Here’s
a “missing” 1972 card for Woody Woodward, who closed out a nine-year
playing career in 1971 before moving on to the front office as a General
Manager:
Woodward, who came up with the Milwaukee Braves in 1963, played out his
career in 1971 with the Cincinnati Reds, the only other team he suited
up for in the Majors.
He batted .242 in his swan song season, with 66 hits over 273 at-bats in 136 games as an infielder.
For his career he ended up with a .236 batting average with 517 hits in
2187 at-bats over 880 games, but it was his post-playing career as a
Major League General Manager where he really left his mark on the game.
He first became a GM with the New York Yankees for a year in 1987 before
moving on to the Seattle Mariners, where he would build the team up to
the eventual powerhouse that included Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr and
Edgar Martinez.
He would hold that position before retiring in 1999.
Not a bad baseball life!