Graig Nettles

Graig Nettles
Nettles in 2007
Third baseman
Born: (1944-08-20) August 20, 1944 (age 80)
San Diego, California, U.S.
Batted: Left
Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 6, 1967, for the Minnesota Twins
Last MLB appearance
October 1, 1988, for the Montreal Expos
MLB statistics
Batting average.248
Hits2,225
Home runs390
Runs batted in1,314
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Managerial record at Baseball Reference
Teams
Career highlights and awards

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 is regarded as one of the best defensive third basemen of all time, winning Gold Glove Awards in 1977 and 1978. Despite his relatively low career batting average, he was a clutch offensive contributor, particularly with runners in scoring position. In addition, he set an American League record for career home runs by a third baseman. His 68.0 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is the highest among all players with a batting average of .250 or lower.[1]

Nettles was a six-time All-Star player. 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.

  1. ^ Jaffe, Jay (April 1, 2020). "Remembering Jimmy Wynn, the Toy Cannon (1942-2020)". FanGraphs. Archived from the original on December 25, 2021. Retrieved December 25, 2021.