Ralph Houk
Ballplayers Wounded in Combat
| Date and Place of Birth: | August 9, 1919 Lawrence, KS |
| Date and Place of Death: | July 21, 2010 Winter Haven, FL |
| Baseball Experience: | Major League |
| Position: | Catcher |
| Rank: | Major |
| Military Unit: | Company I, 89th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (Mechanized), 9th Armored Division US Army |
| Area Served: | European Theater of Operations |
Ralph G. Houk was born in Lawrence, Kansas, on August 9, 1919. The
youngest of four children he attended Lawrence High and received several
scholarship offers but signed with the New York Yankees in 1939.
Houk played for the Neosho Yankees of the Class D Arkansas-Missouri
League his rookie year and batted .286 with 56 RBIs in 119 games. The
following season - 1940 - he was with the Joplin Miners of the Class C
Western Association and raised his average to .313. In 1941, he joined
the Augusta Tigers of the Class B South Atlantic League before putting a
promising career on hold to join the Army on February 22, 1942.
Houk attended armored officers' candidate school at Fort Knox, Kentucky.
Following graduation as a second lieutenant he was assigned to Fort
Riley, Kansas. "I first met Houk at Fort Riley," recalled Caesar Fiore,
his commanding officer for three years. "When I noticed his papers said
he liked baseball and was a catcher I put him on the team. He took
charge of the 9th Armored Division Spearhead team. He won the divisional
title and, while on maneuvers in Louisiana, won the state title."
Houk went overseas with Company I, 89th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron
(Mechanized) of the 9th Armored Division in July 1944. He was stationed
at Tidworth, England, until September, when the division left for
mainland Europe. The 9th Armored landed at Omaha Beach, Normandy and
first went into the line in October 1944, in the relatively quiet sector
along the Luxembourg-German frontier. It got its first taste of action
during the Battle of the Bulge.
Houk was wounded in the calf at Willbillig, Germany, during the battle,
had the injury bandaged and returned immediately to combat.
"One day in the middle of the battle I sent Ralph out in a jeep to do
some scouting of enemy troops," said Fiore. "After being out two nights
we listed him as 'missing in action.'
"When he turned up he had a three-day growth of beard and hand grenades
hanging all over him. He was back of the enemy lines the entire time. I
know he must have enjoyed himself. He had a hole in one side of his
helmet, and a hole in the other where the bullet left. When I told him
about his helmet he said 'I could have swore I heard a ricochet.' We
marked him 'absent without leave' but were glad to have him back alive."
The 9th Armored later advanced towards Germany. To reach German soil,
Allied troops would need to cross the Rhine River and it was fully
expected that all the river crossings had been destroyed by the
retreating enemy forces. But on March 7, 1945, the 9th Armored
discovered that the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen - which led into the
German heartland - was still standing. Demolitions were in place but had
failed to detonate. By midnight the same day, the bridge had been
cleared of mines and explosives, hasty repairs had been completed and
traffic began to cross. Houk was among the first invaders since the
Napoleonic era to set foot on German soil east of the Rhine. Helping to
ensure the maintenance of the bridge and the continued flow of traffic
was a young staff sergeant with the 276th Engineer Combat Battalion -
Warren Spahn.
Later promoted to the rank of captain he led platoons into trouble
spots. "I sent him on three missions in April of 1945 and one day he
returned with nine prisoners of war," recalled Fiore. "His reports
invariably had an undetermined number of enemy killed."
Houk received the Purple Heart, Silver Star, Bronze Star with oak leaf
cluster, four campaign stars and clusters during his service in Europe.
"He was an extremely popular platoon commander," Fiore explained. "His
baseball training helped."
Following the German surrender in May 1945, Houk teamed up with Ken
Trinkle for the 9th Armored Division baseball team that made it to the
play-offs of the 1945 ETO World Series. Another teammate was minor
leaguer Ed Musial, Stan's younger brother.
Houk left the Army with the rank of major. He returned to baseball and
played 87 games with the Beaumont Exporters of the Class AA Texas
League, before joining the Yankees as a back-up catcher in 1947, and
hitting .272 in 41 games. He spent the next seven seasons as Berra's
back-up, before turning his attention to managing. After three seasons
as skipper of the Denver Bears (Class AAA American Association) farm
club (1955 to 1957) and three years as a Yankees' coach, Houk replaced
Casey Stengel at the Yankees' helm in 1961.
Time magazine described Houk as “a rigidly self-disciplined technician,”
in October 1961, who “arrives at Yankee Stadium four hours before game
time, consults with his coaches and studies line-up cards in a paneled
office that is necessarily equipped with a handy silver spittoon. He
takes careful notes during pre-game batting and fielding practice. ‘That
way,’ he says, ‘I might notice that one of their guys is hurt, or pick
up one or two other little things.’”
He won World Championships his first two seasons and the American League
pennant in 1963. "Being in the war probably helped my managing," Houk
later commented. "It made me understand the problems young men have and
the pressures they go through not only in a war but in baseball."
Houk served as Yankees' vice president and general manager from 1964
until May 1966, before returning to the dugout to lead the Yankees. From
1974 to 1978, Houk managed the Tigers, and from 1981 to 1984, he managed
the Red Sox. Houk became the Twins' vice president in November 1986 and
retired from baseball in 1989.
Ralph Houk passed away on July 21, 2010, in Winter Haven, Florida. He
was 90 years old and is buried at Rolling Hills Cemetery in Winter
Haven.
Date Added December 25, 2017
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