John O. "Kick" Kelly (October 31, 1856 – March 27, 1926), also nicknamed "Honest John" and "Diamond John,"
was an American
catcher
Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...
,
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities o ...
and
umpire
An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection.
The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...
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), ...
who went on to become a
boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...
referee
A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...
and to run gambling houses in his native New York City. He made a notable impact on the development of umpiring, helping to pioneer the use of multiple umpires in games in the 1880s. By the time he initially retired in , he held the record for most games umpired in the major leagues (587); he returned to work the last two months of the season.
Playing career
Kelly played just one season 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 ...
in , split between two teams, the
Syracuse Stars, for which he played in ten
games
A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...
, eight of them at catcher, and then another six games with the
Troy Trojans
The Troy Trojans are the sports teams of Troy University. They began playing in the NCAA's Division I-A in 2001, became a football only member of the Sun Belt Conference in 2004, and joined that conference for all other sports in 2005. Troy Univer ...
. He played in 16 total games, had a .155
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 ...
, and scored five
runs.
Umpiring career
After his playing days were over, Kelly became an umpire, working games in both the National League and 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 ...
. He began in the NL in , working 51 games, but then jumped to the American Association from to . He returned to the NL in 1888.
The early years of the major leagues were particularly hard on umpires, with hostile crowds and vicious arguments, in addition to the difficulty of constantly working games single-handedly. Few officials lasted more than two or three seasons, and by the end of the campaign Kelly had passed
Billy McLean's total of 317 major league games as an umpire.
Among the highlights of his officiating career was he called two
no-hitter
In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...
s. The first game came on September 20, when he called balls and strikes for
Chicago White Stockings star pitcher
Larry Corcoran
Lawrence J. Corcoran (August 10, 1859 – October 14, 1891) was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball. He was born in Brooklyn, New York.
Corcoran debuted in the 1880 season, where he won 43 games and led the Chicago team to the National ...
, who tossed the second of his three career no-hitters, and on September 18, when future
Hall of Famer
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...
Cy Young
Denton True "Cy" Young (March 29, 1867 – November 4, 1955) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher. Born in Gilmore, Ohio, he worked on his family's farm as a youth before starting his professional baseball career. Young entered th ...
threw the first of his three career no-hitters.
Kelly's record of 587 career games as an umpire was broken by
Bob Ferguson in . He finished his umpiring career in 1897, after eight seasons and 626 games. At one point in his career, he departed to enjoy a short run as manager of the
Louisville Colonels
The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that also played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as ...
in and 1888.
Following the 1887 season, Kelly and NL official
John Gaffney
John H. Gaffney (June 29, 1855 – August 8, 1913), nicknamed the "King of Umpires" and "Honest John" was an American umpire (baseball), umpire and manager (baseball), manager in Major League Baseball. He was baseball's first great umpire, and p ...
officiated the 15-game
World's Championship Series between the NL champion
Detroit Wolverines
The Detroit Wolverines were a 19th-century Major League Baseball team that played in the National League from 1881 to 1888 in the city of Detroit, Michigan. In total, they won 426 games and lost 437, taking their lone pennant (and winning the pre ...
and the AA champion
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 ...
. They devised a new system whereby one umpire would call balls and strikes behind the plate, while the other would make calls on the basepaths. The system was regarded as a great improvement over the 1886 attempt at the use of multiple umpires, in which two umpires were stationed behind the plate, with a third official – stationed behind the pitcher – who was allowed to intervene only to settle disagreements between the other two. In 1946, Kelly was one of 11 umpires named by the
Baseball Hall of Fame
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...
to the
Honor Rolls of Baseball
The Honor Rolls of Baseball were established in 1946 by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum's Permanent Committee to establish as a second level of induction designed to recognize non-playing contributors.James, p. 46 The committee de ...
.
Managerial career
Kick Kelly began his managerial career in 1887 when he took over the field duties for the Colonels. He managed the entire season, and the team compiled a 76–60 record, which was good for fourth place in the American Association.
He then began the 1888 season as their manager, but the team started with a record of 10–29,
and owner/general manager
Mordecai Davidson fired Kelly and put himself at the helm in an attempt to stop the losing streak of which his team was in the middle. He and
John Kerins
John Nelson Kerins (July 15, 1858 – September 8, 1919), sometimes known as Jack Kerins, was an American Major League Baseball player who appeared mainly at first base but also at catcher and in the outfield. He played for the Indianapolis Hoosi ...
did not help that much, as the team finished in seventh place.
Boxing career
Kelly became a championship boxing referee, officiating
Jim Corbett
Edward James Corbett (25 July 1875 – 19 April 1955) was a British hunter, tracker, naturalist, and author who hunted a number of man-eating tigers and leopards in the Indian subcontinent.
He held the rank of colonel in the British Indian ...
's only successful defense of his heavyweight title against
Charley Mitchell on January 25, 1894, in
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...
. In the second round, after Mitchell had begun the fight with constant slurs directed at Corbett, the champion landed a blow to Mitchell's head after he had been knocked to the mat. Mitchell's corner called for a foul, but the presence of numerous spectators brandishing guns and eager to defend their bets led Kelly to dismiss the complaint; he later confided that he had been lucky to leave Jacksonville alive. He also called the heavyweight fight between Corbett and
Tom Sharkey
Thomas "Sailor Tom" Sharkey (November 26, 1873 – April 17, 1953) was a boxer who fought two fights with heavyweight champion James J. Jeffries. Sharkey's recorded ring career spanned from 1893 to 1904. He is credited with having won 40 fig ...
on November 22, 1898, in New York, which ended in controversy when one of Corbett's cornermen jumped into the ring in the ninth round. Kelly announced that although Corbett had lost the fight on the foul, all bets were off.
On July 3, 1899, in
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...
, Kelly refereed the bout in which
Frank Erne won a 20-round decision to take the world lightweight title from
Kid Lavigne
George Henry "Kid" Lavigne (December 6, 1869 – March 9, 1928) was boxing's first widely recognized World Lightweight champion, winning the vacant title on June 1, 1896.
Early life
He was born in Bay City, Michigan to French-Canadian pare ...
.
Kelly died in
Malba, Queens
Whitestone is a residential neighborhood in the northernmost part of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood proper is located between the East River to the north; College Point and Whitestone Expressway to the west; Flushing and ...
, at the age of 69, and is interred at the
Calvary Cemetery in
Woodside, New York
Woodside is a residential and commercial neighborhood in the western portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. It is bordered on the south by Maspeth, on the north by Astoria, on the west by Sunnyside, and on the east by Elmhurst, J ...
.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, John O.
1856 births
1926 deaths
Louisville Colonels managers
Major League Baseball catchers
19th-century baseball players
19th-century baseball umpires
Syracuse Stars (NL) players
Troy Trojans players
American boxing referees
Baseball players from New York City
Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Queens)
Major League Baseball umpires