Dick Bresciani

Ralph Houk, who managed the powerhouse Yankees teams of the early 1960s to two World Series championships, died yesterday. He was 90. Dick Bresciani, Red Sox spokesman, said Mr. Houk’s grandson, Scott Slaboden, told the team Mr. Houk died at his home in Winter Haven, Fla. Slaboden, who lives in Greater Boston, said in an e-mail that Mr. Houk “died peacefully of natural causes’’ after a brief illness. Mr. Houk spent parts of eight seasons as a backup catcher for the Yankees, playing in 91 games.

FENWAY 1912: The Birth of a Ballpark, a Championship Season, and Fenway"s Remarkable First Year By Glenn Stout Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 392 pp., illustrated, $26 Glenn Stout has long been respected among literary-minded baseball fans for his meticulously researched and graceful writing about the sport, particularly on that perpetually fertile subject, the Boston Red Sox. Dick Bresciani ranks as the franchise's respected...

STORRS, Conn. — Walt Dropo, who played 13 seasons in the majors and won the 1950 American League Rookie of the Year award with the Boston Red Sox, has died. He was 87. Mr. Dropo died Friday of natural causes, the University of Connecticut said yesterday in a statement. Mr. Dropo, who lived in Peabody, Mass., was a three-sport star at the university in the 1940s and one of the greatest athletes in school history. In 1950, Mr. Dropo beat out New York Yankees pitcher Whitey Ford to win AL Rookie of the Year honors after batting .322 with 34 home runs and a...

STORRS, Conn. — Walt Dropo, who played 13 seasons in the majors and won the 1950 American League Rookie of the Year award with the Boston Red Sox, has died. He was 87. Mr. Dropo died Friday of natural causes, the University of Connecticut said yesterday in a statement. Mr. Dropo, who lived in Peabody, Mass., was a three-sport star at the university in the 1940s and one of the greatest athletes in school history. In 1950, Mr. Dropo beat out New York Yankees pitcher Whitey Ford to win AL Rookie of the Year honors after batting .322 with 34 home runs and a...

FENWAY 1912: The Birth of a Ballpark, a Championship Season, and Fenway"s Remarkable First Year By Glenn Stout Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 392 pp., illustrated, $26 Glenn Stout has long been respected among literary-minded baseball fans for his meticulously researched and graceful writing about the sport, particularly on that perpetually fertile subject, the Boston Red Sox. Dick Bresciani ranks as the franchise's respected...

Last call at the Hall for Jim Rice. The former Red Sox slugger has been on the Hall of Fame ballot for 14 years and each time he's come up short of the required 75 percent of the vote. Now in his 15th and final year of eligibility, Rice wins. Guaranteed. Just like I said last year (whoops) when he finished 16 votes shy, getting 72.2 percent of the electorate. Rice has never been a certified Cooperstown lock. That's why he's fallen short. It's not because he was uncooperative with the scribes.

Fifteen years of waiting and listening to debates about whether he was among the most elite players to ever play the game dissipated softly into neverland yesterday when the Baseball Writers Association of America elected Jim Rice to the Hall of Fame, casting 76.4 percent of the vote in his favor, just seven votes over the minimum required for election. Rice, appearing cool and calm as he stood at a podium in the State Street Pavilion at Fenway Park yesterday, said he received the word at 1:17 p.m. when Jack O'Connell, secretary/treasurer of the BBWAA, called to give the former Red Sox...

This is Jim Rice's 14th appearance on the Hall of Fame ballot. He only gets one more audition before he's turned over to the Veterans Committee. But he won't need year No. 15, or the smoke-filled room of the old-timers' group. Ballots are due to be mailed before Tuesday and when the announcement is made next month, I'm betting that Rice is going to Cooperstown. Rich Gossage and Rice should top this year's ballot, gathering the necessary 75 percent of the vote. There would be nice symmetry in the sight of this duo walking through the gates of the Hall together.

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. - Their personalities may be as different as two Hall of Famers ever inducted on the same day, but the flamboyant Rickey Henderson and the conservative Jim Rice both delivered powerful and memorable punch lines in their speeches yesterday on the grounds of the Clark Sports Center. Rice said, “I am a husband called Rice. I am a father called Dad. I am a brother called Ed. I’m an uncle called Uncle Ed. I’m a grandfather called Papa. I am a friend that doesn’t call.

ST. LOUIS -- They did it for the old folks in Presque Isle, Maine, and White River Junction, Vt. They did it for the baby boomers in North Conway, N.H., and Groton, Mass. They did it for the kids in Central Falls, R.I., and Putnam, Conn. While church bells rang in small New England towns and horns honked on the crowded streets of the Hub, the 2004 Red Sox last night won the 100th World Series, completing a four-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals with a 3-0 victory on the strength of seven innings of three-hit pitching by Derek Lowe.

Ralph Houk, who managed the powerhouse Yankees teams of the early 1960s to two World Series championships, died yesterday. He was 90. Dick Bresciani, Red Sox spokesman, said Mr. Houk’s grandson, Scott Slaboden, told the team Mr. Houk died at his home in Winter Haven, Fla. Slaboden, who lives in Greater Boston, said in an e-mail that Mr. Houk “died peacefully of natural causes’’ after a brief illness. Mr. Houk spent parts of eight seasons as a backup catcher for the Yankees, playing in 91 games.

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. - Their personalities may be as different as two Hall of Famers ever inducted on the same day, but the flamboyant Rickey Henderson and the conservative Jim Rice both delivered powerful and memorable punch lines in their speeches yesterday on the grounds of the Clark Sports Center. Rice said, “I am a husband called Rice. I am a father called Dad. I am a brother called Ed. I’m an uncle called Uncle Ed. I’m a grandfather called Papa. I am a friend that doesn’t call.

Fifteen years of waiting and listening to debates about whether he was among the most elite players to ever play the game dissipated softly into neverland yesterday when the Baseball Writers Association of America elected Jim Rice to the Hall of Fame, casting 76.4 percent of the vote in his favor, just seven votes over the minimum required for election. Rice, appearing cool and calm as he stood at a podium in the State Street Pavilion at Fenway Park yesterday, said he received the word at 1:17 p.m. when Jack O'Connell, secretary/treasurer of the BBWAA, called to give the former Red Sox slugger...

Last call at the Hall for Jim Rice. The former Red Sox slugger has been on the Hall of Fame ballot for 14 years and each time he's come up short of the required 75 percent of the vote. Now in his 15th and final year of eligibility, Rice wins. Guaranteed. Just like I said last year (whoops) when he finished 16 votes shy, getting 72.2 percent of the electorate. Rice has never been a certified Cooperstown lock. That's why he's fallen short. It's not because he was uncooperative with the scribes.

This is Jim Rice's 14th appearance on the Hall of Fame ballot. He only gets one more audition before he's turned over to the Veterans Committee. But he won't need year No. 15, or the smoke-filled room of the old-timers' group. Ballots are due to be mailed before Tuesday and when the announcement is made next month, I'm betting that Rice is going to Cooperstown. Rich Gossage and Rice should top this year's ballot, gathering the necessary 75 percent of the vote. There would be nice symmetry in the sight of this duo walking through the gates of the Hall together.

DALLAS - Former Red Sox great Luis Tiant was not selected for induction into the Hall of Fame by the Golden Era Committee which announced its vote moments ago. The committee chose nine-time All-Star Ron Santo, the former Cubs third base great. He played 14 seasons with the Cubs and one season with the White Sox. There were 10 candidates and 12 votes were needed of the 16 votes for induction (75 percent). There were eight former players and two executives on the committee.

One hundred years ago, Boston was bustling. The city grew by more than 2,800 acres when Hyde Park was annexed to Boston. The first subway trains rattled through the tunnel between Park Street and Harvard Square. The state poured millions of dollars into developing the harbor. 1912 was a time of growth and prosperity in the city, and a century later, many of the institutions and traditions launched that year have become Boston landmarks: Fenway Park, Franklin Park Zoo, Fairmont Copley Plaza.