Woodie Held

Woodson George "Woodie" Held (March 25, 1932 – June 10, 2009) was a shortstop/outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for the New York Yankees, Kansas City Athletics, Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators, Baltimore Orioles, California Angels and Chicago White Sox. He batted and threw right-handed. His last name was originally Heldt, but later changed it to Held due to confusion pronouncing his name.

Born in Sacramento, California on March 25, 1932, Held served as a batboy for the hometown Solons in the mid-1940s. Originally signed by the Yankees for a $6,000 bonus prior to the 1951 season, he made his major league debut on September 5, 1954. After spending almost all of his 6½ years with the Yankees in its minor league system, he was traded along with Billy Martin, Ralph Terry and Bob Martyn to Kansas City for Ryne Duren, Harry Simpson and Jim Pisoni on June 15, 1957 (the MLB trade deadline at the time) in one of the many deals made between the two clubs during the late-1950s. Even though he had been primarily a middle infielder, Held became the Athletics' starting center fielder as a rookie, hitting 20 homers.