#624 Jack McKeon
Here is the third and final card that Jack McKeon signed for me through the mail in 2011. Jack finished up that season as the Marlins interim manager after Edwin Rodriguez got canned seventy-one games into the season. When Jack took over, I figured that would be a great time to send him some cards and I sent three out to him in August. I posted the first one over two years ago and it can be seen here. The second, which is my favorite of the three, can be seen here.
Jack managed four Major League clubs in his career- the Royals, A's, Padres, Reds, and Marlins. In his sixteen seasons at the helm of a team, he had a winning record in ten of them. He never lead a team to a first place finished, but his teams came in second six times. One of those teams that finished second was the 2003 Marlins that cliched the Wild Card spot and went on to win the World Series. That was Jack's lone venture into the post-season.
Jack's 1999 Reds club came very close to making the playoffs, though. They finished the season 95-67, one game behind the Astros. They ended up in a tie for the Wild Card with the Mets, so they played game 163 to see who moved on to the playoffs. The Reds dropped the game 5-0 and the Mets went on to the NLCS before losing to the Braves.
As if my posting hasn't been sporadic enough over the last few years, it is going to be pretty bad this month. The fam has decided to make the trek out to Arizona again this year. I want to get a ton of autographs while I am out there, so I have a lot of sorting and searching to do to get ready. So, don't be expecting a whole lot out of this blog until April.
By the way, I love the photo of Jack on this card. That mustache is something else.
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