World Series-winning manager Houk dead at 90

[madinmaryland]

BOSTON (AP) -- Ralph Houk, who managed the powerhouse Yankees teams of the early 1960s to two World Series championships, died Wednesday. He was 90.

Red Sox spokesman Dick Bresciani said Houk's grandson, Scott Slaboden, told the team Houk died at his home in Winter Haven, Fla.

Slaboden, who lives in the Boston area, told the team in an e-mail that Houk "died peacefully of natural causes after having a brief illness."

Houk spent parts of eight seasons as a backup catcher for the New York Yankees, appearing in just 91 games.

"People forget that before he was a manager, he was a war hero and he was a catcher for a lot of years," Tigers radio analyst Jim Price said. "He was a great guy, I knew him very well, and everyone that played for him loved him."

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/baseball/mlb/07/21/obit.houk.ap/index.html

RIP.

[El Supremo]

1. The first manager to quit on George Steinbrenner.

He was well respected even by Yankee haters like me.