death_date death_place birth_place image_size position birth_date image article_title name
05 march 2015 riley , kansas great bend , kansas 300px baseball scout 10 may 1940 john r. keennan.jpg john r. keennan
 john r. keenan
john r. keennan

john robert keennan -lrb- may 10 , 1940 -- march 5 , 2015 -rrb- was an american baseball scout who worked from 1962 through 1998 for the los angeles dodgers organization .
born in great bend , kansas , keenan was a longtime dodgers scout .
he was originally hired as a part-time scout in 1962 by scouting director al campanis , became a full-time scout the next year , then by 1986 was the dodgers midwest scouting supervisor and national crosschecker , before retiring in 1998 .
keenan was instrumental in the signing of future hall of fame pitcher don sutton and infielders davey lopes , bill russell and mickey hatcher , all of them members of world series champion dodgers teams .
in addition , keenan signed pitcher rick sutcliffe , a national league rookie of the year winner and later a national league cy young award winner with the chicago cubs , as well as outfielder mitch webster , among many others .
webster , who as a scout in 2008 , represented the dodgers when keenan was inducted into the greater midwest professional baseball scouts association hall of fame .
previously , keenan gained induction in the kansas baseball hall of fame in 1988 .
besides , keenan was a member of prince of peace parish at st. patrick catholic church , where he was an usher for many years , knights of columbus council # 862 life member , b. p. o. elks lodge # 1127 , kansas baseball hall of fame , greater midwest scout association , professional baseball scouts association , and past president of the cougar booster club .
keenan died in 2015 in riley , kansas , at the age of 74 .
