Nearly all of Tony Kubek’s recollections about Ralph Houk, who died on Wednesday, reflect on the leadership qualities of the former Yankees manager and World War II battlefield hero.
“Ralph learned leadership the hardest way possible — seeing his friends and comrades die around him in the Battle of the Bulge,” Kubek, a Yankees shortstop from 1957 to 1965, said on Thursday.
He recalled that in the late 1980s Houk showed him the helmet he wore at Omaha Beach with holes where a bullet narrowly missed his skull.
“Ralph had a few more difficult times in a leadership position, leading the remnant of a platoon in Europe, than managing a team in a pennant race,” he said of the man who led the Yankees to World Series titles in 1961 and 1962 and the American League pennant in 1963.
Houk became the general manager of the Yankees the next season, when the Yankees lost the World Series to St Louis, then became the field manager again in 1966, a job he kept until stepping down after the 1973 season, George Steinbrenner’s first as owner. But from 1965 on, Houk never returned to the postseason.
Kubek first met Houk in the mid-1950s when he played for the Yankees’ Class AAA team in Denver and Houk managed.
He recalled an instance when Denver’s two catchers got hurt and Houk stepped in.
“Ralph activated himself and caught a doubleheader,” Kubek said. “That’s how he was. He could have asked some kid to catch.”
Kubek said that when Houk took over as Yankees manager in 1961, he usually had a set lineup, platooning less often than his predecessor, Casey Stengel.
“He wasn’t a superstrategist,” he said. “He didn’t want to overmanage.”
“Ralph had a feel for people,” Kubek said. “He spent more time before games with the guys who weren’t playing. He’d be in the outfield with them during batting practice.”
But he said Houk could also be volatile. “Nobody — maybe Lou Piniella — became more irate than Ralph,” he said.
He said Houk once squashed a cigar “playfully” into pitcher Ryne Duren’s face; decked the singer Gordon MacRae for dancing, maybe too closely, with his wife, (which both men denied); and disarmed a man during a barroom brawl.
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals. “Your support was incredible,” Mboko told the crowd in French after a chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the venue. “I’m really happy to win today ... It’s incredible. I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.” Gauff dropped to 2-3 since winning the French Open. She followed the major victory with opening losses in Berlin and Wimbledon, then overcame double-fault problems to win two three-set matches in Montreal. Gauff had five double-faults on Saturday after having 23 in
Taiwan’s top women’s badminton doubles duo, Hsieh Pei-shan (謝沛珊) and Hung En-tzu (洪恩慈), achieved a straight-sets victory over Japan’s Kaho Osawa and Mayui Tanabe at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 300 Macau Open on Sunday. The Taiwanese pair won the final 21-18, 21-12, marking the duo’s second title this year after their win at the BWF Super 300 Taipei Open in May. The match on Sunday was their first encounter with the Japanese duo, ranked No. 63 in the world. Hsieh and Hung, ranked No. 12, began the opening game well. Hung, who plays left-handed, performed strongly at both the net and the
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on Thursday said that he is staying with the Red Bull team next year, ending months of speculation over his future. “Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama, but, for me, it’s always been quite clear, and also for next year,” the four-time champion said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “I’m discussing with the team already the plans — the things that we want to change for next year, so that means that I’m also staying with the team for next year,” he said. Verstappen has a contract with
RSS