NEW YORK, NY – It didn’t take long for the Yankees to call on Andy Phillips.

On opening day of the 2005 major league baseball season (Sunday), Phillips was seated in the Yankees dugout with a secure spot on the roster.

After originally being placed in Triple-A Columbus, Phillips got the call up to the majors before the first pitch of the first regular season game for 2005.

Phillips got the call after Kevin Brown was placed on the disabled list just two days after he left his last spring start with back pains.

A former University of Alabama midfielder and Demopolis Academy standout, Phillips made his major league debut last season in five games with New York.

And in his first major league at bat, he came in with a bang.

Phillips, 27, slammed his first major league pitch over the “green monster” in a match-up with the Boston Red Sox.

And in the five games he spent with New York last season, Phillips went 2-for-8 with a homerun and two RBIs.

During his time as a student with the Crimson Tide (1996-1999), Phillips held a .356 batting average with 61 homeruns and 226 RBIs.

Phillips is also Alabama’s all-time leader in games played (244), games started (224), at-bats (904), runs scored (222), hits (322), homeruns (61), RBIs (226) and total bases (590).

When Phillips hit his first homerun in the majors with the Yankees, he became only the 21st played in baseball history to hit a homerun off his first-ever major league pitch.

Although Phillips began the season marked as an infielder for Triple-A Columbus, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and manager Joe Torre have spoken very highly of Phillips’ talent.

And in just a short period of time, Phillips once again has made his mark by moving from Triple-A baseball to the pros.

This time, though, the Yankees are hoping to keep him around.