"A Yankee bonus player in 1962, Curt Blefary finally got his chance to put on a New York uniform.
'I was hurt when the Yankees let me go in the draft to Baltimore, but when they traded Joe Pepitone for me last December it was like an early Christmas present,' was the way Curt reacted to the trade which brought him from Houston.
He was the American League's Rookie of the Year in 1965 when he clubbed 22 homers and drove in 70 runs. In four years with the Birds, he hit 82 home runs, demonstrating an almost perfect swing for the short right field fence when he visited Yankee Stadium. He went to the Astros for Mike Cuellar but found the huge Astrodome not conducive to hitting the long ball. He would up last season batting .253 with 12 home runs and 64 runs batted in."
-Jack Zanger, Major League Baseball 1970
"Originally signed by the Yankees in 1962, Blefary was considered a promising prospect. But the Yankees lost him to Baltimore on first year waivers in 1963. He led the International League in walks with 102 in 1964 and was named American League Rookie of the Year in 1965. As an Oriole in 1967, he hit three homers in one game. Houston acquired him from Baltimore in 1968 and the Yankees got him in exchange for Joe Pepitone last winter.
Blefary should do well in Yankee Stadium. He hit .299 - with 12 homers - against the Yankees during his four seasons with the Orioles. In games played at Yankee Stadium, he hit .324 with six homers. He got the range in his first appearance at the Stadium, April 30, 1965, and hit a homer off Jim Bouton. A long ball hitter, Curt will not be held down as in the past and will be encouraged to swing freely. He is ticketed for right field but he can also play first base and catch.
Becoming a Yankee has been Curt's lifetime ambition. When he joined the Yankees last winter, he said, 'I think Yankee Stadium is built for both Pete Ward and myself. (Both are pull hitters.) I know it sounds corny, but I always wanted to play for New York. It's my home (he is a native of Brooklyn, lives in Allendale, New Jersey), and wearing the pinstripes and standing in the same batter's box where Babe Ruth stood do something to me.'"
-The New York Yankees Official 1970 Yearbook
"Curt returns home. He originally signed with the Yankees in 1962, but was claimed on irrevocable first year waivers by the Orioles in April 1963. He went to Houston along with John Mason in exchange for Mike Cuellar, Eliajah Johnson and Enzo Hernandez in December 1968 and was re-acquired by the Yankees in exchange for Joe Pepitone during the 1969 Winter Meetings.
Blefary made known his disappointment about being traded away from New York, as one of his big baseball ambitions was to play regularly in Yankee Stadium. 1970 will provide him with that chance. A left-handed power hitter, he always hit well in the Stadium while with the Orioles. In four years he hit .324 at the 'big ballpark,' including six home runs. Curt should be a big weapon in the Yankees offensive attack in 1970, whether he plays the outfield or first base.
Curt has averaged just under 20 homers per year in his first five years of major league baseball; his season high was in 1966 when he had 23. He was named the American League's Rookie of the Year in 1965 and once had three homers in one game (June 6, 1967). Curt is also noted for having a good 'batting eye' and led the International League in walks with 102 in 1964.
He attended Wagner College during the off-season."
-1970 New York Yankees Press-TV-Radio Guide
NUMBER 13
"Curt Blefary, one of the new Yankees, is a native of Brooklyn who now lives in Allendale, New Jersey. He is the first Yankee regular to wear No. 13.
Outfielder Cliff Mapes was the only other Yankee to wear No. 13. He did so for a few weeks at the end of the 1948 season after relinquishing No. 3 when that number was retired in honor of Babe Ruth."
-1970 New York Yankees Scorecard and Official Program
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