Ralph Houk managed the Yankees through the end of the 1973 season, never having done better than a second-place finish in the American League East in 1970. He later managed the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox during transitional periods that did not see either team reach the postseason. Upon his death in 2010, Berra biographer Allen Barra reminded readers of Houk's role in Berra's 1964 firing. "Yes, Ralph Houk was a brave man and risked his life for his country at Normandy", he wrote. "But that doesn't excuse his complicity in a moment in Yankee history more shameful than anything perpetrated by George Steinbrenner".
