Phillips was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers as a shortstop in the 41st round of the 1995 draft as a high school senior and again by the New York Yankees in the 7th round of the 1999 draft as a college graduate of the University of Alabama. He signed with the Yankees, but did not reach the Major Leagues until a call-up session towards the end of the 2004 season; he made his Major League debut on September 14, 2004. In his first Major League AB, he hit a home run over the Green Monster in Fenway Park off Terry Adams of the Boston Red Sox. Phillips is one of ten players to homer in his first at bat as a Yankee, along with Marcus Thames, Bubba Crosby, Todd Zeile, Wilson Betemit, Cody Ransom, Mark Reynolds, Curtis Granderson, Tyler Austin, and Aaron Judge. He became the 21st player in Major League history to hit a home run on the first pitch of his Major League career.\n', '

Also, in 2004, Phillips received the Yankees\' Kevin Long "Minor-League Player of the Year" Award in a season where he led all Yankees minor leaguers in batting average (.321) and RBI (101), ranked second in home runs (30), and was voted the Most Valuable Player of the International League All Star Game after hitting a 10th inning walk-off home run. In 2005, Phillips earned the James P. Dawson Award as the Yankees\' most outstanding rookie during spring training.\n', '

Phillips\'s time previous to 2006 at the Major League level had been limited to defensive replacement and late season call-up. In 2006, Phillips started the year as the primary backup at first base, behind Jason Giambi. This changed, however, when Gary Sheffield went on the disabled list. Primary designated hitter Bernie Williams took over the starting right field job, leaving the DH spot open. With Giambi\'s bad knees and his sub-par defense in the field, he became the primary DH. Phillips took over at first base and played well. This proved manager Joe Torre correct when he said all that Phillips needed was more at bats. He led the team with a .333 batting average in June and continued with his .333 average for the first 22 games of July. His average on July 26 was .300, with 30 hits in 100 at bats. Earlier, his light hitting triggered GM Brian Cashman to go out and trade for Craig Wilson of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Phillips was kept on the roster mostly because of his versatility to play second base or third base. Also, he could play first if Wilson was forced to play the outfield or catch.\n', '

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