William Joseph Kelly (May 1, 1886 – June 3, 1940) was an American
professional baseball
Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world.
Modern professional ...
player. He played in parts of four seasons in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
for the
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...
and
Pittsburgh Pirates from through . He also managed the minor league
Port Huron Saints
The Port Huron Saints was the final moniker of the minor league baseball teams based in Port Huron, Michigan between 1883 and 1926.
Port Huron minor league teams played as members of the Michigan State League in 1890, 1895 and 1897, the Intern ...
in 1922. Kelly was born in
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
and died of lung cancer in
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
,
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
at the age of 54.
In a brief 4 year, 104 game major league career, Kelly compiled a .290
batting average
Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic.
Cricket
In cricket, a player's batting average is ...
with 32
runs, 1
home run
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...
and 21
RBI.
External links
Major League Baseball catchers
St. Louis Cardinals players
Pittsburgh Pirates players
Minor league baseball managers
Baseball players from Baltimore
1886 births
1940 deaths
Sioux City Soos players
Evansville River Rats players
Springfield Babes (baseball) players
Fort Wayne Billikens players
Dayton Veterans players
Cedar Rapids Rabbits players
St. Paul Saints (AA) players
Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players
Freeport Pretzels players
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