The
next nickname card I whipped up was for former all-star third baseman
Graig Nettles, a childhood hero of mine, and his somewhat odd “Puff”
tag:
I really don’t know why he had that nickname, but I’ll use any excuse to
make a card up for him. Growing up in Brooklyn during the mid-70s
through the early-80’s, Nettles was right up there with Munson, Jackson,
Randolph and Guidry on that “Bronx Zoo” all-star cast as far as
we were concerned.
A home run champ in 1976, a World Series hero for his stellar defensive
work at third base, his hilarious quips like “You went from Cy Young to
Sayonara” to Sparky Lyle when the Yankees got Rich Gossage to be their
new reliever, we were all crushed when he went to his hometown Sand
Diego Padres in 1984, especially seeing him (and Rich Gossage) play in
the World Series that year.
He would end up playing 22-years in the Majors, hitting 390 homers with
1314 runs batted in and 1193 runs scored with 2225 hits, while
collecting two Gold Gloves and appearing in six all-star games.
Anyone know where the name “Puff” came from?