Jack McKeon Quotes (134 Quotes)

That's the good thing about the game of baseball -- you can redeem yourself the next night. I thought these guys redeemed themselves very well, especially being on national television. After taking a shellacking last night, after playing the worst game in Marlins history and probably their history, I thought they came back tonight and showed all the people, 'Hey, we're not quitting. We're not giving up.' We may get beat, but we're not giving up.

He'll say someone helped him. Baloney. He did it. ... It's special for the whole club. He has worked so hard the last three years to get to this point. Rookie of the Year. All-Star. He could conceivably get 23 or 24 wins.

I don't care about his slides, as long as he's ready to go the next time out. He loves the game. He plays the game the way it's supposed to be played. There's a lot of kid in him. You can't take that away from him.

I've seen Cookie Rojas pull it a couple of times, and Mike a couple of times, those are the only ones I know of in the big leagues.

I hit him seventh because he's a pretty good hitter. He's got more RBIs than the two guys behind him. He's got more at-bats and more hits than either one of them have in their whole career. It was not a tough choice.

Whoever wants to give another chance to an old guy of 75, I'll be glad to listen, ... I'm not 75, though, I tell you. I may be 50 now, and I probably was 45 when I got here, but I'm ready to go.

He's given us fits for three years. Of all of them Cubs starters, he's the toughest on us.

He's got good enough stuff to win in any league. He's got to throw it over the plate.

All you can say is, 'Hey, it's one of those years where nothing's clicking.' If you're going to win, you can't have too many days of not clicking.

They all did a fabulous job, really. Mota has pitched well the last two or three times out of the bullpen. This is what we wanted to see on a consistent basis, and he's given it three out of four times.

I think over the last part of the year he wasn't as sharp he may have been tired. Most of the time he has pretty good control. He has shown that he can be a good fifth starter.

Dontrelle came through again. I don't get tired of saying it. He keeps them in line and we always score a lot for him. Last time, we got him two and he couldn't hold it.

I had only won eight games then.

I want to get Conine in the lineup, and I'd like to get Hermida some playing time. We have to figure out a way to get some offense. I talked to Mike about it.

They all did a fabulous job. Mota bailed himself out of a tough ... situation. This is what we wanted to see from him on a consistent basis.

He did a good job. It's too bad we don't have more games where we could give him a few more opportunities, but he did his job tonight. We were very proud of the way he performed out there and stayed within himself. I think he's got a good future here.

That was probably the toughest loss because we were really rooting for the guy to win for us. To fall early in the game really took the starch out of everything. I don't think there is a guy on the club who wasn't pulling for him tonight. Maybe they tried too hard.

He certainly has enough ability to be one of the top pitchers in the league, but you also have to be focused.

He gives us a pretty good outing every time he goes out there. He's an 18-game winner. He's going to be a 20-game winner, there's no doubt in my mind. He just makes the hitters hit the ball and doesn't mess around too much.

I never worked for a better owner in baseball. I've worked for a few -- Charlie Finley, Ted Turner, Ray Kroc, Ewing Kaufman, Marge Schott. Jeffrey has been the best owner I've ever worked for. He let you do your job. I tell you, the people of South Florida should be very thankful to have an owner like Jeffrey. He has such a tremendous desire to win. He has said that so many times. He's one owner who has talked the talk and walked the walk. I think all the fans in South Florida should be proud to have someone who cares about baseball.

It's a good omen that he can pick up a win when he doesn't have his really good stuff. He'll get his 20. You can put money on that.

When you give up too many bases on balls, it's going to hurt you, and he didn't have his best stuff tonight.

It's a big-league stadium. Give us big-league lights. Everybody in the top deck had their cigarette lighters out.

I've been thinking over the last couple of months how blessed I have been to be in this game over 50-plus years, and to have a family that supported me. I promised them last year that this would be my last year. I'm honoring that request.

It's something he's had off and on the last two or so starts, ... We told him to give us six good innings.

It's tough when you have a well-pitched game and play like 'The Bad News Bears' for an one inning.

He probably is going to have to work on covering second base. He's a gamer. He's a competitor. You almost expect him to go out and have a game like this every time. It's a surprise if it doesn't happen.

When you get a well-pitched game, it's tough to just give it away and play like the Bad News Bears in that one inning,

I feel great, and I'm not tired of what I'm doing. I'm not going to solicit anything. If someone calls, like Jeffrey did, I'll listen.

He's the one guy that scares you, especially in that situation where they could have tied the game both times, could have won it the last time. We have a lot of respect for Derrek. That's why we go to our best at the end.

It's tough. It shouldn't be like that, but it is. You're getting in these 2-1 games and you never have anyone to pop one out and give a two- or three-run cushion. Every game it's magnified because one mistake by the bullpen and you're out of the game.

He's the type of pitcher that can't afford to make too many mistakes, but he's been very good in limiting any mistakes.

Willis gives a pretty good outing every time he's out there. He's steady. He's going to be a 20-game winner, there is no doubt in my mind. He just makes the hitters hit the ball. He doesn't mess around too much. He does other things. He drove in the winni

I feel 45, ... Doing this keeps me young. Some people say, 'What about the pressure' I love the pressure. I love the camaraderie with the coaches, players and the media.

I'd say they're letter-perfect. I could hang out at the barbecue stand if I knew they were going to do that every night.

I just think the guy is a pretty good hitter. You throw a left-handed hitter in the middle of the lineup... one good thing is he puts it in play.

You've got to have some luck. This thing is going to go down to the last week of the season.

He came through again. No, don't get tired of saying that. I'd like to say it tomorrow night, too, if I could. We always score a lot of runs for him. We got him two the last time, too, but couldn't hold it.

You got to pitch and stay ahead of the guys. He got hurt.

What can you say No doubt in my mind, the MVP of this league. I'm so proud of him because he is such a class individual. He goes about his work in a business-like manner. There's no fanfare with him. He's steady Eddie all the time.

He's one of the best pitchers we've seen all year and it was one of the best-pitched games we've seen all year, ... Give the guy credit, he did a hell of a job.

We still want to beat him, but we understand he pitched under tough circumstances. He certainly was the same old Roger Clemens, the Hall of Famer.

The guy said, 'This your medicine kit' I said, 'Yeah.' About five days later, he sends me a check for 100, and says, 'Go get yourself a decent medicine kit.'

There's probably no doubt in my mind he's the MVP of the league. There's no fanfare with him.

My family -- they live and die every game. When we lose a game, I don't even want to call them at home, because it is so depressing. They are down, they're beat up. If any of you guys write something they don't like, it beats them up. I don't want them to go through that any more.

It's a nice honor, ... but what the hell That just goes to show I've been around a while and I've had good players who helped me get there.

This game, funny things happen. Somebody gets injured, somebody gets cold with the bat, and somebody jumps in and takes advantage of the opportunity. You know, like Cabrera did, Willis did, Vargas did.

I saw him last night in a restaurant. We chatted. I told him how proud I was of him. You go through what we did in 2003 with guys like Lee and Ivan Rodriguez and them guys -- you really appreciate the gamers. They were two of them.

Too many bases on balls are going to hurt you. He wasn't on his game.

Beckett rose to the occasion. Dontrelle rose to the occasion. Now we've got to get A.J. to rise and Vargas to rise, and we'll be in pretty good shape.