Yankees Birthday of the Day: Mark Teixeira

Editor’s note: We just wrote about Teixeira a couple months ago as part of our “ 50 Most Notable Yankees Free Agent Signings in 50 Years ” serie s. Seeing no need to reinvent the wheel and with no better Yankees candidates for April 11th (apologies to Pete Kozma and Wally Whitehurst), this is an oh-so-slightly edited rerun. The 2009 season marked a transitional year for the Yankees, coming off the final season in the original Yankee Stadium and the team’s first season without a postseason appearance since 1995.

The team’s aging core was still producing, but veteran slugger Jason Giambi’s contract expired after the season, leaving a hole at the cold corner. Thankfully, there was a marquee first baseman available on the market: Mark Teixeira. The switch-hitting slugger and Gold Glover was coming off an MVP-caliber season — he had been traded from the Braves to the Angels at the trade deadline, which wiped out his vote share because of the change in leagues.

Several teams attempted to woo Teixeira, but the Yankees were ultimately successful, inking him to an eight-year pact. Tex would be one of the most important contributors to the 2009 team which baptized the new Yankee Stadium with the franchise’s 27th championship. While he struggled with injuries on the back half of the deal, he was a fearsome presence in the heart of the Yankee lineup for most of those eight years.

Mark Charles Teixeira Born: April 11, 1980 (Annapolis, MD) Yankees Tenure: 2009-16 Teixeira was born 46 years ago today in Annapolis and attended Mount St. Joseph High School in Baltimore. He excelled enough there for the Red Sox to take a flyer on him with a ninth-round pick in the 1998 Draft, but he chose to honor his commitment to Georgia Tech, where he became one of the top college hitters in the country.