Description
Nettles is an American former Major League Baseball third baseman. During a 22-year baseball career, he played for the Minnesota Twins (1967โ1969), Cleveland Indians (1970โ1972), New York Yankees (1973โ1983), San Diego Padres (1984โ1986), 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.
