Saw this fella over in High Point last week, there at the Rockers stadium, and he was watching his grandson’s baseball team playing in the Rockers’ Challenge/Southeast Guilford HS Easter Baseball Tournament…
Now 94 years old, and still going real strong…And he looks like he might be in his 70s or even late 60s…Jack McKeon is “The Man”…They still talk about Ric Flair being the “The Man”, but when it comes to the game of baseball, Jack McKeon is “The Man”…..
We have seen talks of CLICK BAIT, CHICK BAIT, and for Jack it was always about “Trade Bait”…’Trader Jack’ was always known to make some trades, and once he even traded away his son in-law, Greg Booker…
Jack McKeon managed baseball teams in Kansas City, Oakland, San Diego, Cincinnati, Florida/Miami and there were plenty more stops along the way…He led the Florida Marlins to the World Series Title…
McKeon’s Kansas City Royals clubs featured some of the top names in baseball history, including Freddie Patek, Cookie Rojas, Paul Splittorff, Amos Otis, and John Mayberry…Some may not realize this, but Amos Otis was one of the top center fielders in all of baseball history….
When Jack settled in with the San Diego Padres, that is when he picked up that nickname, ‘Trader Jack”…..He told the New York Times in 1988: “Why do I trade? I’m aggressive. I’m confident. I’m a gambler. I’m willing to make a trade and not be afraid I’ll get nailed.”
Jack was over at the Rockers stadium last Monday afternoon watching his grandson’s Northwest Guilford Vikings High School baseball team, go up against the Western Alamance Warriors…Avery Booker, Jack’s grandson and the son of deceased Greg Booker, is the coach of the NWG Vikings, and they won big last Monday, over Western Alamance…Jack lives down around Elon, N.C., where Western Alamance HS is located…But, if Jack was doing any consulting last Monday, it would have been him giving advice to his grandson/Avery Booker…
Best Jack McKeon story I have ever heard, and you have to remember, this baseball treasure is 94 years old, so there have been quite a few stories from over the years…This story takes me back to when I was traveling to Zebulon, N.C. one Tuesday night to attend the Southern League Baseball All-Star Game, and two former Greensboro Grasshoppers, Gabby Sanchez and Chris Coughlin were playing in that game…
Well I was listening to the Raleigh radio station, and the guys were talking about the All-Star Game, prior to the game, and they got on a Jack McKeon story…The story goes that Jack McKeon was managing the Fayetteville team in the old Carolinas League and Jack was coaching at third base in the team’s games…Jack was having a problem with this one certain player, where when the guy got as far as third base, he would always begin to put on the running brakes and want to pull up and stop at third base, slowing down without taking a few steps down the line and looking to HOME…
So Jack said to himself, “I will put a stop to this”…..After a couple more times of seeing his satisfied runner pulling up at the ole proverbial ‘Truck Stop’ at third base, Jack had a nice surprise for that young base runner…The next time that kid was making a base run toward third and he was getting ready to slow down, and hit the brakes, Jack pulled a gun out of his pocket and shot the gun, and the kid/runner hasn’t stop running since…Jack had that Starter’s Pistol in his pocket and as the kid was getting ready to pull into third base and he was planning to just stop, and not even give a look at HOME, Jack shot that gun off, and the way the story goes, “That kid never stopped running, and he is still running to this day”….
And there you go, Jack McKeon, “still kicking hard” at 94 years old, and he has to be considered for the sport of baseball as, “The Best There Was, The Best There Is, and The Best There Ever Will Be”…..
He is a great guy, and I don’t think he ever met a stranger, and if you are Trade Bait, you don’t have to wait, cause your papers are already in order….
Thanks Jack McKeon, for speaking with us last Monday….