Woody Held, RIP

[GA Russell]

Woody Held died yesterday. I recall him as a very solid ballplayer. His obit doesn't say that he ever played in an all-star game, so I guess he didn't. Any Cleveland fans here?

Here's his LA Times obituary:

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-...0,6531920.story

Woodie Held, 14-year major league ballplayer, dies at 77 June 12, 2009

Woodie Held

Ballplayer was traded for Maris

Woodie Held, 77, who played 14 years in the major leagues and was traded for future home run king Roger Maris, died Thursday in Dubois, Wyo., after a long bout with cancer, the Cleveland Indians announced.

Held played for seven American League teams, including the 1966 World Series champion Baltimore Orioles and the California Angels in 1967 and '68. But he spent most of his career with Cleveland after being acquired June 15, 1958, from the Kansas City Athletics in a multiplayer trade for Maris.

A year later, Maris was sent in another big trade to the New York Yankees -- the team that originally signed Held and brought him to the major leagues in the early 1950s. (Maris went on to hit 61 home runs in 1961, then a record for homers in a season.)

Held primarily played shortstop, but he also filled in at second base, third base and all three outfield positions. His best season was his first full year in Cleveland, 1959, when he set career highs in home runs (29), runs scored (82) and RBIs (71) while batting .251. Overall, he hit .240 with 179 homers and 559 RBIs in 1,390 games from 1954 through 1969.

Woodson George Held was born March 25, 1932, in Sacramento. After retiring from baseball, he moved to Wyoming and ran various businesses.

[Hot Ptah]

I had many of his baseball cards as a kid.

What I remember reading about him is that he would go into an intense rage at himself, whenever he struck out--which was often.

[JSngry]