Trader Jack” is back at spring training and couldn’t be happier.

WEST PALM BEACH Jaime Garcia Jersey , Fla. (AP) — “ Back in baseball, where he belongs, after a season away.Now a special adviser to the Washington Nationals‘ general manager, Jack McKeon feels refreshed after a bit of a break from the place that’s been his world for most of his 88 years. He managed more than 1,000 wins in the majors, another 1,000-plus in the minors and was a GM, too.“This is in your blood. It’s your love. When I used to manage the Marlins, I’d get up at 7, go to church at 8:30, then turn around and go right to the ballpark. People said: How come you went to the ballpark alone at 9 o’clock, 9:30? I’d say that it was like my living room. My home,” McKeon said during an interview at the Nationals’ spring training facility. “I’d go out and jog. Read the papers. Smoke a few cigars and wait ’til the game started.”Those Padron cigars are still around, but only to gnaw on; he stopped lighting them up more than a half-dozen years ago after double-bypass heart surgery.“When I see people, first thing they ask is, ‘Can I get a picture? Where’s your cigar?’ So I always keep one on hand,” said McKeon, whose son, Kasey http://www.bluejaysfanproshop.com/authentic-curtis-granderson-jersey , is Washington’s director of player procurement. “I cut ’em in half, chew ’em. Just stick ’em in, like a prop.”So much else is the same as it ever was when it comes to the manager of the 2003 World Series champion Florida Marlins — today, they’re the Miami Marlins — along with the Kansas City Royals, Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres and Cincinnati Reds.His nickname — earned because, as he says, “I kept wheelin’ and dealin’, and so it stuck” while running the Padres in the 1980s — is so ingrained that the license plate on one of his cars reads “Trader J.” Friends call him “Trader Jack,” and he signs text messages simply with “Trader.”Also unchanged: His knowledge of the game. His sense of humor. And, of course, his penchant for telling stories.Oh, those stories.Get McKeon started, and he’ll regale you for 10, 20, 30 minutes, each tale leading to another, a wink and a smile punctuating his promise of, “I’ll tell ya one more.”There are common threads. Every character is truly a character Freddy Galvis Jersey , depicted in detail — how tall or slender, how voices sounded, how smart (or not). There’s usually an element of self-deprecation. There’s always a punchline.On this particular morning, as birds chirped around in the breeze, McKeon got on a roll. He recalled setting up an electronic “wire” that allowed for direct communication with his pitcher in the early 1960s at Triple-A Vancouver, predating by a half-century the watches Major League Baseball tested this spring to evade sign-stealing. Or the time he wanted rope tied around a player’s feet when he reached first base so the guy wouldn’t take off when he shouldn’t. Or when he went to a pawn shop and bought a $3.95 gun that shot blanks to scare a runner ignoring “Stop!” signs at third base.“You try to absorb as much as you can,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “He’s definitely a teacher. And I try to be a student.”Washington GM Mike Rizzo wanted McKeon for precisely that purpose: passing along what he knows.“He’s a mentor to me. He’s a person that you can bounce things off of. I can. Davey can,” Rizzo said. “He checks just about every box that you need as an experienced baseball person.”McKeon was available because he was among four Marlins executives — along with Andre Dawson, Tony Perez and Jeff Conine — let go after a group led by Derek Jeter bought that team in 2017.That scuttled a plan to let McKeon run Miami for one game in September 2018 so he could break Connie Mack’s record for oldest manager in the majors.“I’m not worried about it. I’m not politicking. It would have been nice. I just didn’t want it to seem like a PR thing,” McKeon said. “If it ever happens, fine. If it doesn’t, so be it.”McKeon will be based in Washington during the season, which begins Thursday, and will travel to help minor league managers and coaches and evaluate prospects.In sum, Rizzo vowed to keep McKeon busy.Trader Jack is just fine with that after his brief respite, even if it afforded him time to go to the beach or Las Vegas or spend time with a family that includes 10 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.“I got a chance to see what the other side lives like. As the season wore on, especially near the end, it got boring hanging around. I needed to go back to work,” McKeon said Randal Grichuk Jersey , then added with a chuckle: “Plus, my wife kept saying, ‘Why don’t you go? Go. Go. Go.'” TORONTO (AP) — Tampa Bay’s stirring September run took a sudden sour turn in Toronto.Justin Smoak homered with two outs in the ninth inning to give the Blue Jays a 9-8 victory over the Rays on Thursday night, dealing a blow to Tampa Bay’s wild-card playoff hopes.“This one definitely puts us in a very difficult position,” Rays infielder Matt Duffy said. “We’re going to bounce back, we’re going to do what we can. Mathematically we’re still in it so we’re going to keep going until this thing is over.”The Rays entered having won five straight and a major league-high 14 games in September, a surge that had brought them within 5 1-2 games of Oakland in the race for the AL’s second wild card.“Especially when the team is rolling like this, it’s tough to let these guys down,” Rays right-hander Jamie Schultz said after allowing four runs in the ninth.Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash was playing down his team’s postseason chances after a dispiriting defeat that saw his team concede three home runs in a seven-run bottom of the ninth.“In reality, we’re much farther than people are wanting to recognize,” Cash said. “We need a lot of things to go in our favor. Losses like this don’t help.”Smoak won it with his team-leading 25th homer of the season and third career walk-off blast. Sergio Romo (3-4) blew his eighth save in 30 opportunities.“Romo, he’s got a good slider,” Smoak said. “I was just trying to get a pitch up and out over the plate. I felt like all night I was kinda pulling off everything so I just tried to stay on it. I was able to put a good swing on it finally.”Right-hander David Paulino (1-0) pitched an inning for the victory as Toronto won for the fourth time in its past five.Trailing 8-2 to begin the ninth, the Blue Jays roared back. Rowdy Tellez hit an RBI double and Danny Jansen chased Schultz with a three-run homer. Romo came on and struck out Richard Urena, but pinch hitter Kendrys Morales reached on a bloop single and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. tied it with a two-run homer to left.Smoak followed with a first pitch drive to right, Toronto’s fourth homer of the game. It marked the eighth time this season the Blue Jays have hit back-to-back home runs.“Anytime you’re up 8-2 and find a way to lose the game, that’s tough,” Cash said.C.J. Cron had three RBI for the Rays, who dropped 6 1/2 games behind Oakland. The Athletics routed the Los Angeles Angels 21-3 on Thursday.Oakland has nine games remaining while the Rays have 10 Jose Bautista Jersey , including six more with Toronto. Tampa Bay is 9-4 against the Blue Jays this season.“I think this game tonight is definitely more of an outlier than anything,” Duffy said. “Unfortunately, the timing of it is not great.”Tellez opened the scoring with a two-run homer off Rays right-hander Ryne Stanek in the second, his second. The Rays answered against right-hander Sam Gaviglio in the fourth, when Pham hit an RBI triple and Wendle followed with a double.Adames hit for Brandon Lowe with one out and runners at first and second in the sixth. Right-hander Jake Petricka replaced lefty Jose Fernandez (0-1), but Adames put the Rays in front with a ground ball single up the middle, his first career pinch-hit RBI. Kevin Kiermaier walked to load the bases but Tim Mayza came on and struck out pinch hitters Cron and Carlos Gomez.Stanek made his 27th start as the Rays used an “opener” for the 50th time this season. Yonny Chirinos (5-5) replaced Stanek after the first three batters reached safely in the second and pitched 4 2-3 innings.Tampa Bay looked to have broken it open with a five-run, 10-batter seventh. Cron had the big hit, a two-out, bases-loaded bloop single that dropped in front of sliding left fielder Billy McKinney, allowing Kiermaier to score from first.EXTRA, EXTRA!Tellez has 10 extra base hits in his first 40 plate appearances. According to STATS, that ties Taylor Teagarden (2008) for the most since 1913.STAYING GROUNDEDGaviglio retired the first six batters in order on ground balls, four of them comebackers to the mound.SWIPE RIGHTThe Rays set a season-high with four stolen bases.TRAINER’S ROOMRays: Tampa Bay recalled OF Austin Meadows, LHP Hoby Milner, RHP Austin Pruitt and RHP Chih-Wei Hu from Triple-A Durham. The Rays have 35 players on the roster.UP NEXTRays RHP Diego Castillo will start Friday against Blue Jays RHP Sean Reid-Foley (2-3, 5.54). Castillo Reid-Foley has struck out 10 in two of his past three starts, including a Sept. 15 victory at Yankee Stadium.