By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

It was a rare and unsettling sight. Jack McKeon was sitting behind a desk in a manager's office, but he wasn't smoking a cigar.

McKeon's Florida Marlins had just beaten the Reds 6-2 Sunday to complete a three-game sweep. If he ever had a reason to celebrate, this was it.

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Sunday's game

Winning three in a row with a young club that arrived in town Friday toting a six-game losing streak would be satisfying enough, but to do it against the team that let him go in 2000 after he posted a 291-259 record in three-plus seasons as manager made it all the more gratifying.

So did the reaction he received from Reds' fans.

"They were yelling at me, 'Come back. We miss you. We need you,' " McKeon said.

The vehicle for McKeon's revenge on Sunday was a 21-year-old left-hander named Dontrelle Willis, who entered the game with a 1-1 record, and a 7.07 earned run average.

Willis worked eight innings and didn't allow a run.

The Marlins are now 4-7 since McKeon took over May 12 in San Diego, 3-0 against the team that let him go.

He remains the antithesis of Bob Boone, the man who replaced him as the Reds' manager. The 72-year-old McKeon views baseball as a simple game.

He was criticized Saturday by ESPN's Rob Dibble, who said McKeon is too old-school, doesn't talk with the Marlins' players, and merely sits in his office smoking cigars.

McKeon chose to laugh off Dibble's remarks.

"My father once told me it's better to be thought a fool than to open up your mouth and remove the doubt. He's got to say something on TV so he thinks he's important," McKeon.

And with that, McKeon finally lit that cigar.

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E-mail bkoch@enquirer.com