Kelly's Killers were a Major League baseball team that played in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

during the 1891 baseball season. The team played in the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

, which was a major league from 1882 to 1891.

The team nickname

By contemporary newspaper accounts, the club was mainly referred to as the Cincinnati Reds, the same name as their cross-town rivals in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

. This in addition to variants on the informal name "Kelly's Killers". It is the latter name, however, by which they are more broadly known today.

A tale of three leagues

The Cincinnati Kelly's Killers were a response by the American Association to fill the void that the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

had left when the club vacated the league after the 1889 season and again before the 1891 season. The Reds played in the

for the 1890 season but were losing money and facing bankruptcy. Reds' ownership sold the club to

Players' League The Players' National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs, popularly known as the Players' League (PL), was a short-lived but star-studded professional American baseball league of the 19th century. The PL was formed by the Brotherhood of Prof ...

investor Albert Johnson. Johnson then withdrew his newly acquired Reds club and moved them to the Players' League for the 1891 season. After the Players' League collapsed, Johnson committed the Reds to the American Association. Meanwhile, the National League placed a new franchise in Cincinnati which was owned by

John T. Brush John Tomlinson Brush (June 15, 1845 – November 26, 1912) was an American sports executive who is primarily remembered as the principal owner of the New York Giants franchise in Major League Baseball from late in the 1902 season until his death ...

. However, for reasons that are still unknown, Johnson decided to sell his Reds club back to the National League before the start of the season. The National League simply let Brush take control over the Reds as if they never left the league in the first place.

Kelly's "Killers"

The Association was crushed when the Reds left the league for a second time. The league placed a new franchise in the Queen City to fill the void left by the Reds' departure. The new Association club was owned by Chris von der Ahe, who also owned the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

. His new Cincinnati club would be captained by Mike "King" Kelly, whose major league career began in Cincinnati with the original National League

Reds Reds may refer to: General * Red (political adjective), supporters of Communism or socialism * Reds (January Uprising), a faction of the Polish insurrectionists during the January Uprising in 1863 * USSR (or, to a lesser extent, China) during th ...

club of the 1870s.

The Ballyard

The new Association club was in need of a ballpark. Vacant lots within the city were few and far between so ownership decided to build a ballpark in a picturesque location along the Ohio River that was known as Pendleton Park, or Pendleton Grounds. The club secured a lease and built a small ballpark within Pendleton Park, which was dubbed

East End Park East End Park, currently named KDM Group East End Park for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium situated in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland with a seating capacity of . The stadium plays host to the home matches of Scottish Championship sid ...

by the media. The location of the park was off Eastern Avenue (now called Riverside Drive), where the Schmidt Recreation Complex is currently located. Many fans reached games by steamboat, coming either from the city or from Coney Island. East End Park was one of only a handful of major league parks to have access by way of a river.

The Season

The club got off to a terrible start and many of Mike Kelly's Killers were taken with the flu. Delays in the construction of the ballpark also left the club on the road for most of April. By the time Cincinnati played their first home game (April 25), Mike Kelly's men were 5-9. As the season progressed, Mike Kelly and his killers found themselves in jail frequently as a result of attempting to play baseball on Sundays. At the time, the National League did not allow Sunday baseball games to be played. As a result, the rival Association capitalized on this by having their teams play Sunday games. The problem for Cincinnati was that the city had the blue law in place which also disallowed Sunday games. Owners of the club made repeated attempts at playing games on Sundays. Sometimes the Mayor of Cincinnati, Mayor John B. Mosby, would enforce the law and other times he would not. When the Mayor did enforce the law, the Killers and the players from the opposing team found themselves in jail. As the season wore on the club lagged in the standings and were never true contenders. By August the club was 21 games out of first place and losing money.

The demise

The inconvenient location of the club's ballpark, poor play on the field and the fact that they were competing for spectators with the Reds hurt the Kelly's Killers' attendance. By mid-August, it was decided by league leaders and club ownership to suspend the franchise for the remainder of the 1891 season and reactivate the club for the 1892 season in a brand new ballpark on the west side of town. With 34 games remaining on their schedule, the Milwaukee Brewers, of the Western League, stepped in and played out the Kel's remaining games. According to the ''Chicago Tribune'', it was feared that the September meeting at the Latonia racetrack would hurt attendance. Frank Dwyer, Willie Mains, Farmer Vaughn and Jim Canavan all signed on to play for the Milwaukee club. Kelly returned to play for the Boston Reds for four games before jumping back to the National League's Boston Beaneaters. Unfortunately the 1891 season would be the Association's final year. The circuit merged with the National League, transferring St. Louis, Louisville, Washington and Baltimore to the senior circuit while paying the other teams to disband.

Year-by-year records

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King Kelly Michael Joseph "King" Kelly (December 31, 1857 – November 8, 1894), also commonly known as "$10,000 Kelly", was an American outfielder, catcher, and manager in various professional American baseball leagues including the National League, Inter ...

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Baseball Hall of Famers

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External links

Cincinnati Porkers roster at Baseball Almanac

References

*Dewey, Donald & Acocella, Nicholas (1996). ''Ball Clubs''. HarperCollins Publishers. . {{American Association (1882–1891) American Association (1882–1891) baseball teams Baseball in Cincinnati Defunct baseball teams in Ohio Baseball teams disestablished in 1891 Baseball teams established in 1891