Ronald Lawrence Woods (born February 1, 1943) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

player who appeared in all or part of six seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

from to , primarily as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

, for the Detroit Tigers,

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

and

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

. He also played two seasons in Japan for the

Chunichi Dragons The are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chūbu region of Japan. The team plays in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. They have won the Central League pennant nine times (most recently in 2011) ...

in 1975–1976. Born in Hamilton, Ohio, Woods threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . Woods graduated from

Compton High School Compton High School is a high school in Compton, California, United States, part of the Compton Unified School District. History The school opened in 1896 as Compton Union High School and was later re-established as Compton Senior High School i ...

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

, and entered pro baseball in the Pittsburgh Pirates' organization in June 1961. However, after five years in the Pittsburgh farm system, he had risen only as high as the Double-A level. Early in 1966, the Detroit Tigers acquired his contract. After a strong 1968 season with the Triple-A

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A Mud Hens team has played in ...

, Woods made the roster of the defending World Series champion Tigers out of spring training. He appeared in 17 early-season games for Detroit, largely as a pinch hitter, pinch runner and defensive replacement, before being traded June 14 to the New York Yankees for veteran outfielder

Tom Tresh Thomas Michael Tresh (September 20, 1938 – October 15, 2008) was a professional baseball infielder and outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (–) and Detroit Tigers (). Tresh was a switch-hitter and thre ...

. Although he struggled offensively, Woods was able to solidify his hold on a major league job with the Yankees, appearing in 192 games (starting 147) from June 1969 to June . On June 25 of the latter year, the Yankees sent Woods to the Montreal Expos for former

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

outfielder

Ron Swoboda Ronald Alan Swoboda (born June 30, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player and television sports color commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from through , most notably as a member of the New York Mets ...

. Despite a brief detour to Triple-A

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

in 1971, Woods spent the next 3 years on the Expo roster, appearing in 373 games and

batting Batting may refer to: * Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs * Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ...

a cumulative .245. In , he was Montreal's most-used center fielder, starting 72 games and platooning with left-handed hitters

Boots Day Charles Frederick "Boots" Day (born August 31, 1947) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, and Montreal Expos. Until recently, Day was bench c ...

and

Jim Lyttle James Lawrence Lyttle Jr. (born May 20, 1946) is a former American professional baseball player from Logan, Indiana. He played as an outfielder for the New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, Montreal Expos, and Los Angeles Dodgers of the Major Lea ...

, as the Expos, a fifth-year expansion team, battled for the

National League East Division The National League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. Along with the American League Central it is one of two divisions to have every member win at least one World Series title. The division was created when the National Leag ...

title before falling short by 3 games. That off-season, however, the Expos traded for veteran center fielder Willie Davis of the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

, relegating Woods to part-time status in 1974. He started 21 games all season, batted .205 in 127

at bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

, and departed for the Chunichi Dragons of Nippon Professional Baseball. He played the 1975 and 1976 seasons in Japan, appearing in 192 total games and hitting .263 with 160 hits and 19 home runs. Doing Woods' six seasons in the major leagues, Woods batted .233. His 290 hits in 1,247 at bats included 34 doubles, 12 triples, and 26 career home runs. He compiled 130 RBIs, and 27 stolen bases.

Sources

1943 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Japan Asheville Tourists players Baseball players from California Baseball players from Ohio Batavia Pirates players Chunichi Dragons players Detroit Tigers players Hobbs Pirates players Kinston Eagles players Major League Baseball outfielders Montgomery Rebels players Montreal Expos players New York Yankees players Rocky Mount Leafs players Sportspeople from Compton, California Sportspeople from Hamilton, Ohio Toledo Mud Hens players Winnipeg Whips players Compton High School alumni {{US-baseball-outfielder-1940s-stub