Jack McKeon rips his team

Most of the time when a manager rips his team I get the sense that he’s doing it as much to help himself as he is genuinely upset. “Man, my job is on the line here; I had better show some fire ...” It’s human.

Jack McKeon is in a different situation, though. He knows he’s a place-holder manager. He’s certainly got nothing to prove to anyone. Indeed, if there was one manager in all of baseball (non Ozzie Guillen division) who could probably be counted on to say exactly what he feels about his team’s performance, it’s McKeon.

Here, as reported by the Associated Press, is what he felt yesterday after watching his Marlins drop yet another game to the Padres:

“You have to start using your brain and figuring out how to get hitters out ... Some of these guys had better wake up. This is the time of the year where you’d better be a salesman and show your wares and how good you are. How bad do you want to be a major league player? This is not a picnic. You’re not on scholarship. Sometimes we treat them that way.”

He was also asked about Mike Stanton’s home run, and he used that as another opportunity to rip his staff:

“I’m sure he’d sure as hell hit against our staff, because they get behind and lay it in there. Ridiculous. I’m embarrassed and they should be, too. They’re better than that.”

There’s gotta be something really liberating about being 80.