The Cellar that Houk Built

Forty-seven is a little late in life for a man to change his whole philosophy. But give Ralph Houk credit for trying. "Winning is all that counts," he used to say. Houk was a winner then. Now that he's a loser, he's learning to act like one. Alibis: "Injuries have practically killed us." Complaints: "The umpire really blew that one." Pleas for sympathy: "We're going through a period of unexpected events." Promises, promises, promises: "We have some outstanding prospects."

Not Since 1925. A tobacco-chewing ex-Army officer and supernumerary ballplayer who hung around the big leagues for eight years (although he got into only 91 games), Houk was known as the "Miracle Major" when he bossed the New York Yankees to three straight American League pennants before retiring to the front office in 1964. Another miracle was obviously called for after the Yankees slumped to sixth place last year, got off to a miserable start in 1966. So last May, when Manager Johnny Keane was fired, Houk took over the job again himself.

In the four months since, he has not performed the impossible, but he has performed the improbable. He has taken the Yankees from twelve games out of first place to 27 1/2 games out of first place. Last week the Yanks lost four straight to the pennant-bound Baltimore Orioles, thereby 1) dropping into the American League cellar and 2) mathematically eliminating themselves from the 1966 pennant race. Not since 1925, when Babe Ruth hit only 25 home runs and got fined $5,000 by Manager Miller Huggins for breaking training, had the proud Yankees, winners of 20 world championships, been eliminated so early in the season.

The totality of the Yankee collapse seems to baffle Houk as much as anybody. "I've never been with a losing club before, either as a manager or a player," he mutters. Pitcher Mel Stottlemyre, a 20-game winner last year, is a 17-game loser this season. Leftfielder Tom Tresh, a .279 hitter in 1965, is batting .238. The team as a whole is batting .237. They have lost 33 games by a margin of one run, and they have been unable even to beat their old patsies, the Washington Senators and the California Angels.

Injuries have played a part, of course. Pitcher Whitey Ford underwent surgery last month for a blocked artery in his shoulder. Shortstop Ruben Amaro tore his knee ligaments in the first week of the season. Mickey Mantle has missed 42 games with assorted aches and pains, and Roger Maris has been playing for three months with a torn leg muscle so painful that he cannot run out the infield grounders he now hits so consistently. Still, Yankee teams have been hard hit before: the 1949 club, for example, survived a succession of 71 separate injuries and won a pennant for Manager Casey Stengel--the first of ten he collected in his twelve years with the Yanks.

Dim Prospects. Ah, well, there's always next year. "I can hardly wait for spring training," Houk says. "There's going to be a real shakeup on this ball club." Rumors fluttered like pennant flags last week: Roy Hamey was supposed to be coming out of retirement to take over his old job as general manager; Yogi Berra was coming back from the New York Mets as a coach; Roger Maris was going to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Pitcher Don Drysdale; fully one-third of the Yankee squad was on the trading block. The rumors were probably just that and nothing more. Inflated salaries and deflated batting averages (Maris makes $75,000, is hitting .230) make Yankee trading prospects dim.

If he cannot persuade other teams to part with polished pros, Manager Houk will have to develop his own--and that will have to be quite a development. The Yankee farm system, once the best in baseball, has fallen on evil times lately. Houk already has called up his two most promising young prospects: Pitcher Stan Bahnsen, who went two innings against the Boston Red Sox last week and retired all six batters he faced, striking out four, and Outfielder Steve Whitaker, who broke into the big leagues by clouting six home runs (including a grand slam) in his first 19 games.

Only two other players on the Yankees' farm roster, from Class AAA all the way through Class A, are hitting .300. By contrast, the Red Sox--the team the Yanks were battling for last place--own seven minor-league .300 hitters, plus three pitchers who have won more games than anybody else in their respective leagues. As Baltimore Pitcher Dick Hall put it last week: "The Yankees don't have any Bobby Richardsons or Elston Howards or Mickey Mantles coming up from the minors--and until they do, the Yankees will be just one more team running along with the pack."

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