​In the history of any franchise, you can pick out a handful of keystone signings that help usher in a new chapter in the annals of the team. A decade of mismanagement under CBS ownership left the Yankees in the wilderness, contributing to a 14-year World Series drought, the longest in the franchise’s history since the nascent years as the Highlanders. With George Steinbrenner’s purchase of the team and promise to return the once-proud franchise to their glory years, changes were on the horizon. Fading into the review mirror were the days of Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, meaning a new slate of stars had to be assembled in the Bronx. Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, Goose Gossage, Willie Randolph, Sparky Lyle, Ron Guidry, Lou Piniella, Chris Chambliss, Mickey Rivers, Ed Figueroa, and Bucky Dent all arrived in the first half of the 1970s via the Draft, trade, or free agency to form the core of the eventual back-to-back World Series winning Bronx Zoo. However, it was the 1973 trade for Graig Nettles that truly signaled the sea change in the franchise’s fortunes.Graig NettlesBorn: August 20, 1944 (San Diego, CA)Yankees Tenure: 1973-83Graig Nettles was born on August 20, 1944, in San Diego, CA, the second of three sons to Wayne — a former police officer and high school teacher — and Florence Nettles. He was a star dual athlete for San Diego High School, earning a scholarship to play college basketball before switching to baseball as an upperclassman. He was drafted by the Twins in the fourth round of the inaugural 1965 amateur draft after starring over the summers for the semi-professional Alaska Goldpanners in Fairbanks.Under the tutelage of his future manager with the Yankees, Billy Martin, then managing in the Twins minor league system, Nettles rose quickly though the levels. He was handed a pair of September cups of coffee in 1967 and 1968 before Martin’s promotion as the big league manager in 1969 earned Nettles a permanent role in the majors. Blocked at third by Harmon Killebrew, Nettles was dealt to Cleveland the following season, for whom he would play two seasons before being granted a trade by GM Gabe Paul — later his GM in New York — to the Yankees alongside Jerry Moses for Charlie Spikes, John Ellis, Jerry Kenney, and Rusty Torres following the conclusion of the 1972 season.“If I could have picked the spot I wanted to go, it would have been the Yankees. I always wanted to play for New York and for Ralph Houk. I hope I’ll satisfy the team and be here for ten years or so.”In his debut season in the Bronx, Nettles batted .234/.334/.386 with 22 home runs and 81 RBI in 160 games. Notably, he crushed the team that traded him away, with four home runs and seven RBIs during a doubleheader in Cleveland on April 14th and his first six home runs of the year coming against his former employers as part of an eleven homer spree in his first 22 games. His production looked pretty similar in 1974, slashing .246/.316/.403 with another