Marlins hire familiar face

New Florida Marlins interim manager Jack McKeon sat listening as team president David Samson offered a spirited defense of the decision to give the job to an octogenarian.

Samson said the 80-year-old McKeon works harder than many people half his age and seems even sharper mentally than in 2003, when he led the Marlins to an improbable World Series championship.

The new, old skipper drew some laughs at his re-introductory news conference Monday, but the hiring was no joke. Nearly six years after McKeon retired as the Marlins’ manager, he returned to his former job on an interim basis and will lead the team for the rest of the season.

He becomes the second-oldest manager in major league history. Connie Mack managed the Philadelphia Athletics in a suit, tie and straw hat until 1950, when he was 87.

The cigar-chomping McKeon succeeds manager Edwin Rodriguez, who resigned before Sunday’s loss at Tampa Bay.

Selig rejects Dodgers’ TV deal with Fox

Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig rejected a proposed television contract between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Fox Sports, invalidating a divorce settlement between Frank and Jamie McCourt and all but challenging Frank McCourt to surrender the team or sue.

Selig rejected the contract on the first business day after the McCourts announced a settlement contingent upon approval of that contract.

Selig did not strip Frank McCourt of ownership of the Dodgers. However, McCourt has said for months that approval of the Fox contract was critical for the Dodgers’ financial health.

Selig was said to be aghast over a provision in the divorce settlement that would divert almost half the immediate payment from that television contract for the benefit of the McCourts rather than for the benefit of the Dodgers.

Biggest weekend crowds since 2008

Major League Baseball has drawn its biggest weekend crowds in three years, boosted by sellouts at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, Boston’s Fenway Park and Oakland’s Coliseum.

Nearly 1.65 million fans saw games Friday, Saturday and Sunday. That made for the top attendance during a regular, 45-game weekend since Sept. 26-28, 2008.