Graig Nettles

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Graig Nettles bigraphy, stories - American professional baseball player, third baseman, coach

Graig Nettles : biography

August 20, 1944 –

Graig Nettles (born August 20, 1944), nicknamed "Puff", is an American former Major League Baseball third baseman. During a 22-year baseball career, he played for the Minnesota Twins (1967–1969), Cleveland Indians (1970–1972), New York Yankees (1973–1983), San Diego Padres (1984–1986), Atlanta Braves (1987) and Montreal Expos (1988).

Nettles was one of the best defensive third basemen of all time, and despite his relatively low career batting average, he was an excellent offensive contributor, setting an American League record for career home runs by a third baseman. As a part of four pennant-winning Yankee teams, Nettles enjoyed his best season in 1977 when he won the Gold Glove Award and had career-highs in home runs (37) and runs batted in (107) in leading the Yankees to the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Legacy

Nettles wrote a controversial book, Balls, a memoir of his baseball career written in collaboration with Peter Golenbock. In the book, Nettles criticized Steinbrenner and some players as well. When the book’s advance promotion came to Steinbrenner’s attention in March 1984, Nettles was summarily traded to the San Diego Padres.

Baseball writer Bill James noted in his 1984 Baseball Abstract that Nettles is arguably the best position player (i.e., non-pitcher) in major league history whose surname begins with the letter "N." this judgment appears to hold up: the only three players elected to the baseball Hall of Fame with "N" surnames are pitchers Hal Newhouser, Kid Nichols and Phil Niekro.

In 1991, Nettles was also inducted by the San Diego Hall of Champions into the honoring San Diego’s finest athletes both on and off the playing surface.

As of 2010, Nettles holds the single-season Major League record for assists by a third baseman, and is tied with Brooks Robinson for second-most all-time. His 412 assists in 1971 broke the record of 405 shared by Harlond Clift in 1937 and Robinson in 1967. In 1973, his first year as a New York Yankee, he recorded 410 assists, breaking Clete Boyer’s franchise record of 396 in 1962; Robinson would tie this mark in 1974. To date, Nettles and Robinson have four of the six 400-assist seasons by a third baseman in Major League history.

Nettles is mentioned in the video for Bruce Springsteen’s 1985 hit Glory Days. At the end of the video, Springsteen’s character, a pitcher, tells a teen that he lost an imaginary game playing against the San Diego Padres because "Nettles got me, bottom of the ninth."

Early life

Nettles was born in San Diego, California. His unusual name derives from his mother’s dislike of the names Greg and Craig – and her combining the two to produce "Graig." "My Dad was away at the war, so he didn’t have any say."Paperback ‘Balls’ by Graig Nettles and Peter Golenbock, page 19 The name also led to confusion for baseball card companies; the error-prone inaugural 1981 Fleer baseball card set includes an error card where his name is spelled "Graig" on the front, and "Craig" on the back.

Nettles attended San Diego State University on a basketball scholarship. He played for the San Diego State Aztecs basketball and baseball teams. In 1964 and 1965, he played collegiate summer baseball for the Alaska Goldpanners of the Alaska Baseball League, helping to lead the team to two league championships.

Career

The Minnesota Twins drafted Nettles in the fourth round of the 1965 Major League Baseball Draft. He made his MLB debut with the Twins on September 6, 1967. Nettles batted .222 in 96 games with the Twins in 1969.

On December 10, 1969, the Twins traded Nettles with Dean Chance, Ted Uhlaender, and a player to be named later (PTBNL) to the Cleveland Indians for Luis Tiant and Stan Williams. After playing three seasons with the Indians, the New York Yankees acquired Nettles with Jerry Moses for John Ellis, Jerry Kenney, Charlie Spikes and Rusty Torres. The Indians traded Nettles due to a feud between Nettles and manager Ken Aspromonte.