Chris Chambliss was a very good Yankee. Not good enough to get his number retired, or a Monument Park plaque or anything, but he was an important player during a significant stretch in team history. His walk-off home run to win the 1976 ALCS has a good case to be a top-ten highlight in Yankees’ history.
The Yankees traded him after the 1979 season. While they got a decent season out of Rick Cerone, one of the primary pieces they got back, Chambliss performed better than anyone the Yankees received in return. Don Mattingly’s emergence would have made Chambliss less necessary as the 80s went on, but he almost certainly could have been a useful piece on some of those teams that were good, but not good enough.