Berra Firing Remains a Source of Puzzlement

Feb. 28, 1965 - Roger Smith is a New York stockbroker in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on a short vacation. He has owned a box seat at Yankee Stadium for years.

This year, he has decided to buy a box seat at the Mets’ Shea Stadium instead.

“When the Yankees fired Yogi Berra,” Smith said simply, “I decided to quit them, too.”

It has been 19 weeks since the act was committed, but the resentment over Berra’s firing as manager of the Yankees doesn’t appear to have waned in the least. Moreover, the mystery concerning Yogi’s firing remains as deep as ever.

The man whose decision it was to fire Berra was Ralph Houk, Yogi’s predecessor, who had risen to general manager and since has added the title of vice president.

“Yogi Berra was my biggest mistake,” said Houk today. “Looking back, the mistake was made in hiring Yogi as manager, not in firing him.

“The plain truth is that Yogi was not ready to manage. Everyone felt — me included — that Yogi would make a good manager. It did not turn out that way. Nobody was more disappointed than I was. I had, and still have, a great respect and genuine liking for him as a person.

“The hardest thing I ever had to do in my whole life was to tell him it hadn’t worked out. The decision to fire Yogi was made some time near the end of August. It made no difference that we won the pennant. It would have made no difference if we had won the World Series in four straight.”

Why was Yogi fired?

“It’s been written that we fired Yogi because of the Linz incident — because of the four straight losses to Chicago in late August — because of his inability to control the players,” Houk said. “None of these reasons is the correct one.

“I’d rather not go into the reasons but, believe me, we felt we had very good ones.”

After the Yankees had lost four straight in Chicago, Berra had to reprimand Phil Linz, utility infielder, for playing a harmonica on a bus ride to the airport. Linz eventually was fined $200.

Houk insisted the Yankee players and their feelings about Berra did not influence the decision. He did not deny that several players approached him — not to bury Yogi but, at the same time, not to praise him.

“We weighed every angle,” Houk said. “In the end, we felt the move would benefit not only the organization but Yogi himself. I still feel that way.”

Houk said his only regret has been Berra’s decision to leave the Yankee organization and join the Mets as a coach.

“Naturally, Yogi was shocked when I broke the news to him,” Houk said, “but he took it like a champion. We told him he would be back in uniform as a coach in 1966 after one year as a consultant during which he would call his own shots.

“Until two days before he signed with the Mets, I was sure he would remain with us. I’m sorry he didn’t. For me, he will always be a Yankee.”

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