Jack McKeon reminisces about his days as manager of the Omaha Royals

Jack McKeon (Photo: Stan Hall)

You might think winning the 1970 Championship as the manager of the Omaha Royals would rank pretty far down the list of accomplishments on Jack McKeon’s resume considering he went on to manage the 2003 Florida Marlins to the World Series title, was twice named the NL manager of the year (1999 and 2003) and managed some 15 years at the big league level with stops in Kansas City (1973-75), Oakland (1977-78), San Diego (1988-90), Cincinnati (1997-2000) and Florida (2003-05).

But McKeon holds the 1970 title in high esteem.

“You’ve gotta look back at my career and say number one is winning the World Series in 2003,” said McKeon, who was at Rosenblatt last night for a dinner honoring the 1970 Championship team. “Number two was in 1999 when I was manager of the year in Cincinnati and we won 96 games and didn’t make the playoffs. And I think after that, number three would be the 1970 team in Omaha.”

McKeon reminisced about that team with the media.

“In ‘70 we started off very slow,” McKeon said. “We had such good, resilient players and despite being out of first place by 10 or 12 games on July the 6th, we came back and won the thing. That’s why I always have fond memories of the ‘70 team. They were like biscuits. You know, when things got hot, they rose to the occasion.”

He didn’t need much prompting to continue talking about the team.

“The ’70 team was special. We never got to .500 until August 1 that year and I kept preaching to the players about the fact that, ‘Hey, get to .500 and we’ll roll.’ Well, you know, I was trying to be politically correct and trying to be optimistic and maybe deep in my heart I didn’t believe it, but I was trying to sell them guys and trying to motivate them. But we got to .500 on August 1st. From August the 1st on, I think we won like 26 out of the next 34 games and ended up winning the pennant by two or three or four games.”

McKeon’s memory is spot on. The Royals went 73-65 in 1970 and went on to win the East Division of the American Association by three games over the Iowa Oaks. Then they went on to defeat the Denver Bears four games to one to win the championship. The 1970 title was the second one for Omaha in just its second year of existence.

Was there one particular moment that turned the season?

“We struggled early in the year and I made a call to Kansas City and I said, ‘Look, we’ve got a bunch of old guys here that can’t play. Let’s get them out of here and bring some young kids in.’ That’s when we brought in the Lloyd Gladdens, the Jim Yorks, and a Charlie Days, and [Ted] Parks at third base. We brought some of those young players in and they kind of sparked us and, you know, we just started to roll.”

The 1970 season wasn’t the first time McKeon pleaded for younger players in Omaha. He recalled his battle to get young players up with the 1969 team too.

“I remember Paul Splittorff as a young kid having a very good Spring Training,” McKeon said. “And the director of player development, Charlie Metro, I saw him in Spring Training, and I said, ‘I’d like to have him [Splittorff], and Jerry Cram and Al Fitzmorris in Omaha – three young kids and they said, ‘Ah, you can’t have those guys. They’re too young. They’re not ready. You’ll ruin ‘em. They’re over their heads.’

“I kept pleading and pleading and finally they gave in and I remember Charlie Metro telling me, ‘Don’t you come complaining to me in about mid-May or June that these guys can’t cut it.’ I said, ‘Don’t worry about it, I’ll take care of ‘em.’ Well, the rest is history. Each one of them won anywhere from 10 to 13 games that year and we won the pennant by about six or seven games.”

Again, his memory is right on. The Omaha Royals won the pennant by six games over the Tulsa Oilers in 1969. Splittorff won 12 games that season; Cram won 10; and Fitzmorris won 10.

So, does McKeon ever think about those formative years at the beginning of the organization and the role he played in the success of the organization later in the decade?

“Oh yeah,” McKeon said. “The good thing about not only managing the Royals here in Omaha was the fact that I managed the instructional league team as well. And that gave me an advantage to teach my system – not only to the players in Omaha, but they knew it before they got to Omaha. So, when I became the manager in Kansas City, all these players that graduated up there with me, they knew how to play the game. And fortunately, we had some successful years in Kansas City.”

Even manager Jirschele surprised by playoff run

Jarrod Dyson in action.
(Photo: Eldon Lindsay/omahastormchasers.com)

Going into the game tonight against Fresno, the Omaha Royals were just 2.5 games out of first place in the PCL American North. And if you look at the number of impact players and starters who have been called up to Kansas City over the past few weeks – well, even manager Mike Jirschele is surprised.

“I mean, you just look back at the guys we’ve lost,” Jirschele said in an interview before the game with Royals radio broadcaster Mark Nasser, “We lost Gordon, we lost Ka’iahue, we lost Wilson Betemit – he’s hitting over .300 in the big leagues, Bullington, Humber and that’s just as of late.

“And you know, for these other guys to step in and do the job that they’ve done, you know, it’s more than we could have asked for and it’s more than I expected. I figured that after we started losing Bullington and Humber, I thought, ‘Oh man, we’re gonna go right down the tubes here.’

“I guess I should have more confidence and faith in our guys, but you know, you start losing all of the guys we’ve lost, you know, in years past we haven’t had guys who could step in and fill those positions, but thus far, everybody that we’ve gotten has stepped in and done a great job.”

One of the guys who has stepped up is 40-year-old relief pitcher Matt Herges. He told Jirschele he would be willing to step into the starting rotation after the Royals lost Bullington and Humber. Jirschele said he cleared it with the front office and then gave Herges the ball. In Sacramento last night, Herges gave up just one run on one hit over five innings.

Outfielder Jarrod Dyson, who missed a large portion of the season with a lat injury in his back and then suffered an ankle injury during his rehab, has stepped up too. Over his last 10 games, he’s hitting .325 (13-for-40) with 1 HR, 8 RBI, 7 R and 4 SB.

And third baseman Mike Moustakas appears to be making adjustments to Triple-A pitching. For the season he’s hitting .265, but over his last 10 games he’s hitting .292. He’s not really driving the ball though. Over that 10-game span, he has three doubles and no home runs.

Pitchers Tim Collins (0.75 ERA in 7 appearances), Louis Coleman (3-1, 2.39 ERA in 14 appearances) and Anthony Lerew (who recently rejoined the team and has a 2-0 record with a 2.49 ERA in August) have also played key roles in keeping the Omaha Royals in playoff contention.

Omaha returns home on Saturday to begin a new series against Memphis. The 13-game home stand will be the final one of the season and the final one ever at Rosenblatt Stadium.

Gil Meche opts for bullpen instead of surgery

Meche in action at Rosenblatt last week.
(Photo: Eldon Lindsay/oroyals.com)

The past week has been a whirlwind for Kansas City pitcher Gil Meche.

Last Monday, Meche made a rehab start in Omaha hoping it would be his last stop on his way back to the big leagues, where he hasn’t seen action since May 25 due to bursitis in his right shoulder. But things didn’t go well for Meche, who didn’t use his curve ball during the rehab start because throwing it causes him pain. New Orleans pounded him for 7 earned runs on 8 hits and 2 walks in four innings.

After that start, Meche planned to have season-ending surgery, but he changed his mind after learning he would miss the 2011 season (his final season under contract with Kansas City) and that the surgery may have even ended his career. Instead, he has asked to be moved to the bullpen, where his shoulder won’t have to endure as much.

He may not see major league action out of the pen until September.

“Our focus on him is to try to maybe rehab him back as a reliever and have him in a position where he’s available for us,” Kansas City manager Ned Yost is quoted as saying in the Kansas City Star. “I think that’s something the muscles in his shoulder can handle, 40 pitch stints.

“One-hundred-pitch stints, that’s pushing it a little bit. Forty-pitch stints, I think you could use him every other day and keep him healthy and part of our club and be a productive part of our club.”

Miller drives in four in Omaha rout of Tacoma

Anthony Lerew

Anthony Lerew re-discovered his groove on the mound and Jai Miller blasted his 18th home run of the season last night as the Omaha Royals trounced the Tacoma Rainiers 11-1.

Omaha has won seven of their last eight games and find themselves nine games over .500 for the first time since September 1, 2002. They are now 4.5 games out of first in the PCL American North.

Lerew has struggled since returning from Kansas City recently, but he had good command of his pitches last night and he threw strikes. His final line was impressive: 1 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 6 K in 8.0 IP.

Miller’s recent numbers have been pretty good too. In his last six games, he has six home runs. In addition to hitting a 3-run dinger in the third inning (see the video below), he also drove in another run with a double. He’s hitting .361 over his last 10 games and he’s forced his way into the lineup at the expense of right fielder Jordan Parraz.

David Lough had two triples in the game (see the video below of his third inning three-bagger), becoming the first Omaha Royals player to do that since Kerry Robinson did it on August 17, 2006 against Albuquerque. Lough has been red hot in the month of August, hitting .500 (11-for-22).

Mike Moustakas wasn’t in the lineup because he fouled a ball of his foot two nights ago and he is day-to-day.

The series continues at Rosenblatt tonight at 7:05. Omaha is scheduled to send RHP Federico Castaneda (4-2, 3.86) to the mound vs. LHP Ryan Feierabend (3-4, 5.05 ERA) for Tacoma.

---

Moustakas drives in winning run in the 12th

Mike Moustakas
(Photo: Eldon Lindsay/omahastormcasers.com)

The transition from Double-A pitching to Triple-A pitching has not been an easy one for Omaha Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas. Maybe his at bat in the bottom of the 12th inning last night at Rosenblatt Stadium will help him get over the hump. He drove a 2-2 pitch over Greg Halman’s head in center field to give the Royals a 4-3 walk-off win.

Moustakas has been struggling with breaking pitches – especially on the outside portion of the plate and beyond. He’s also been susceptible to the high fastball. After failing to get runners home from third with less than two outs on two occasions earlier in the game last night, he got another shot in the bottom of the 12th.

Tacoma relief pitcher Mumba Rivera started Moustakas off with an inside breaking pitch that Moose took for ball one.

On the second pitch, Rivera came at him with what appeared to be another breaking pitch that Moose fouled off.

Rivera came back with another inside breaking pitch that was off the plate, but Moose took a cut at it and fouled it off his foot for strike two.

Rivera, ahead in the count 1-2, tried to bust Moose inside with a fastball – something a number of other pitchers have been doing successfully against Moose once they set him up with something off-speed outside. Apparently Rivera was trying to change things up a bit by throwing Moose off-speed stuff on the inside portion of the plate before trying to bust him inside. But Moose laid off this one for ball two.

I couldn’t tell for sure what Rivera threw Moustakas on the next pitch, but it appeared to be something off-speed and it caught enough of the plate for Moose to drive it over Halman’s head for the walk-off win. You can see the entire sequence in the video below.

Omaha has now won six of its last seven games. They currently find themselves tied for second with Memphis in the PCL American North division, 5.5 games behind the red hot Iowa Cubs. The Cubs have won nine of their last ten games.

Game two of the Omaha-Tacoma series is set for tonight at 7:05 pm at Rosenblatt. Omaha will send RHP Anthony Lerew (5-3, 3.48) up against Tacoma RHP Blake Beavan (1-0, 3.00).

St. Joseph family takes in their first Royals game at Rosenblatt

The Parker Family

In seasons past, Jeff Parker and his wife Rebecca, didn’t have an real incentive to pile their three kids into their car and head up I-29 from St. Joseph, Missouri to Omaha to catch an Omaha Royals game. So they never did.

Over the past 15 years, the Royals organization hasn’t used Omaha as a proving ground for prospects, opting instead to use it as a graveyard where 30-something-year-old players’ careers come to die – a fact that Parker, who blogs about the Royals at Royally Speaking, is well aware of.

“I was just talking to my wife and she said, ‘How come we’ve never done this before?’” Parker said. “I said, ‘Well, coming to Omaha to watch guys who play in the minors their entire careers – it didn’t really interest me.’ Now it does and we’ll probably make this a yearly thing.”

Hardcore Royals fans have been interested in Mike Moustakas ever since he was selected in the first round of the 2007 draft. He tore up minor league pitching at Double-A NW Arkansas this season (.347 AVG, 21 HR, 76 RBI in 66 games) and that earned him a promotion to Omaha recently. But Moustakas isn’t the only exciting prospect Omaha has to offer. Jordan Parraz, David Lough, Jarrod Dyson, Lucas May, Federico Castaneda, Louis Coleman, Tim Collins and others are also giving fans of the organization something to cheer about.

Of course fans are hoping that the core group of players in Omaha and the lower levels of the organization will be reminiscent of the prospects that game up together through that same system in the mid-70s and early 80s that eventually lead to winning baseball in Kansas City.

Parker grew up watching Kansas City play during their glory days. He became a fan while watching Royals games with his father during the mid-70s. Early on, Parker was drawn to a shortstop named Freddie Patek.

“I was really small as a kid, so watching him – here he is playing at an All-Star level – I just related. When I played little league, I played shortstop and so I just kind of related to him.”

Last night, it was Parker’s turn to watch some baseball with his own kids – Ari, 14, Jeff, 11, and Zak, 8. And it was a good night to bring kids to the ballpark because it was Star Wars night in addition to being Fireworks Friday.

Unfortunately, the Royals ended up being blown out by the Portland Beavers, 13-6. But, blowouts happen.

Today, the Parkers plan to spend some time at the zoo before heading back to St. Joseph. Next season, they will have even more to look forward when they make their annual visit because they’ll have a chance to see the team play in the new ballpark in Sarpy County.

*****

A few notes about the game last night:

Relief pitcher Tim Collins, who the Royals recently acquired in a trade with Atlanta, was outstanding in his Rosenblatt Stadium debut, tossing two innings, giving up just one hit and no runs. He has a unique delivery style – one that Minda Haas aptly described as a “half-tornado delivery” and an explosive curve ball. You can view him in action in one of the videos below against Portland slugger Wily Mo Pena.

The game got so out of hand last night that Omaha manager Mike Jirschele brought in first basemen/designated hitter Scott Thorman to pitch the ninth inning. This was Thorman’s second appearance on the mound this season. He fared much better this time. Using his knuckeball, he struck out Portland shortstop Sean Kazmar and he got Pena to ground into a double play (see the video of that play as well).

Making memories at Rosenblatt Stadium

August 10, 1981 was an eventful day in baseball.

Kansas City played their first game on that date after the 1981 strike ended. Cal Ripken, Jr. made his Major League debut against the Royals that day – coming into the game as a pinch-runner for Ken Singleton in the bottom of the 12th inning and scoring the winning run.

George Brett appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated with Mike Schmidt (they were the reigning MVPs at the time) under the banner “Here We Go Again!”

Pete Rose recorded his 3,631th career hit, breaking Stan Musial’s NL hit record.

And, while all of that was going on, I attended an Omaha Royals baseball game at Rosenblatt Stadium with my best friend’s family. It turned out to be quite a day.

I can’t remember how we found out, but when my best friend and I heard that Mickey Mantle was in the stadium and he was signing autographs, we scrambled to find him. It wasn’t that hard because he was seated behind home plate, a little toward first base, and a line of kids was forming up the aisle.

I was only 14 at the time and had no real understanding about Mantle’s relevance to the game. In fact, as a Royals fan, I couldn’t stand the Yankees. But somehow I knew Mantle’s name was bigger than the rivalry. So I got in line with my friend.

Mantle signed a sheet of paper for me (why didn’t I have him sign a ball?), I added the date, folded it, and stuck it in my pocket. When I got home, I had enough sense to remove it and place it in plastic. Although, for some bizarre reason, I colored in the date with a pen (see the photo).

I cannot remember who the Omaha Royals played that day. In fact, I cannot even find a box score online for that particular game. Thanks to Baseball-Reference, I can see that guys like Onix Concepcion, Ron Johnson, Darryl Motley, Ken Phelps, Bombo Rivera, Pat Sheridan, Don Slaught, Jerry Cram, Atlee Hammaker and Mike Jones played for the O. Royals in 1981. But as for the game itself, I cannot remember a thing.

What I do remember is a brief encounter with Mickey Mantle at Rosenblatt Stadium with my best friend by my side.

The Omaha Royals have 25 regular season home games remaining at Rosenblatt Stadium. General manager Martie Cordaro and his staff have promotions planned nearly every one of those nights.

Players often take time to sign autographs. Casey and the other mascots roam the stands. There are planned giveaways, fireworks, concerts after games, a night dedicated to honor the 1970 championship team (August 21), and the team is playing pretty good baseball right now – they are just 0.5 games out of first place in the PCL American North division.

Pick a night or two, bring your family out to the ballpark, and make a memory – one that maybe they’ll be talking about some 29 years later.

Miss Nebraska 2006 throws out first pitch

Emily Poeschl, Miss Nebraska 2006

Last night was Ladies Night at Rosenblatt Stadium. The first 100 ladies who signed up for the postgame diamond dig were able to dig around in the infield with a spoon, looking for a pair of diamond stud earrings, in addition to other prizes.

The promotion was enough to draw Emily Poeschl, Miss Nebraska USA 2006, out to the ballpark in hopes of finding the grand prize.

“I want to win those $2,000 earrings that are down on the field tonight,” Poeschl said before the contest began. “We’ve got my sister and my mom, my aunt and I are all here. So we’ve got a four in one hundred chance of finding the diamond.”

She didn’t win the earrings, but she was one of ten women to find a box with a certificate for a “Remember Rosenblatt” commemorative plate.

Before that, Poeschl had the chance to throw out one of the ceremonial first pitches of the game between the Omaha Royals and Albuquerque Isotopes – a game that Omaha won 4-1 behind a strong pitching effort from starter Gaby Hernandez.

Poeschl was pumped up about the opportunity to throw one of the ceremonial first pitches – something she had not planned on when she came to the park, but was happy to do when one of the 100 women who won the opportunity declined it.

As a former intern for the Lincoln Saltdogs, Poeschl knows her way around the baseball diamond. She’s also a fan of the Omaha Royals.

“I’m a huge Omaha Royals fan,” Poeschl said. “Here’s an interesting fact for you – I actually went to grade school, and to middle school, high school, college with Alex Gordon. We’re friends from way back. But I’m a big Omaha Royals fan. I think it’s great for the community.

“I previously worked for the AHL team – the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights hockey team that was here in town. Things didn’t work out so well. So it’s great to see an actual professional sport that’s been able to stay here in Omaha for so long and have so much success. Hopefully that will continue on at the new stadium.”

Poeschl says being Miss Nebraska USA 2006 was the most amazing year of her life. She loved participating in community events, meeting a lot of people and working with kids. She recalled being part of the process of making one girl’s dream come true.

“Here in Omaha, I volunteered with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and modeled in a few different charity fashions shows,” Poeschl said. “It’s one thing to model in a charity fashion show, but it’s another thing to actually meet the kids who this is impacting.

“One of the girls wanted to be a model, so she wanted to be in the show and she wanted to meet Tyra Banks. So, we were able to make that wish come true for her.”

Local actor reenacts Lou Gehrig's speech at Rosenblatt

Actor Kevin Ehrhart portrayed Lou Gehrig

After reenacting Lou Gehrig’s famous “luckiest man” speech at Rosenblatt Stadium last night for the ALS Association, actor Kevin Ehrhart – who was donating his time for the event – exited the field behind home plate and walked up the steps to the main concourse. Fans high-fived him as he went and one woman stopped him with tears in her eyes to thank him.

His work with kids at the Rose Theater was his motivating factor for donating his time to give the speech.

“I’ve been an actor with the Rose Theater for 22 years and I just worked with kids, you know, I’ve spent my entire career doing that,” Ehrhart said. “And just knowing what ALS does – I’m just happy to do a little part to help out the association.

The full text of Gehrig’s speech exists, but only four lines exist on video, so reenacting mannerisms of the speech can be a challenge.

“The only footage they have is just a little of the beginning and a little of the end, so I got a little bit of that from him,” Ehrhart said. “I just made up the rest. All the emotion is kind of clear right in the text of the speech.

“Because of the fans who adore Lou Gehrig, I wanted to do it justice and make sure I did it right. Hopefully, everyone feels good about it. But it’s fun to do. It’s exciting.”

You can watch Ehrhart’s reenactment of the entire speech here: