We’re counting down each day leading up to Christmas with the top Yankees
players to wear numbers 1 through 25. Hall of Famers, current celebrities,
managers who have won championships, and fan favorites who have worn
pinstripes during the previous 115 years are all included in the list.
The Yankees’ No. 9 has a history with several All-Star players, just like No. 8.
Roger Maris, who spent seven years in New York and earned two MVP awards,
has had his number retired, although third baseman Graig Nettles had a
longer career in the Bronx and won two World Series. As such, discussing No.
9 would be incomplete without acknowledging the achievements of both men.
The outfielder, who was born in Minnesota, started his playing career in
Cleveland before moving to Kansas City. He was sold to the Yankees in a
seven-player transaction that sent Don Larsen and Hank Bauer the other way,
following an All-Star performance in 1959. Back then, the KC Athletics were
jokingly referred to as the Yankees’ farm team.
In the height of his career, Maris took off in the Bronx at the age of 25. With a
league-high 112 RBI, 39 home runs, and a.581 slugging percentage in 1960, he
won his first MVP award. In the 1960 World Series, he would add eight hits
and two home runs.
But 1961 was the turning point in his career. Maris made national news when
he and Mickey Mantle chased Babe Ruth’s record for the most home runs in a
season. With his 61st home run on the final day of the regular season, he broke
the record, even though it took him longer than 154 games (the traditional
length of a season).
He won his second MVP award for setting a home run record and with his 141
RBI; later that October, he added another home run in his first World Series victory.
A year later, he would hit 33 home runs and drive in 100 runs to win another
championship. Maris was an All-Star for the fourth year in a row, but it would
be his last Midsummer Classic.
Though still productive, Maris declined in New York over the next few years.
After completing his seventh season in the Bronx after 1966, he was dealt to St.
Louis, where he’d win one championship in his final two seasons.
Prior to being traded to the Bombers in 1972, Nettles played three seasons in
each of Minnesota and Cleveland while traveling through the American League
Central on his way to New York. The native of California signed with the
Yankees right before his career reached its zenith.
For eleven seasons, Nettles worked in the Bronx hot corner. He would become
known as a formidable defender, appearing in five All-Star games and winning
two Gold Gloves. In 1976, he led the league in home runs hit with 32,
averaging 23 in 140 games.
For the Yankees, the third baseman also had a crucial performance. He made
two World Series victories and two more possible for them. Famously, he
made the final out of the Red Sox’s 1978 one-game postseason playoff by
catching a foul pop-up. He was named the 1981 ALCS MVP thanks to his.500
batting average and nine RBI.
