Another Yank-Mee death...#3

Per NY Times....


Ralph Houk, Yankees Manager, Dies at 90


Ralph Houk, a third-string catcher for the Yankees who went on to win three straight American League pennants and two World Series championships in his first seasons as their manager, died Wednesday at his home in Winter Haven, Fla. He was 90.

His death, coming soon after the deaths of the Yankee owner George Steinbrenner and their former public address announcer Bob Sheppard, was announced by his daughter, Donna Slaboden.

As he got ready to manage in a World Series game for the first time, against the Cincinnati Reds in 1961, Houk was asked whether he was nervous. “Why, is somebody going to be shooting at me?” he replied, according to “The Man in the Dugout” (Crown, 1992) by Leonard Koppett.

Houk had displayed his courage as an armored corps officer in World War II, winning the Silver Star. Upon returning to baseball, he was known as “the Major,” a tribute to his commanding presence, whatever the uniform.

When he became the Yankee manager in October 1960, Houk stepped into a pressure-filled situation: he was replacing a man who had won 10 pennants and 7 World Series.

“There’s only one Casey Stengel,” the Yankees’ new manager said. “I’m Ralph Houk.”

Managing for 20 seasons — with the Yankees, the Detroit Tigers and the Boston Red Sox — Houk’s strong point was building the morale and confidence of his players with an optimistic outlook and a refusal to criticize them publicly.





http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/22/sp...k.html?_r=1&hp

There's the third one.

Yogi Berra can rest easy now.

Insane.