Thomas Henry Kelley (January 5, 1944 – September 25, 2015) was an American

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

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 played for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

and the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

in parts of seven seasons spanning 1964–1973. Listed at 6' 0" , 185 lb. , Kelley batted and threw right-handed. He was born in

Manchester, Connecticut Manchester is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the town had a total population of 59,713. The urban center of the town is the Manchester (CDP), Connecticut, Manchester census- ...

Playing career

Kelley was signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent in 1963. He posted a 9–9 record and a 3.17

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

with Double-A Charleston Indians the following year, earning a late-season callup to the majors, where he made six

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

appearances. In 1965, Kelley compiled an outstanding 16–3 record with a 2.38 ERA in 26 starts for the Triple-A

Portland Beavers The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL. Franchise history Many baseball teams ...

of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, including a no-hitter against the

Spokane Indians The Spokane Indians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Spokane Valley, the city immediately east of Spokane, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest. The Indians are members of the High-A Northwest League (NWL) as an affiliate of the Color ...

on May 29. He then returned to the parent Indians and went 2–1 with a 2.40 ERA in four late-season starts appearances. Kelley spent the entire 1966 season with Cleveland, but could only manage a 4–8 record with a 4.34 ERA in 31 games, including seven starts. After that, he underwent shoulder surgery and languished in the Minor Leagues during three years before reviving his career with the Atlanta Braves in 1971. In that season, Kelley made 28 pitching appearances for the Braves, including 20 starts, posting a 9–5 record with a solid 2.96 ERA and five complete games, as part of pitching rotation that included

Phil Niekro Philip Henry Niekro ( ; April 1, 1939 – December 26, 2020), nicknamed "Knucksie", was an American baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball, 20 of them with the Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves. Niekro's 318 career victor ...

, Ron Reed, George Stone and Pat Jarvis, witnessing legendary teammate

Hank Aaron Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021), nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1954 through 1976. One of the gre ...

while hitting his 600th career home run in late April. He then spent four years in Triple-A with the Braves and

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

organizations before retiring in 1976. In a seven-year career, Kelley went 20–22 with a 3.75 ERA in 104 pitching appearances, including 45 starts, 16 complete games and one shutout,

striking out ''Striking Out'' is an Irish television legal drama series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017. Produced by Bl!nder F!lms for RTÉ Television, ''Striking Out'' stars Amy Huberman as Dublin-based solicitor Tara Rafferty, who is ...

234 batters while

walking Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an ' inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ...

207 in 408 innings of work. He also went 20–22 with a 3.75 ERA in 104 minor league games.

Post-baseball career

Following his baseball career, Kelley worked for

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for 15 years, retiring as a center manager. In 1987, he gained induction into the Manchester Sports Hall of Fame.

Personal life and death

Kelley was a long time resident of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where he died in 2015 at the age of 71.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelley, Tom 1944 births 2015 deaths Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from Connecticut Charleston Indians players Cleveland Indians players Dubuque Packers players Major League Baseball pitchers Pawtucket Indians players Sportspeople from Manchester, Connecticut People from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Portland Beavers players Richmond Braves players Shreveport Braves players Statesville/Monroe Indians players Tidewater Tides players Waterbury Indians players