Who is Graig Nettles - Yankee Great

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* Graig Nettles (born August 20, 1944, in San Diego, California) (nicknamed Puff) is a former Major League Baseball third baseman and left-handed batter who played for the Minnesota Twins (1967-69), Cleveland Indians (1970-72), New York Yankees (1973-83), San Diego Padres (1984-86), Atlanta Braves (1987) and Montreal Expos (1988). He played collegiate baseball with the Aztecs of San Diego State University where he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.

Nettles, known as "Puff" (because of his tendency to start trouble and then disappear when retribution was about to come down) to fans and teammates, 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.

Nettles' most clutch performance came in the field, during Game 3 of the 1978 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Yankee Stadium in back of 25-game-winning lefty Ron Guidry. With the Dodgers leading two games to none, Nettles made several plays at the hot corner to stop potential run-scoring hits, and helping the Yankees gain a key win in the series. New York went on to win the next three contests and clinch the world championship.

In his 22-season career, Nettles hit .248 with 390 home runs and 1,314 RBI in 2,700 games. He had a career fielding percentage of .964, exceptional for the hot corner (third base). After retiring at age 43, Nettles coached for the Yankees (1991) and Padres (1995).

He now resides in Lenoir City, Tennessee, a suburb of Knoxville, Tennessee. Graig and his wife Ginger have four children: Mike, Barrie, Tim and Jeff.