1968 Topps #289 Woody Held
The card prints Woody; Held's spelling was Woodie.
About Woody Held
A fourth-series card at number 289, and Held's first in California colors. Baltimore traded him to the Angels on June 15, 1967, for Marcelino Lopez and minor leaguer Tom Arruda, and he closed that split season by batting .220 in 58 games for his new club. With the Angels he went on doing the utility work that had followed him since he left Cleveland, moving around the infield and the outfield and coming off the bench. The card prints Woody on the front and the back, one more pass at a name he spelled Woodie.
Woodson George Held was born March 25, 1932, in Sacramento, California, where he spent three seasons as batboy for the Pacific Coast League's Sacramento Solons and played every position but catcher over four varsity years at Sacramento High School. The family name was originally Heldt, changed to Held because people kept mispronouncing it. Yankees scout Joe Devine signed him for a $6,000 bonus in 1951, and he debuted as a September call-up in 1954. Traded to Kansas City in June 1957, he became the Athletics' starting center fielder and hit 20 home runs; exactly one year later he went to Cleveland in the deal that sent Roger Maris the other way. Manager Joe Gordon put him at shortstop, where Held became the first Indians shortstop to hit 20 homers in a season and did it three years running. He later filled in for Washington, Baltimore, California and Chicago, ending up with more than 100 career games at shortstop, second base, third base and all three outfield spots. He retired after 1969 at .240 with 179 home runs and 559 RBIs, ran a dude ranch at Dubois, Wyoming, and died there in 2009.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 268 | 13 | 62 | 124 | 43 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 0 |
| SGC | 9 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-09-04. Half grades fold down for both graders (8.5→8); PSA qualified slabs (OC, ST, PD, MC and the like) are not counted. Slabs of the yellow team-letter #49 and #66 are 1968 Milton Bradley game cards and are not counted here.
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Related cards
Team card: #252 California Angels
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- #52 Hawk Taylor
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- #121 Jimmie Hall
- #143 Pete Cimino
- #170 Jim Fregosi
- #193 Jack Hamilton
- #216 Bubba Morton
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- #271 Bobby Knoop
- #305 Minnie Rojas
- #328 Angels 1968 Rookie Stars
- #347 George Brunet
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1968 Topps #289 card?
It is card #289 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Woody Held of the California Angels.
Is "Woody Held" a misprint?
The card prints "Woody Held"; his usual spelling is Woodie, and the checklist keeps the name as printed rather than flagging it as an error.
How many cards are in the 1968 Topps Baseball set?
598 cards, tracked as 606 collectible states. The numbers run from 1 to 598 without a gap and no printed number carries two different cards; eight cards - six of the seven checklists, #10 AL Pitching Leaders and #400 Mike McCormick - carry a catalogued print variation that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, BaseballCardPedia, Baseball Almanac, Beckett, Baseball-Reference, the SABR BioProject and the National Baseball Hall of Fame, PSA & SGC population reports. Card data compiled and maintained by T206Cards.com. Page last updated 2026-10-12.