Your 1981 Red Sox Pt. 12: Ralph Houk

In this series, I will look at each player who played in 1981, the year I was born. Because, why not?

Don Zimmer was fired as the Red Sox manager during the 1980 season and Johnny Pesky skippered the team for the last five games of the season.  Legendary former Yankees manager Ralph Houk was brought in early in the offseason prior to 1981.  

Houk won two World Series and an AL pennant in his first three seasons as a manager.  He then returned to coaching for a couple more seasons before doing a second stint with the Yankees as their manager.  He then spent five seasons as the Tigers manager before retiring after the 1978 season.  That retirement lasted just two seasons before Houk was hired by the Red Sox.

In Houk's first season with the Red Sox, the season was split into two parts due to a strike.  In the first part of the season, the team was 30-26.  They were 29-23 in the second half.  Houk managed three more seasons with the Red Sox, never finishing higher than third or lower than sixth.  Houk retired permanently after the 1984 season.  His record with the team was 312-282.