(Updated Oct. 20, 2018)
Gussie Busch broke Johnny Keane’s cardinal rule and Keane couldn’t forgive him.
On Oct. 16, 1964, just 19 hours after the Cardinals won the World Series championship, Keane resigned as manager, stunning Busch, the club owner, who had expected to sign Keane to a contract extension that day.
Loyalty was sacrosanct to Keane. He had been loyal to the Cardinals, serving the franchise for 35 years. When Busch became disloyal to him, Keane’s personal code of conduct required he take action: He quit.
Surprising news
In the celebration that immediately followed the Cardinals’ World Series Game 7 victory over the Yankees on Oct. 15, Busch announced he would hold a news conference at the Anheuser-Busch brewery the next morning. Busch intended to present Keane with a three-year contract extension for $50,000 per year.
When Keane arrived at the brewery, he handed Busch a resignation letter 30 minutes before the news conference. Busch, in a hurry to begin the event, gave the letter to an assistant without reading it, according to the book “October 1964.” The assistant read the letter and insisted the owner do the same.
Flanked by Keane and general manager Bob Howsam, Busch, visibly shaken, announced Keane’s resignation to the surprised gathering, who were expecting a contract signing.
“This really has shocked me,” Busch said. “I didn’t know a thing about it until I saw Johnny this morning. All I can say is that I’m damned sorry to lose Johnny.”
Said Keane: “I told Mr. Busch not to make any offer. I handed him my resignation and said my decision was firm _ that I didn’t want to embarrass him _ but that no offer would be acceptable.”
In his book “Uppity,” Cardinals first baseman Bill White said, “I wasn’t there, but I was told Busch and Howsam looked as if Johnny had just kicked them in the teeth _ which, in effect, he had.”
The resignation letter was dated Sept. 28 _ the day after the Cardinals had completed a five-game sweep of the Pirates, with six games remaining in the regular season.
The decision had been made 10 days before then.
Higher calling
Keane, a St. Louis native, briefly studied for the priesthood at St. Louis Prepatory Seminary. At 18, he signed a Cardinals contract and was assigned to the minor leagues.
“I’ve been asked about that often,” Keane told The Sporting News. “Did I give up the priesthood for baseball? The answer is no. I knew after consultation with the priests at the seminary that the life was not for me.”
Keane was a baseball lifer. More specifically, a Cardinals lifer, or so it seemed.
He was an infielder in the St. Louis organization from 1930 until becoming a Cardinals minor league player-manager in 1938. He spent 21 seasons as a manager in the St. Louis farm system and had winning records in 17 of those years.
In 1959, Keane made it to the major leagues for the first time as a coach on the staff of Cardinals manager Solly Hemus. Keane replaced Hemus as St. Louis manager in July 1961.
Matter of principle
In August 1964, Busch, thinking the fifth-place Cardinals were out of contention, fired general manager Bing Devine and business manager Art Routzong. Both were friends of Keane.
Though Keane remained manager, published reports indicated Busch planned to replace Keane after the season with Dodgers coach and former Cardinals shortstop Leo Durocher. In his book “Nice Guys Finish Last,” Durocher said he and Busch met in St. Louis at the end of August and Busch told him he would become Cardinals manager after the season.
Keane felt betrayed.
In early September 1964, Yankees general manager Ralph Houk and club president Dan Topping decided to fire manager Yogi Berra but wanted to wait until after the season to tell him. Their top two candidates to replace Berra were Keane and Giants manager Al Dark. Houk and Topping sought and received permission from Busch and Giants owner Horace Stoneham to talk with Keane and Dark and had a “trusted emissary” conduct “a number of conversations with both in the ensuing weeks,” the Associated Press later reported.
Keane later told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he hadn’t been in contact with Yankees officials before his resignation, but “other people, not the Yankees management, told me the Yankees were interested in me” as early as Sept. 22.
On Sept. 18, with the Cardinals 6.5 games behind the first-place Phillies, Keane and his wife privately agreed Keane would resign after the Cardinals’ final game, regardless of his job status.
On Sept. 25, Houk and Topping decided they’d hire Keane, according to the Associated Press. Three days later, on Sept. 28, Keane wrote and dated his resignation letter and put it aside.
Hold that letter
The Cardinals won four of their final six games, including a sweep of the Phillies, and clinched the pennant on the last day of the regular season.
The late-season surge prompted Busch to change course and he frantically tried to get Keane to accept a contract extension to remain Cardinals manager. On Oct. 2, with three games left in the regular season, Busch met Keane in the clubhouse and offered “a new contract at a substantial pay increase,” but Keane said he preferred to wait until after the World Series to discuss a contract offer, the Post-Dispatch reported.
On Oct. 4, after the Cardinals clinched the pennant that day with a win against the Mets, Busch approached Keane at the team party and offered him “whatever you want,” but Keane again said he wouldn’t talk terms until after the World Series, according to the Post-Dispatch.
In the World Series, the Cardinals won four of seven against the Yankees, clinching their first title in 18 years.
At the news conference the next day, Keane told reporters a series of “little things” led to his resignation. Pressed for details, Keane admitted Devine’s firing and Busch’s open flirtation with Durocher were factors that caused him to depart.
Devine and Keane became friends in 1949 when Devine was general manager of the Cardinals’ minor league club at Rochester and Keane was the manager.
In his book “The Memoirs of Bing Devine,” Devine said, “As a person, Keane impressed me as Stan Musial did … I’m talking about basic traits as a person.
“I didn’t think he needed to _ or should have _ quit the Cardinals because of me. But Johnny Keane was a loyal guy _ and that’s how he felt.”
Most Cardinals players said Keane’s resignation surprised them, but pitcher Roger Craig told United Press International he had predicted Keane’s decision in August when it became known Busch wanted Durocher as manager. “Knowing the pride he has,” Craig said of Keane, “I knew this would happen.”
In his book “Stranger to the Game,” pitcher Bob Gibson said, “My anger toward the ballclub _ and it was tangible _ stemmed largely from the needless nature of Keane’s departure … I stayed mad through the winter.”
Hours after Keane’s resignation became public, the Yankees fired Berra. Three days later, on Oct. 19, Houk met with Keane to discuss the job and the next day, Oct. 20, 1964, Keane was hired to replace Berra.
[…] Information: Excerpts edited from article on Johnny Keane, https://retrosimba.com/2014/10/15/johnny-keane-to-gussie-busch-take-this-job-and-shove-it/ […]
[…] Information: Information: Excerpts edited from Johnny Keene Wikipedia page, including the quote about Johnny Keene’s career. And from article about Johnny Keene on Retro Simba […]