Houk, Ralph G.
Baseball
b. Aug. 9, 1919, Lawrence, KS
After serving in the Marine Corps during World War II, which won him his nickname, the "Major," Houk spent 8 seasons as a backup catcher with the AL's New York Yankees, but appeared in only 91 games and had just 158 at-bats during that time. He retired from playing after the 1954 season and became a minor league manager.
In 1961, he took over the Yankees and guided them to three consecutive pennants and World Series victories in his first two seasons. After losing the 1963 World Series, however, he was replaced by Yogi Berra.
Houk returned to the Yankees in 1966, but the team was in the second division for most of the next eight seasons and Houk left to take over the Detroit Tigers in 1974. He retired after the 1978 season but came out of retirement three years later to manage the Boston Red Sox. After a fourth-place finish in 1984, he retired permanently.
In 1986, he came out of retirement to become a vice president of the Minnesota Twins, where he served mainly as a consultant on player personnel. In that role, he helped put together the team that won the 1987 World Series.