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CLEVELAND (AP) — Woodie Held, who played 14 years in the
majors and was traded for future home run king Roger Maris, died
Thursday. He was 77. The Cleveland Indians announced Held's death. He died in Dubois, Wyo., after a long bout with cancer. Held played for seven AL teams and was with the 1966 World Series champion Baltimore Orioles. He
spent the majority of his career with Cleveland after being acquired on
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. Held was picked for the
Indians' All-Time Top 100 roster in 2001 as a shortstop. During his
time with them through the 1964 season, he hit 85 career home runs
while playing that position, establishing a team record that stood
until being broken this year by Jhonny Peralta. Held's best
season was his first full year in Cleveland when he set career highs in
homers (29), runs (82) and RBIs (71) while batting .251. Overall,
he hit .240 with 179 homers and 559 RBIs in 1,390 games. He also played
all three outfield positions, second base and third from 1954 through
1969. Traded by Cleveland to the Washington Senators in 1965 and
then to Baltimore, Held spent the entire 1966 season with the Orioles
as a utility infielder. He did not see action in Baltimore's four-game
sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. Woodson George Held finished his career with 1½ seasons apiece with the California Angels and Chicago White Sox.
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