In just four years in the U. S. Army during World War II, Ralph Houk, a Lawrence, Kansas, native, rose from private to major and for his bravery battling the Axis forces, including participation in the Battle of the Bulge and the Remagen crossing, he earned the Bronze Star, the Silver Star, and the Purple Heart.
His service was described by his commanding officer for three years, Caesar Fiore, on the website, Baseball in Wartime. (baseballinwartime.com)
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."
That brave soldier, Ralph Houk, who died in July at age 90. also was among the troops who landed on the shores of Normandy, had a connection to Newton and Jasper counties, since he lived in Neosho in 1939 and Joplin in 1940.
That was when Ralph was a catcher, playing on the minor league teams in those communities. In Neosho, he batted .286 and drove in 56 runs. At Joplin, his numbers improved as he raised his average to .313
Though he reached the major leagues following his military service, he never made much of an impact on the only team he ever played for, the New York Yankees, until 1961, when Ralph Houk replaced Casey Stengel as the Yankees’ manager.
The following passage was taken from his obituary in the July 17 New York Times:
As he got ready to manage in a World Series game for the first time, against the Cincinnati Reds in 1961, Houk was asked whether he was nervous. “Why, is somebody going to be shooting at me?” he replied, according to “The Man in the Dugout,” a book about managers by Leonard Koppett.
Houk managed for 20 seasons, with the Yankees, the Detroit Tigers and the Boston Red Sox. He was known for building the morale and confidence of his players with an optimistic outlook and a refusal to criticize them publicly.
“I don’t think you can humiliate a player and expect him to perform.” he said.
Houk, who was only the second manager in baseball history to reach the World Series during his first three years, never forgot that baseball was just a game, a lesson he learned early as he went from the baseball fields at Neosho and Joplin to the battlefields where he served his country with distinction.
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