"I wouldn't be back in baseball if I didn't feel we had a chance to win."--Ralph Houk

Making no promises except to assemble "the best ballclub possible," former New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers skipper Ralph Houk yesterday signed a two-year contract to manage the Boston Red Sox.

Before a packed gallery in the Fenway Park press room ("A sellout," cracked radio pundit Clif Keane), the man who led the Yankees to American League championships three years in a row (1961-63) said the "fun and excitement of managing" lured him out of retirement.

"I didn't plan on coming back," Houk said, "but the fishing hasn't been too good. When you've been in baseball all your life, like I've been, it's a little harder to leave than you think it is."

General Manager Haywood Sullivan said that although he had considered several candidates, he had only talked to Houk.

"Ralph was not my only choice...no, he wasn't" Sullivan said, "but I only talked to one man and that was him."

"He wants to come back in there and win," Sullivan added after the proceedings. "You have a man here, his family's grown, he and his wife are in good health, they live in Florida and own a home and a boat...He's coming back for the challenge, not the money."

Stressing that he was not yet familiar with the personnel, Houk said that he will ultimately be involved with the shaping of the ballclub, but would rely on "the baseball men in the organization" for any immediate decisions.

"Ralph realizes he'll be trusting the judgement of men like (Sam) Mele, (Frank) Malzone and (Eddie) Kasko later on anyway," Sullivan said, "so he's trusting them now."

Both Sullivan and Houk declined to comment specifically on personnel changes, although the general manager admitted that "some of the rumors you hear are true and some are false." He added, "I don't think that anyone going to battle would give away their battle plans."

Regarding the contract negotiations of centerfielder Fred Lynn, Sullivan said that money had still not been discussed. "We tried to talk, but we spent most of the time figuring out where to meet," he added.

Houk gave even less information. When Keane asked, "Will you tell 'Sully' not to trade Lynn?", the sixth Sox pilot since 1965 quipped, "You made all the decisions last time I came through here so I thought I'd wait and ask you."

The lone player attending the conference, Carl Yastrzemski, heartily endorsed Houk as "an excellent choice."

"You talk to front line ballplayers, utilitymen,--I've never heard anyone say anything bad about him," the 41-year-old outfielder, at one time rumored as a possible candidate for the job, said.

"We have a tremendous amount of talent on this ball club, and I was very disappointed in our showing this year," Yastrzemski added. "The Red Sox are very fortunate to get a guy like him."

Houk succeeds Don Zimmer in what has been termed the hardest job in baseball. The 16-year veteran of major league managing denied that he considered this assignment harder than any other, however.

"Anywhere you go to manage it's a challenge," he said. "I've been fortunate to work in what I consider three great baseball towns, counting this one, but the challenge here is no different than anywhere else--to put together a winner."