Old Dogs Teaching Young Pups

Two of the coaching elite returned to the game in the last week as Jack McKeon and Davey Johnson took the reigns of the Marlins and Nationals. Both are World Series winning managers with over one thousand wins apiece. Now both are trading in the early bird special for a chance to mold some of the games most talented youth.


McKeon managed the Kansas City Royals 1973-1975, the Oakland A's 1977-1978, the San Diego Padres 1988-1990, and the Cincinnati Reds 1997-2000 and was fired from each. Then he had his first tour with the Marlins starting in 2003 when he led them to the World Series and ending in 2005 when he retired. McKeon is 80 and is now giving direction to young talent such as Hanley Ramirez, Gaby Sanchez, Logan Morrison and Mike Stanton. I don't think it is coincidence that since McKeon took over speedster Emilio Bonifacio has been given the green light and has four stolen bases in the last five games. 


Johnson managed the New York Mets 1984-1990 winning the World Series in 1986, the Cincinnati Reds 1993-1993, the Baltimore Orioles 1996-1997, and the Los Angeles Dodgers 1999-2000. His cerebral nature caused clashes with ownership and he endured firings from the Mets, Reds and Dodgers plus he resigned from the Orioles after winning American League Manager of the Year .He inherits a team on the rise with young talent on the team with Drew Storen, Wilson Ramos, Ian Desmond, Danny Espinosa and Ryan Zimmerman. They are also blessed with two of the three previous number one picks with Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper in the wings to give the future a boost. Johnson was experienced in bringing the most out of young talent with his World Series team that boasted Dwight Gooden, Ron Darling, and Darryl Strawberry. 


It will be interesting to see how long these two icons choose to stay and develop their respective teams before heading off to retirement. Each has the talent to build around and each franchise could have a bright future if these field generals are allowed to lead. I feel that McKeon is a short term solution for this season while Johnson could be on the ground floor of something special with the Nationals.