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William Frederick Woodward
Cincinnati Reds
Shortstop
Born: September 23, 1942, Miami, FL
Signed: Signed by the Milwaukee Braves as an amateur free agent, June 15, 1963
Major League Teams: Milwaukee Braves 1963-1965; Atlanta Braves 1966-1968; Cincinnati Reds 1968-1971
World Series Appearances: Cincinnati Reds 1970
Woody Woodward appeared in nine big league seasons as a light-hitting middle infielder, and would later serve as the general manager for the Yankees, Phillies and Mariners. Woodward became the regular shortstop for the Braves in 1965 and would move to second base in 1966 when Denis Menke (#487) returned from a knee injury. He'd appear in a career-high 144 games in 1966 and come close to that total in 1967 with 136 games, again as the Braves' regular second baseman. He led all National League second baseman in fielding percentage with a .982 mark in 1967. Traded to the Reds in June 1968, Woodward would serve as a back-up infielder for the club through the 1971 season. He started two games of the 1970 World Series for the Reds at shortstop, and appeared in four games overall, batting .200 (1 for 5). The Orioles would defeat the Reds in five games. For his career, Woodward batted .236 and his one career home run came on July 10, 1970 off the Braves' Ron Reed (#177).
Woodward served as head baseball coach at Florida State University, his alma mater, between 1975 and 1978. He worked in the front offices of the Reds and Yankees after that, and was named the Yankees general manager in October 1986. He resigned after just a year at the position and was hired in the same capacity by the Phillies in October 1987. Woodward's stint with the Phillies surprisingly ended after only six months. He found his most success as the GM for the Mariners between 1988 and 1999, as his club made the playoffs twice. Woodward oversaw the drafts resulting in the selection of Alex Rodriguez, Jason Varitek, Bret Boone and Raul Ibanez, and he acquired Randy Johnson from the Expos in 1989.
Woody Woodward appeared in nine big league seasons as a light-hitting middle infielder, and would later serve as the general manager for the Yankees, Phillies and Mariners. Woodward became the regular shortstop for the Braves in 1965 and would move to second base in 1966 when Denis Menke (#487) returned from a knee injury. He'd appear in a career-high 144 games in 1966 and come close to that total in 1967 with 136 games, again as the Braves' regular second baseman. He led all National League second baseman in fielding percentage with a .982 mark in 1967. Traded to the Reds in June 1968, Woodward would serve as a back-up infielder for the club through the 1971 season. He started two games of the 1970 World Series for the Reds at shortstop, and appeared in four games overall, batting .200 (1 for 5). The Orioles would defeat the Reds in five games. For his career, Woodward batted .236 and his one career home run came on July 10, 1970 off the Braves' Ron Reed (#177).
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #174
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
The Card / Reds Team Set / Accuracy Index -8
1969 Season
In his first full season with the Reds, Woodward appeared in 97 games, batting .261 with 12 doubles. He was the opening day shortstop for the club, and made 78 overall starts at the position throughout the season, yielding for stretches of time to either Darrel Chaney (#624) or Chico Ruiz (#469). When Ruiz shifted to second base, Woodward gained more playing time and he put together a streak of 20 consecutive games in September of reaching base.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #378
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8): 1964-1971
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2020 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-WW
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 36 in the Beckett online database as of 11/13/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Building the Set / Card #174
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
I'm officially more than half-way through posting cards added to our set build nearly a year ago at the March 2023 Philly Show. If I can stay on pace with five posts a week, I should wrap up this haul by April 2024!
In mid-March, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set. That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon. I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.
This is the 97th of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York. My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside. After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far. With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298. The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards, with this card costing less than a dollar.
The Card / Reds Team Set / Accuracy Index -8
Woodward is wearing a Braves uniform here, and he'd have to wait until the 1970 Topps set to be featured wearing a Reds uniform. Topps mentions the trade that brought him to the Reds on the back. On June 11, 1968, the Braves dealt Woodward, Clay Carroll (#26) and Tony Cloninger (#492) to the Reds in exchange for Ted Davidson, Bob Johnson (#261) and Milt Pappas (#79).
Accuracy Index: Woodward scores the fairly normal -8 for the Braves jersey (-5) and the lack of a hat (-3).
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| From the 1988 Phillies Media Guide |
In his first full season with the Reds, Woodward appeared in 97 games, batting .261 with 12 doubles. He was the opening day shortstop for the club, and made 78 overall starts at the position throughout the season, yielding for stretches of time to either Darrel Chaney (#624) or Chico Ruiz (#469). When Ruiz shifted to second base, Woodward gained more playing time and he put together a streak of 20 consecutive games in September of reaching base.
Phillies Connection
Woodward was named Vice President, Player Personnel (essentially the general manager) on October 28, 1987, shortly after resigning his position with the Yankees. In his very short tenure with the Phillies, he signed free agents Bob Dernier, David Palmer, Bill Dawley and Greg Harris. He traded Michael Jackson and Glenn Wilson to the Mariners for Phil Bradley and Tim Fortugno on December 9, 1987. His other big trade was to send Keith Hughes, Rick Schu and Jeff Stone to the Orioles on March 21, 1988, for Mike Young and Frank Bellino. This passage from his SABR biography sums up his short Phillies tenure, with some telling quotes from Woodward himself:
Woodward was named Vice President, Player Personnel (essentially the general manager) on October 28, 1987, shortly after resigning his position with the Yankees. In his very short tenure with the Phillies, he signed free agents Bob Dernier, David Palmer, Bill Dawley and Greg Harris. He traded Michael Jackson and Glenn Wilson to the Mariners for Phil Bradley and Tim Fortugno on December 9, 1987. His other big trade was to send Keith Hughes, Rick Schu and Jeff Stone to the Orioles on March 21, 1988, for Mike Young and Frank Bellino. This passage from his SABR biography sums up his short Phillies tenure, with some telling quotes from Woodward himself:
“Here’s a team with one of the highest payrolls in the major leagues ($13.7 million), and they lose three in a row to a team (Pittsburgh) whose payroll is $6 million. I’ve seen veteran players make inexcusable mistakes. A veteran pitcher doesn’t cover first (base), balls go through the infield like water through a sieve. In fact, the infield play stinks!” [Phillies owner Bill] Giles, after giving Woodward free rein, fired him in June 1988.
The fateful Pittsburgh series referenced by Woodward took place April 11th through the 13th, with the Phillies being shut out in the series finale by Pirates pitcher Brian Fisher. Four errors were committed by the Phillies in the second game of the series by Bruce Ruffin, Milt Thompson, Steve Jeltz and Von Hayes.
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First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #378
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8): 1964-1971
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2020 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-WW
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 36 in the Beckett online database as of 11/13/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog
1965 Topps Blog
#141 Bill Dillman - Baltimore Orioles / #143 Joe Nossek - Oakland Athletics
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