Eighty year-old Jack McKeon has been put in charge of the Florida Marlins. I’d say he’s the “new” manager but that just doesn’t sound right. Just to show that he’s in charge, JMac has already benched Hanley Ramirez for one game because “didn’t like the way that Ramirez was running during Sunday’s game”.
Just how old IS Jack McKeon? Let’s put it in perspective:
- Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Lefty Grove were all in their prime when he was born.
- For that matter, Pete Alexander was still pitching when he was born.
- McKeon managed now-retired manager Lou Piniella when Lou was with the KC Royals in 1973.
- Had Bobby Cox returned to manage the Braves, he would still be 10 years younger than McKeon.
- Finally from Deadspin, of the 671 managers in all of MLB history, over 23% of them started AND finished their managerial tenures during McKeon’s career.
McKeon’s appointment is indeed an interim one but here’s hoping for a lengthy one.