15-year Marliniversary: McKeon returns as Marlins manager at age 80

[Mike Ferguson]

Known as a baseball lifer, Jack McKeon won his only World Series as a manager as skipper of the Florida Marlins in 2003. On this day 15 years ago, McKeon decided he had a little bit left in the tank when he returned to the club at the age of 80.

In 2003, McKeon took over as manager following the dismissal of Jeff Torborg after a tumultuous start. After a 32-39 start to 2011 under Edwin Rodriguez, the Marlins turned to McKeon to try to right the ship on June 20, 2011, naming him interim manager.

McKeon spent three years with the Marlins during his first stint and managed the team to a winning record in each of those seasons. At one point in 2003, Florida was just 19-29 before going on to beat the New York Yankees in six games to win their second World Series.

Tasked with trying to breathe life into a young but talented club that underachieved over the first months three of the 201  season, McKeon proved to still have a little magic left. Florida was just 32-40 when he took over, but by the early parts of August, the Marlins had evened their record at 55-55.

Although Florida was able to get back to .500, it never managed to get over in what would be McKeon’s final season in a big-league dugout. After evening their record with a 4-3 win over the New York Mets on Aug. 2, the Marlins went just 17-35 over their final 52 games to finish the year with a 72-90 record.

Over parts of four seasons with the Marlins, McKeon went 281-257 as manager of the club. He was also the last Florida skipper to manage at the park now known as Hard Rock Stadium. McKeon was brought back for a second stint at 80 years old on this day 15 years ago.

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