Putting Jack McKeon’s age in perspective

Eighty year-old Jack McKeon has been put in charge of the Florida Marlins.  I’d say he’s the ā€œnewā€ 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 ā€œdidn’t like the way that Ramirez was running during Sunday’s gameā€.

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.