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?