Johnny Keane

John Joseph Keane (November 3, 1911 — January 6, 1967) was an American manager in Major League Baseball. Born in St. Louis, Missouri and known as a patient manager of young players, Keane participated in one of the strangest turns of events in baseball history in 1964, his final season at the helm of the St. Louis Cardinals.

1964: Triumph amid turmoil

In mid-August of that year, with the team seemingly out of the race, owner August "Gussie" Busch became convinced (possibly by Branch Rickey, whom he had hired as a consultant) that only a thorough housecleaning of Cardinal management would bring him the pennant he had craved since he bought the Redbirds in 1953. He fired (or accepted the resignations of) almost every senior St. Louis front office executive. Keane was temporarily spared, but Busch was rumored to be secretly negotiating with Leo Durocher (then a coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers) to become manager at the close of the 1964 season.

However, in the last two weeks of the season, the front-running Philadelphia Phillies — who had seemed a lock for the pennant — unexpectedly began to unravel while both the Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds got hot. The Phillies lost ten straight games, creating a four-team scramble, involving the Phils, Cards, Reds and San Francisco Giants, for the National League title. Philadelphia came to St Louis after losing seven straight at home and were swept by Keane and the Cardinals, who moved into first place, only to lose their next two games to the lowly New York Mets. On the final day of the season, St. Louis prevailed to clinch its first NL pennant since 1946. The Cardinals then defeated the New York Yankees in a seven-game World Series.

The confetti had hardly been swept off the streets after St. Louis' victory parade when the Cards called a press conference. Most expected that it would formally announce a contract extension for Keane. However, the manager handed owner Busch and new general manager Bob Howsam a surprise letter of resignation that he had written late in September, at the height of the pennant chase.

Long-term apprenticeship

Keane thus walked away from the only team he had ever served in his 35-year baseball career. A shortstop, he never played in the major leagues. He suffered a head injury after being hit by a pitch, and spent his entire active career in the Cardinals' labyrinthine farm system. In 1938 he began his managing career in that system, working his way from Class D (the lowest rung on the ladder) to Class AAA, where he spent over a decade as manager of top St. Louis farm clubs. His career record as a manager in the minor leagues was 1,357 victories, 1,166 losses (.538) over 17 seasons.

Keane finally reached the major leagues in 1959, when he was appointed to the Cardinal coaching staff. He replaced Solly Hemus as Redbird manager on July 6, 1961. In his 3½ seasons as Cardinal pilot, he compiled a record of 317-249 (.560). His successor was not Durocher but longtime St. Louis fan favorite Red Schoendienst.

Frustration in the Bronx

But his resignation was only half the story. A few days later, Keane became the surprise new manager of the Yankees, who had dumped Yogi Berra after losing the Fall Classic. (It was later revealed that the Yankees had made an informal inquiry about Keane's interest in the job during the 1964 season itself [Halberstam, David. "October 1964."] ). But the Keane-Yankees pairing was not a good match. Coming off five straight American League pennants and 15 league championships in 18 years, the Yankees were a veteran team of stars who were aging, breaking down, and resistant to the leadership of a disciplinarian like Keane. The 1965 Yankees fell to sixth place, and when the 1966 version won only four of its first 20 games, Keane was replaced by Ralph Houk, the team's charismatic general manager. (The Yankees did not respond to Houk either, finishing in last place.) Keane's 81-101 (.445) record with New York gave him a career managerial mark of 398-350 (.532) over six seasons.

Keane is described in Jim Bouton's "Ball Four" as being prone to panic as a manager and one who was "willing to sacrifice a season to win a game" by putting injured stars into the lineup before their injuries had fully healed. To describe this quality Bouton tells of a somewhat humorous anecdote of Keane pressuring Mickey Mantle to play on a bad leg. But in Keane's defense, Bouton would also note that general manager Houk and the team unfairly used Keane as their excuse for the losing records in 1965 and 1966, which were the result of an aging team with a depleted farm system — not because of Keane.

In December 1966, Keane accepted a scouting post with the California Angels. A month later, in Houston, Texas, he suffered a fatal heart attack at age 55. Keane had lived in the Texas city since his days as player and (later) manager for the Cardinals' longtime Texas League farm team, the Houston Buffaloes. [The New York Times, January 7, 1966]

In Bouton's book, "I Managed Good, But Boy Did They Play Bad", a collection of essays and stories about past major league managers, he wrote that Keane seemed to be in awe of the Yankees, and that he underestimated the problems the team faced; Bouton felt that the immense pressure and stress of managing the Yankees through their inevitable collapse likely led to his death.

Keane's crucial, positive role in mentoring young Cardinal players, especially star pitcher Bob Gibson, is hailed in the David Halberstam book "October 1964."

References

External links

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/keanejo99.shtml Baseball-Reference.com] - career MLB managing record
* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Johnny_Keane Minor league managing record, from BR Bullpen]
* [http://thedeadballera.com/Obits/Keane.Johnny.Obit.html The Dead Ball Era]
*findagrave|7450

Persondata
NAME= Keane, Johnny
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Keane, John Joseph
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Major League Baseball manager
DATE OF BIRTH=1911-11-03
PLACE OF BIRTH=St. Louis, Missouri
DATE OF DEATH=1967-01-06
PLACE OF DEATH=Houston, Texas