Woody Held (#289)

Nothing says "jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none" better than having "INF-OF" appear on your baseball card.

Woody (a/k/a Woodie) Held was signed by the Yankees in 1951, and played in their farm system through part of the 1957 season.

Although having a cup of coffee with the Yanks in 1954, Held returned to the majors for good during the 1957 season. On June 15th 1957 Held, Billy Martin, and 2 other players were traded to the Athletics for 3 players. Exactly one year later, he and Vic Power were traded to the Indians for Roger Maris and 2 others.



Woody was the Indians' regular shortstop from 1959 to 1962, making over 100 starts there in each season. In 1963, he moved over to second base, and although he was the regular there, he also started some games in the outfield (INF-OF alert!).

With the Indians' acquisition of shortstop Dick Howser, Larry Brown (who had taken Held's shortstop job the previous season) was moved to second base in 1964, replacing Held again. Woody was now in full INF-OF mode, and would remain there for the rest of his career.

After the 1964 season, Held and first baseman Bob Chance were traded to the Senators for outfielder Chuck Hinton. A year later he was traded to the Orioles for catcher John Orsino.

Midway through the 1967 season, he went to the Angels for pitcher Marcelino Lopez. His last move was in July 1968, when he was traded to the White Sox for infielder Wayne Causey. The Sox released him after the 1969 season, ending his 14-year career.