For those who got their baseball fix by watching the old Denver Bears, Jack McKeon is a familiar name.
McKeon managed the Bears to a 62-73 record and a third-place finish in the American Association in 1979. Randy Bass led the team in home runs (36), RBIs (105) and slugging percentage (.660).
The Florida Marlins visited Coors Field a week ago to play the Rockies, and Jack McKeon was listed as the Marlins’ manager. Surely he must be the son of the Bears manager of 1979.
Wrong. It is the same Jack McKeon, 80, going strong all these years later.
“We didn’t have a real good club that year,” McKeon said, reminiscing about his season with the Bears. “We had a few players make it to the major leagues.”
McKeon was in his office in the visiting clubhouse early enough before his Marlins played the Rockies, so he spent some time talking about that season.
“I was talking about our July 4 game that year just the other day,” McKeon said. “We were down 14-7 with a runner on and two outs in the bottom of the ninth. We scored nine unearned runs, with Jim Cox hitting a three-run homer to win it 16-14.”
McKeon remembered that 67,000 people at Mile High Stadium went nuts even before the fireworks show started.
McKeon wasn’t expecting to be in the visiting clubhouse in Denver, or any other major-league city, when the 2011 season began. He was beginning his sixth season as special assistant to Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria. After attending spring training, McKeon was looking forward to spending the summer roving throughout the farm system to offer critiques to his boss.
But on June 19, Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez resigned with his team in last place in the NL East. Soon after, Loria stunned the baseball world by offering McKeon the job.
McKeon had been out of uniform since managing the Marlins from 2003-05. But he had the clout of a World Series title in 2003 and winning seasons in all three years.
“It took me abut 15 seconds to say yes,” McKeon said. “My history has been to manage a few years and then take a few years off. I was ready to come back. Baseball has been my life.”
McKeon has made a good life of it.
He’s the only manager in baseball to have more than 1,000 victories in both the minor leagues and the major leagues, with major-league stops at Kansas City, Oakland, San Diego and Cincinnati — plus twice in Florida. While with the Padres, he earned the nickname “Trader Jack” for his penchant to move players in an attempt to rebuild the team. He is second in age only to legendary Connie Mack as a big-league manager. Mack managed the Philadelphia Athletics for 50 seasons before retiring at age 87 after the 1950 season.
“I told the owners the other day that I’d like to come back for a month in 2018 so I could pass up Mack,” McKeon said.
McKeon was a strong supporter of a big-league team coming to Denver. He got a close-up view of a possible franchise in Denver in the late 1970s while with the Oakland Athletics. Denver oilman Marvin Davis entered into serious talks with A’s owner Charlie Finley to buy the team and move it to Denver.
“I always told people that Denver was a big-league baseball city,” McKeon said. “They’d say, ‘Nah, Denver’s a football town.’ I’d answer, ‘No, it’s a baseball town.’ “
McKeon is old school when it comes to playing baseball at Denver’s mile- high elevation.
“I don’t worry about it,” he said. “People start talking about how they can’t breathe right in Denver or they can’t throw a breaking pitch in Denver. They get that in their head. It’s a bunch of baloney.”
As for 2012, McKeon isn’t making any promises. Will he be back in the visiting clubhouse at Coors Field next year?
“I’ve told them only that I’ll finish out the season,” McKeon said of his bosses. “If I don’t come back and they need me in a year or two, call me. I’m always on call.”
Jack McKeon
Born: Nov. 23, 1930, in South Amboy, N.J.
High school: South Amboy
Colleges: Holy Cross, Seton Hall, Elon
Family: Wife Carol, daughters Kristi and Kari, sons Kelly and Kasey
Hobby: The stock market
Wish list: A managing job when he’s 88
