All-Time Indians: Woodie Held

For fans of the modern Cleveland Indians, who may not be aware of Woodie Held, he was Jhonny Peralta long before Peralta was born. Over his seven years with the Indians, Held hit 130 total home runs and committed 123 errors. Held and Peralta remain the only Indians short stops to hit more than 100 home runs with the team. Held played long before the age of power short stops that came around in the 1990's so he was well ahead of his time. Instead of being heralded as a great power hitting short stop, Held was switched from position to position moving to second base and outfield, eventually getting traded to Washington in 1964.

Woodie Held was involved in another trade with the Indians that turned out to be one of the worst in team history. To obtain Held originally, the Indians traded top prospect Roger Maris to the Kansas City Royals for Held and Vic Power. While both Held and Power had decent careers for the Indians, Maris went on to star with the Yankees breaking Babe Ruth's single season home record by hitting 61 home runs in 1961.

Woodie Held died in June of 2009.