This Week in Yankees History August 9th - August 15thAugust 9th1919 - Former Yankees Player (1947-54), MLB Coach, Manager (1961-1963,1966-1973) General Manager (1964-66), Ralph “The Major” Houk was born. The Yankees signed Ralph as an MLB amateur free agent in 1939. He was a Yankees reserve catcher (1947-54), appearing in 91 games while hitting 272. He became a Yankee MLB bullpen coach in 1955, before going to Denver (AAA) to manage in the Yankees farm system.He returned to the Yankees to coach under Casey Stengel in 1960. He replaced Casey Stengel as the Yankees manager in 1961, winning AL Flags from 1961-1963 and winning 2 World Championships (1961-1962).In 1964, he became the Yankees GM with Yogi Berra taking over as Yankees Manager. Ralph fired Yogi after the 1964 World Series loss to the Cardinals replacing him with ex-Cardinals Manager Johnny Keane. He replaced Johnny Keane in 1966, staying with the team in end of the 1973 AL season, resigning because of problems with new Yank...
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