John Joseph Keane (November 3, 1911 - January 6, 1967) was an American baseball player and manager. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, and known as a patient manager of young players, Keane participated in one of the strangest turns of events in baseball history in 1964, his final season at the helm of the St. Louis Cardinals. November 3 is the 307th day of the year (308th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 58 days remaining. ... 1911 was a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... January 6 is the 6th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1967 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Baseball is popular in the Americas and East Asia. ... In baseball, the head coach of a team is called the manager; this individual controls matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. ... The Gateway Arch, shown here behind the Old Courthouse, is the most recognizable part of the St. ... See also: 1963 in sports, other events of 1964, 1965 in sports and the list of years in sports. Auto Racing Stock car racing: Richard Petty won the Daytona 500 NASCAR Championship - Richard Petty Indianapolis 500 - A.J. Foyt USAC Racing - A.J. Foyt won the season championship Formula One... * World Champion notes: St. ...

In mid-August of that year, with the team seemingly out of the race, owner August "Gussie" Busch became convinced that only a thorough housecleaning of Cardinal management would bring him the pennant he had craved since he bought the Redbirds in 1953. He fired (or accepted the resignations of) almost every senior St. Louis front office executive. Keane was temporarily spared, but Busch was rumored to be secretly negotiating with Leo Durocher (then a coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers) to become manager at the close of the 1964 season. August Anheuser Busch Jr. ... Leo Ernest Durocher (July 27, 1905 - October 7, 1991), nicknamed Leo the Lip, was an American infielder and manager in Major League Baseball. ... Brooklyn Dodgers redirects here. ...

However, in September 1964, the front-running Philadelphia Phillies - who seemed a lock for the pennant - began to unravel. The Phillies lost ten straight games in late September, creating a madcap, four-team scramble - involving the Phils, Cards, Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants - for the National League title. On the final day of the season, St. Louis prevailed to win its first NL pennant since 1946. The Cardinals then defeated the New York Yankees in a seven-game World Series. * Division notes: In 1981, the Phillies finished with the best record in the Eastern Division prior to stoppage of play in the middle of the season due to the players strike, which forced the season to be split into two halves. ... The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. ... The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California. ... This article refers to the American baseball league. ... The New York Yankees are a Major League baseball team based in The Bronx, New York City. ... The 1964 World Series, the 56th playing for the championship of Major League Baseball, pitted the National League champion St. ...

The confetti had hardly been swept off the streets after St. Louis' victory parade when the Cards called a press conference. Most expected that it would formally announce a contract extension for Keane. However, the manager handed owner Busch and new general manager Bob Howsam a surprise letter of resignation that he had written late in September, at the height of the pennant chase. The general manager in the sense contemplated in this article is the executive of a professional sports team responsible primarily for acquiring the rights to player personnel, negotiation of their contracts and reassignment or dismissal of players no longer desired on the team. ... Robert L. Howsam (born 1918, Denver, Colorado) is a former executive in American professional sport who, in 1959, played a key role in establishing two leagues – the American Football League, which succeeded and merged with the National Football League, and baseballs Continental League, which never played a game but...

Keane thus walked away from the only team he had ever served in his 35-year baseball career. A shortstop, he never played Major League Baseball. He suffered a head injury after being hit by a pitch, and spent his entire active career in the Cardinals' labyrinthine farm system. In 1938 he began his managing career in that system, working his way from Class D (the lowest rung on the ladder) to Class AAA, where he spent over a decade as manager of top St. Louis farm clubs. Keane finally reached the major leagues in 1959, when he was appointed to the Cardinal coaching staff. He replaced Solly Hemus as Redbird manager on July 6, 1961. In his 3 1/2 seasons as Cardinal pilot, he compiled a record of 317-249 (.560). His successor was not Durocher but longtime St. Louis fan favorite Red Schoendienst. The position of the shortstop A shortstop moves to his left, toward the center of the field, to play a ground ball Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. ... MLB logo Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in professional baseball in the world. ... The farm system is a slang term in American Major League Baseball. ... Solomon Joseph Hemus (born April 17, 1923, in Phoenix, Arizona) is a retired infielder, manager and coach in American Major League Baseball. ... Albert Fred Red Schoendienst (born February 2, 1923) is an American former player and manager in Major League Baseball. ...

But his resignation was only half the story. A few days later, Keane became the surprise new manager of the Yankees, who had dumped Yogi Berra after losing the Fall Classic. It was not a good match. The Yankees, coming off five straight American League pennants and 15 league championships in 18 years, were a veteran team of stars who were aging, breaking down, and resistant to the leadership of an outsider like Keane. The 1965 Yankees fell to sixth place, and when the 1966 version won only four of its first 20 games, Keane was replaced by Ralph Houk, the team's charismatic general manager. (The Yankees barely responded to Houk, finishing in last place.) Keane's 81-101 (.445) record with New York gave him a career managerial mark of 398-350 (.532) over six seasons. Yogi Berra on his 80th birthday Lawrence Peter Yogi Berra (born May 12, 1925) is a former catcher and manager in Major League Baseball who played almost his entire career for the New York Yankees. ... The American League (or formally the American League of Professional Baseball Clubs) is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States of America and Canada. ... Ralph George Houk (born August 9, 1919 in Lawrence, Kansas), known as The Major, is a retired player, coach, manager, and front office executive in American Major League Baseball. ...

In December 1966, Keane accepted a scouting role with the California Angels. But, a month later, he suffered a fatal heart attack at age 55. He died in Houston, where he had made his home since his days as player and (later) manager for the Cardinals' longtime Texas League farm team, the Houston Buffaloes. For the Pacific Coast League franchise see: Los Angeles Angels (PCL). ... A myocardial infarction occurs when an atherosclerotic plaque slowly builds up in the inner lining of a coronary artery and then suddenly ruptures, totally occluding the artery and preventing blood flow downstream. ... Houston redirects here. ... The Texas League is a minor league baseball league which operates in the South Central United States. ...

Keane's role in mentoring young Cardinal players, especially star pitcher Bob Gibson, is retold in the David Halberstam book October 1964. A baseball pitcher delivers the ball to home plate In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws the baseball from the pitchers mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter who attempts to either make contact with it or draw a... Bob Gibson (born November 9, 1935) was a right_handed pitcher for the St. ... David Halberstam (born April 10, 1934), American journalist and author, was born in New York City. ...