The Boston Globe is reporting Ralph Houk died, but I can’t get a link to the actual post.

Scott Sloboden said his granddad passed away this afternoon at 1:15 p.m. at his home in Winter Haven, Fla. Mr. Houk was 90 years old.

Growing up in southern Connecticut, I watched Yankees and Mets and games, and Houk was the first manager I remember. He had a quirk of using his second basemen as leadoff hitters, no matter how well or poorly they got on base. He was known as “The Major:”

Houk was a catcher working his way through the Yankees’ farm system when the U.S. entered World War II. He enlisted in the armed forces, became an Army Ranger, and received a battlefield commission, rising from private to major. He was a combat veteran of Bastogne and the Battle of the Bulge, and was awarded the Silver Star, Purple Heart and Bronze Star.

That might be enough for a lifetime, but Ralph added World Championships with the Yankees to his resume.

My thoughts go out to his family and friends.