In less than two weeks, when MLB postseason games begin, Jack McKeon will be watching on TV.
Before you can say Jack Robinson, the Wild Card Series will be solidified, the mysteries surrounding who will win their divisional crowns, and ultimately, American and National League pennants will have been won and Game 1 of the 121st World Series will be played on Oct. 25.
This happens every fall.
Clubs advancing to postseason play isn’t the norm. You have to roll back the record books a quarter of a century to when a club is repeated as world champions. The New York Yankees won the Fall Classic three consecutive seasons, 1998–2000, and before that, the Toronto Blue Jays repeated as World Series victors (1992–1993).
McKeon, 93, is a rare veteran of the game who has witnessed so many championships won and defended over the past 60 years, and yet just as die-hard fans of the clubs still in the hunt for MLB’s top prize, he too, will be glued to his TV at his home in Elon, North Carolina watching.
Not as a critic but from a love for the game, McKeon has a deep appreciation for the strategies implemented by front-office personnel and managers that keep the club’s season going.
“The clubs shouldn’t make any changes to their game plans. Not at all,” McKeon said to The Epoch Times earlier this week. “When I was managing, and my teams were in the playoffs, I worked them harder. The results were excellent.”
Whether the New York Yankees maintain their American League East lead over the Baltimore Orioles come season’s end or the San Diego Padres surpass the Los Angeles Dodgers to claim the National League West title, managing the players in different situations in a short series will require a certain boldness, perhaps foreign to a given manager’s style.
As McKeon, who first began managing in the minors leagues when Dwight D. Eisenhower was the president of the United States and assesses postseason game plans, winning in the fall can be traced back to spring training.
“You work your tail off starting in February to get in shape, and all throughout the season you maintain that same level of intensity. When you make it into the playoffs, then you kick your readiness into high gear.”
With the experience of 16 MLB seasons skippering four different clubs and being selected the National League Manager of the Year on two occasions, when McKeon offers advice, unsolicited or otherwise, students of the game listen. Perhaps his most memorable accomplishment in the postseason competition came when, at the age of 72 during the 2003 season, as a substitute manager, he steered the then-Florida Marlins to a six-game World Series title at the expense of the Yankees.
When Marlins’ ownership decided to part ways with Jeff Torborg calling the shots from the dugout in May, McKeon came out of retirement and guided the club to a Wild Card berth and, ultimately, the 2003 World Series crown.
“It’s so basic in the playoffs. Your team wins when your players are having their best years. Then you have to realize that next season winning it all probably won’t happen. You and the front office have to make sure you can get replacements, and continually build for the future,” said McKeon.
McKeon points to the off-season, when the Marlins hoisted the Commissioner’s Trophy in late October, to the opening of training camp in February 2004, two of his best players had left the organization. Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, the Marlins’ postseason 2003 catcher had left to play for the Detroit Tigers, and Derrek Lee exited South Florida for what would be the first of seven seasons as a Chicago Cub.
After retiring from the Marlins at the end of the 2005 season, McKeon had one more run in him with the organization as their bench boss. At age 80, during the 2011 MLB season, McKeon rejoined the club on June 20 as the interim skipper, replacing Edwin Rodriguez. In doing so, he became the second oldest manager in MLB history, only behind Hall of Famer Connie Mack.
Prior to guiding the Marlins to the franchise’s second World Series championship, McKeon gained credibility with the club’s fan base and players around the league by building a National League pennant winning Padres club in 1984.
After a change was made in the front office, and Bob Fontaine was relieved of his general manager duties in 1980, McKeon stepped in, and moved players. He did so so often that McKeon earned the tag “Trader Jack”. Future Hall of Famer Rich Gossage, Graig Nettles, along with Steve Garvey, future Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, and Carmelo Martinez were the top weapons manager and future Hall of Famer Dick Williams needed, put together by McKeon, to put the Padres in World Series play for their first time.
“After the World Series I went out and traded for LaMarr Hoyt in December. He won 16 games for us, and we still didn’t win the division,” explained McKeon when looking back to the Padres fourth place finish in 1985.
Armed with a subscription to MLB.TV, McKeon reports that he routinely watches two ball games daily during the regular season. When he’s not looking at the screen, the former MLB skipper is taking in his grandchildren’s baseball games. Baseball remains his hobby, after giving many years as a participant in shaping MLB history, McKeon can’t wait for postseason play.
