YOUR 1966 BRAVES: #14 Woody Woodward

#14 WOODY WOODWARD
Shortstop

What came before: Before there was Deion, there was Woody. A Florida State Seminole who got a juicy bonus to sign – and who used part of it to put lights up on his college field – he played in only parts of two seasons in the minors before reaching the majors to stay in 1964.
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A born leader, Woodward was frequently a punchline by fans because of his inability to hit his first major league home run. But his was an advanced infield talent.

That 1966 season: He was a lineup fixture, playing in a career-high 144 games almost exactly split between shortstop and second base due to the club's indecision where and how much to use Woodward and Denis Menke. He hit a light .243 with zero home runs, 43 RBIs and a career high 23 errors.

What happened next: In 1967, with Felix Millan shelved with an ankle injury, Woodward took over second base and led the NL in fielding percentage. Early in 1968, Woodward, Clay Carroll and Tony Cloninger became Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Milt Pappas, utilityman Bob Johnson and pitcher Ted Davidson. He finally enjoyed a home run trot – one of them – in 1970 as a member of the Reds' NL championship team. In came on July 10 against his old Braves' teammate, Ron Reed.
Woodward's playing days were over in 1971, only a few weeks after he got what he might have thought was a sign: on September 4, 1971, during a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, a sack of flour fell out of the sky and landed approximately 10 feet from where Woodward was standing.
After dabbling in broadcasting, he accepted the job as head coach at his alma mater from 1975-78, taking Florida State to the College World Series once. He moved into the front office of the Reds for a few years, then the Yankees, and was named GM of the Yankees late in 1986, a job he held for just a year. The Phillies hired him almost immediately to be their GM, but fired him in June of 1988 in favor of one of Woodward's Braves teammates, Lee Thomas.
But, remarkably, Seattle hired him for the same role only a month later, and he held down thatGeneral Manger's job until he retired at the end of the 1999 season.
He remains affiliated with the Mariners as a part-time scout.