games. His production looked pretty similar in 1974, slashing .246/.316/.403 with another 22 homers and 75 RBIs. The Yankees would miss out on the playoffs by two games, and Nettles was ejected from a game on September 7th after six superballs bounced out of a broken bat he maintained he received from a fan in Chicago.
1975 saw Nettles slash .267/.322/.430 with 21 home runs and 91 RBIs to earn the first of his six All-Star appearances. It also was the birth of the free agent era, and Jackson, Hunter, Gossage, Randolph, Rivers, Figueroa, and Dent all signed to join Nettles, Thurman Munson, Guidry, Lyle, and Nettles’ fellow trade acquisitions Piniella and Chambliss. In the span of just a couple years, the Yankees had transformed from a rudderless franchise just starting to find its direction to a veritable juggernaut truly ready to compete for titles.
The following season, Nettles led the AL with 32 bombs, slashing .254/.327/.475 with a career-high 136 wRC+. His 8.1 fWAR remained the high water mark for a Yankees third baseman until Alex Rodriguez put up 9.1 in 2005. The season culminated in the Yankees’ first World Series appearance since 1964 — a humbling sweep at the hands of the Reds.
The fruits of this franchise renaissance finally arrived in 1977, Nettles setting career highs in home runs (37) and RBIs (107) while earning his second All-Star nod, first Gold Glove, and finishing fifth in the AL MVP race. Though he would bat just .171 with no home runs and three RBIs in 43 plate appearances that postseason, the Yankees would squeeze past the Royals in a finely poised ALCS three games to two before securing their first title in 15 years, winning in six games over the Dodgers thanks to Jackson’s Mr. October heroics.
However, Nettles would take center stage the following October. After another strong regular season in which he slashed .276/.343/.460 with 27 home runs and 93 RBI to earn consecutive All-Star and Gold Glove nods and a sixth-place AL MVP finish, Nettles caught the popup from Carl Yastrzemski to end Game 163 between the Yankees and Red Sox, and went yard in another ALCS vanquishing of the Royals. Trailing the Dodgers two games to none in the Fall Classic, Nettles’ defense almost singlehandedly won them the game in Game 3. Nettles made a diving stop in the third and erased a pair of bases-loaded jams in the fifth and sixth with some quick-twitch glove work.
The Yankees would go on to win the next three games to secure back-to-back crowns, Dodgers outfielder Reggie Smith saying of Nettles’ defensive heroics in Game 3, “It’s Dodgers 2, Nettles 1. If we hadn’t been losing, I may have applauded myself.”
Over these years, Nettles gained a reputation for his acerbic wit, earning the nickname “Puff” for his habit of disappearing after a practical joke. He also stood out as one of the Yankees’ most combative players, getting involved in several brawls. On May 20, 1976, Nettles tackled Bill “Spaceman” Lee and broke the pitcher’s collarbone during a brawl against the Red Sox.
In Game 5 of the 1977 ALCS against the Royals, Nettles ignited perhaps the most famous brawl in postseason history. After a hard slide at third by George Brett, Nettles kicked his fellow third baseman in the face and sparked a melee that somehow didn’t result in any ejections.
With the tragic passing of Thurman Munson in a plane crash in 1979, Nettles was never the same player. He also missed significant time to a hepatitis diagnosis in 1980 and the strike in 1981, the latter season representing Nettles’ final hurrah in pinstripes. He was named the ALCS MVP after batting .500 with nine RBIs in a sweep of the A’s. However, he broke his thumb on a diving attempt in Game 2 of the World Series against the Dodgers and missed the next three games, going 2-for-3 with a double in his final postseason game for the Yankees as they fell to LA in six.
Nettles always had a contentious relationship with Steinbrenner, and things really soured in his final two years thanks to stalled contract talks and a diminished platoon role at third. Things reached a head upon the publishing of Nettles’ infamous book Balls, and like Sparky Lyle after the release of The Bronx Zoo, Nettles found himself shipped out of town on the next train, sent to the Padres for Dennis Rasmussen and a PTBNL.
“I was happy to get away from New York. The owner said things about me being a destructive force on the club, so why play for a guy who keeps sniping at you? I finally had enough of him. I’ll always be a Yankee. I love those guys. I love the team, and I’ll always root for them.”
Nettles helped lead the Padres to their first World Series appearance in his first season, and would later play for the Braves and Expos before retiring in 1988 at the age of 43. He remains one of the most notable Hall of Fame snubs in the live ball era, his 67.9 rWAR the highest mark for a third baseman not enshrined in Cooperstown. His 390 home runs trailed only Mike Schmidt, Eddie Mathews, and Darrell Evans among regular third basemen at the time of retirement. He was removed from the BBWAA ballot in 1996 after falling below the requisite five percent threshold and never garnered enough support from multiple Veterans Committees.
He is one of just 11 Yankees to hit at least 250 homers with the team and is top-15 all time in WAR in franchise history, yet somehow has still not been honored in Monument Park. Nonetheless, his immaculate glove work at the hot corner, power bat, and fiery competitiveness cemented Nettles as a favorite among fans from the Bronx Zoo era, his appearances at Old-Timers’ Day—including as recently as 2025—always acknowledged with a thunderous reception.
We wish Puff a happy, healthy, and hearty 81st birthday!
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