Houk, a third-string catcher for the Yankees who went on to win two World Series championships and three straight American League pennants as the manager of the team, died Wednesday at the age of 90. Houk took over the manager’s job in October 1960 and went on to manage the Yankees, Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox over the subsequent 20 years, “building the morale and confidence of his players with an optimistic outlook and a refusal to criticize them publicly,” as the Times puts it. In addition to his legacy in baseball, Houk was also an armored corps officer in World War II, earning the Silver Star. [NYT]
