Johnny Keane
John Joseph Keane
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 5' 10", Weight 165 lb.
- High School St. Louis Preparatory Seminary
- Born November 3, 1911 in St. Louis, MO USA
- Died January 6, 1967 in Houston, TX USA
Biographical Information[edit]
Johnny Keane spent 17 years managing in the minors for the St. Louis Cardinals, moving his way up from Class D ball in 1938 (at age 26) to the Rochester Red Wings (1949-1951) in the International League and the Columbus Red Birds (1952-1954) and Omaha Cardinals in the American Association. He was a Cardinals coach from 1959 to 1961, when he was named the team's manager on July 6, 1961, replacing Solly Hemus. Overall, his minor league teams were 1,357-1,166.
After leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a World Series triumph over the New York Yankees in 1964, Keane jumped to the Yankees to manage them for the 1965 season. The move did not turn out well, however, as the Yankees finished far out of contention with a losing record that season, then got off to an awful start in 1966, at which point Keane was dismissed and general manager Ralph Houk returned behind the bench. The Yankees would not return to contention again for another decade. Keane signed on with the California Angels in late 1966 as a "special scout", which was a way of saying that he was in the wings waiting for Bill Rigney to quit, but obviously that never happened.
Bill Veeck spends most of the second chapter of his book The Hustler's Handbook describing the behind-the-scenes maneuverings that went into the Keane/Yankees move. The main players are Ralph Houk as general manager in New York, Yogi Berra as the manager, Bing Devine and Branch Rickey battling over the GM position in St. Louis, and Gussie Busch making overtures to Leo Durocher to manage the Cardinals.
Notable Achievements[edit]
- ML Manager of the Year Award (1964)
- NL Pennants: 1 (1964)
- Managed one World Series Champion with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1964
| Preceded by Solly Hemus |
St. Louis Cardinals Manager 1961-1964 |
Succeeded by Red Schoendienst |
| Preceded by Yogi Berra |
New York Yankees Manager 1965-1966 |
Succeeded by Ralph Houk |
We're Social...for Statheads
Every Sports Reference Social Media Account
Site Last Updated:
Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction?
Subscribe to our Free Email Newsletter
Subscribe to Stathead Baseball: Get your first month FREE
Your All-Access Ticket to the Baseball Reference Database
Do you have a sports website? Or write about sports? We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. Find out more.