Woodie Held

Woodson George "Woodie" Held (March 25, 1932 – June 11, 2009) was an American shortstop and outfielder in Major League Baseball who batted and threw right-handed. His last name was originally Heldt, but he later changed it to Held because of confusion over its pronunciation.

Born in Sacramento, California, Held served as a batboy for the hometown Solons in the mid-1940s. The New York Yankees signed him for a $6,000 bonus prior to the 1951 season, and he made his major league debut on September 5, 1954. He spent almost all of his six and a half years in the Yankees organization in the minor leagues before being traded, along with Billy Martin, Ralph Terry and Bob Martyn, to the Kansas City Athletics for Ryne Duren, Harry Simpson and Jim Pisoni on June 15, 1957, then the MLB trade deadline, in one of the many deals between the two clubs during the late 1950s.

Though he had been primarily a middle infielder, Held became the Athletics' starting center fielder as a rookie, hitting 20 home runs. Over his career he also played for the Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators, Baltimore Orioles, California Angels and Chicago White Sox.