"I was out in Sacramento last year (giving a speech). The guy who ran the event called me two weeks ago. He had a youngster at the banquet that heard me talk about Saint Therese and the power of prayer. This kid didn't make the team and was down in the dumps and they wanted me to talk to him about the power of prayer, and I told him, 'don't give up, the good Lord has plans for you.'"
That's not a surprising gesture or piece of advice considering that McKeon, when asked what advice he has for today's student-athletes, says, "Pray. Put your trust in the Lord and ask him to help you become the best you can become, knowing that there's going to be pitfalls, there's going to be roadblocks along the way. But you've got to be persistent in practicing your faith. The good Lord gave each one of us a special talent and, in my case, athletics, but in other cases, music, business, and so on. And He expects us to take the maximum benefits from Him but put the faith and trust in Him that he'll steer us to go in the right direction. Sometimes a door closes but another opens, but you have to treat Him fairly and follow His commandments."
This devotion didn't come just from winning a World Series or having his managing prayers after losing the Reds job. The foundation had been laid in his childhood.
"I grew up in a Catholic household. My mother and father preached going to church on a daily basis and practice our faith and put our faith in the Lord and go to daily Mass. And, I grew up in a Catholic school, so I had an advantage of getting encouragement not only from a Catholic family. And I even went on to Holy Cross and Seton Hall for college. Getting to appreciate going to Mass on a daily basis is something that I carried on."
And when he says he carried it on, he means right into the heart of his years as a Major League Baseball manager, when there are the demands of a 162-game schedule that includes plenty of travel.
"It was no problem. I've been in the game a long time. I can probably tell you all the churches in the major leagues, where they are, their Mass times. It's not a big deal. It's a great inspiration to go to church early in the morning and then to the ballpark with a clean head and knowing that the good Lord is with you and helping you make the right decisions, and it's uplifting."