Marlins tab 2 former KC Royals for new team Hall of Fame

Jack McKeon and Jeff Conine are familiar figures to long-time baseball fans, but only those who've followed the Kansas City Royals for decades may instantly recognize them as former members of the city's second major league franchise. Neither was a Royal for long, but both made significant contributions to other big league clubs, especially the Florida (now Miami) Marlins — McKeon as a two-time manager, Conine as a valuable outfielder, and both as World Series champions.

Now, the two ex-Royals are joining Luis Castillo and Jim Leyland as the first members of the Marlins' brand new Legends Hall of Fame.

What, though, did McKeon and Conine do when they were Royals, and after that?

Jack McKeon had a short but eventful run as KC Royals manager

McKeon's major league managerial career began well in 1973. The fourth manager in club history, the rookie big league skipper led the Royals to their then-best record, an 88-74 mark good enough for second place in the AL West West but,
because only division champions qualified for the playoffs, not enough for a postseason berth.

McKeon also became Hall of Famer George Brett's first manager that season when the club promoted minor leaguer Brett, who played his final games 20 years later, to the majors in August.

Unfortunately, that was the extent of McKeon's Kansas City glory. The Royals slumped to 77-85 and a next-to-last AL West finish in 1974. Then, with the club occupying second in the West with a 50-46 record but apparently suffering from trouble in the clubhouse in late July, McKeon found himself abruptly fired and replaced by Whitey Herzog.

But McKeon bounced back, managing the A's, San Diego Padres, and Cincinnati Reds before taking over the Marlins in 2003. And it was with them that he achieved his greatest managerial success by leading Florida to its second World Series title in his first year at the helm. He retired after the 2005 campaign, but the Marlins coaxed him back at age 80 when Edwin Rodríguez resigned during the 2011 campaign. Only Connie Mack (88) managed a major league team at an older age.

McKeon finished 1,051-990 as a major league manager, including 215-205 with the Royals.

He also made a name — and a nickname — for himself as general manager of the Padres. Trading and trading for a plethora of stars and prominent players including Ozzie Smith, Rollie Fingers, Joe Carter, Graig Nettles, Mark Davis, Ozzie Guillen, LaMarr Hoyt, Storm Davis, Rich Gossage, John Kruk, and Jack Clark, caused baseball observes to peg McKeon as "Trader Jack".

Jeff Conine didn't make much noise with the Royals

Unlike McKeon's short tenure as Kansas City's manager, Conine's was uneventful. Chosen by the club in the 58th round of the 1987 amateur draft, Conine toiled in the minors for most of three seasons before the Royals called him up late in 1990. He collected his first big league hit — a single off Minnesota's Larry Casian — in his second game before finishing the season 5-for-20.

An injury helped keep Conine in the minors for the 1991 season, but he made it back to the Royals for 28 games in 1992 and in 99 PA, he slashed .253/.313/.352. Kansas City lost him to the Marlins in that winter's major league expansion draft.

He was a Marlin for the next five seasons. In 718 games, he made the NL All-Star team twice and compiled an impressive 98-homer, 422-RBI, .291/.360/.467 record, including the 17 home runs he slammed and 61 runs he drove in to help fuel the club to its first World Series championship in 1997. Then it was back to Kansas City when the Royals traded Blaine Mull to the Marlins to get him after the '97 season ended.

Conine played 98 times for KC in 1998 and slashed .256/.312/.417 in an injury-shortened season. The Royals traded him to the Baltimore Orioles for Chris Fussell just before the 1999 season began; he stayed with the O's before an August trade took him back to Florida, where he helped the Marlins and McKeon win their second World Series, a six-game triumph over the New York Yankees. Although he hit only .231 down the regular season stretch, he batted .333 with a .417 OBP against the Yanks.

Free agency took Conine back to Baltimore for the 2006 season, but the Orioles traded him to the Philadelphia Phillies in August. The Phils shipped him to Cincinnati after the season, and the Reds dealt him to the New York Mets before the 2007 campaign ended. The 21 games he played for the Mets were the last of his career.

Conine finished his 17 big league seasons with 214 homers, 1,071 RBI, and a .285/.347/.443 line. He joins the Marlins' Hall of Fame with 120 home runs, 553 RBI, and a .290/.358/.455 line as a member of the franchise.