Joseph James Kelley (December 9, 1871 – August 14, 1943) was an American left fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who starred in the outfield of the Baltimore Orioles teams of the 1890s. Making up the nucleus of the Orioles along with John McGraw, Willie Keeler, and Hughie Jennings, Kelley received the nickname "Kingpin of the Orioles".
In his MLB career, Kelley played in the National League (NL) for the Boston Beaneaters (1891), Pittsburgh Pirates (1892), Baltimore Orioles (1892–1898), and Brooklyn Superbas (1899–1901), before he jumped to the upstart American League to play for the Baltimore Orioles (1902). He returned to the NL with Cincinnati Reds (1902–1906) and Boston Doves (1908). Kelley served as player-manager of the Reds (1902–1905) and Doves (1908). After extending his career in the minor leagues, he coached the Brooklyn Robins (1926), and scouted for the New York Yankees (1915–1916).
Kelley was regarded as an excellent batter, a good base runner, and a great leader. Over his seventeen-season MLB career, Kelley had a .317 batting average, and batted over .300 in eleven consecutive seasons. Kelley stole a career-high 87 bases in the 1896 season, which led MLB. He finished in the league's top ten in categories such as batting average, home runs, runs batted in (RBI), and stolen bases numerous times. He served as team captain of the Orioles and the Superbas. In recognition of his career achievements, Kelley was elected a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1971.
Joseph James Kelley was born on December 9, 1871, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Patrick Kelly and Ann Kelly (née Carney) in Cambridge, Massachusetts on December 9, 1871. Kelley's parents emigrated to the United States from Ireland, and he had five siblings. According to the 1880 United States census, Patrick worked as a marble cutter.
As a child, Kelley was educated at a parochial grammar school and St. Thomas Aquinas College in Cambridge, where he starred for the school's baseball team as a pitcher. He worked for a local piano manufacturer and the John P. Lowell Arms Company. He practiced with the Harvard Crimson, the college baseball team of Harvard University, and played semi-professional baseball for the Lowell Arms Company.
Kelley made his professional debut with the Lowell Indians of the New England League (NEL) in 1891, at age 19. During games he did not pitch, Lowell's manager put him in the lineup as an infielder. Kelley had a 10–3 win–loss record and a NEL-leading .323 batting average with Lowell.
Lowell folded in July. Three days later, Kelley signed with the Boston Beaneaters of the National League (NL). Kelley made his major league debut in August 1891 with the Beaneaters. After batting .244 in twelve games played, the Beaneaters released Kelley after the season. Kelley began the 1892 season with the Omaha Omahogs of the Class–A Western League, turning down a $1,200 salary ($43,000 in current dollar terms) from the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League. With Omaha, Kelley batted .316 with 19 stolen bases in 58 games.
The Pittsburgh Pirates of the NL purchased Kelley's contract from Omaha for $500 ($17,917 in current dollar terms) on July 2, 1892.
Baltimore Orioles (NL) (1892–1898)
Ned Hanlon, new manager of the Baltimore Orioles, traded George Van Haltren to the Pirates for Kelley and $2,000 ($71,667 in current dollar terms) in September 1892. Hanlon had succeeded Van Haltren as Orioles' manager during the season; remaining with the Orioles as a player, Van Haltren openly criticized Hanlon. Hanlon mentioned that he "had [his] eye on Kelley for a long time."
Hanlon taught Kelley how to play center field. During the 1893 season, Kelley batted .305, with 120 runs scored, and stole 33 bases. He finished ninth in the NL with a .476 slugging percentage (SLG), and tied Eddie Burke for ninth in home runs with 9. The Orioles won the NL pennant in 1894, 1895, and 1896. Kelley moved to left field in 1894 with the acquisition of Steve Brodie, who played center. That year, he batted .393 with 111 runs batted in (RBI), 199 hits, and 165 runs scored, tying teammate Willie Keeler for second in runs and finishing sixth in batting average and eighth in hits. Combined with 107 walks, which were tied for second most in the NL with Cupid Childs and behind only Billy Hamilton, Kelley posted a .502 on-base percentage (OBP), finishing second in the NL to Hamilton, and hit 48 doubles, good for second in the NL, behind only Hugh Duffy. His .602 SLG was the fourth best in the NL.
These Orioles teams, led by John McGraw, were known to break the rules in order to win, including tampering with their bats and the playing field. Kelley hid baseballs in the outfield, using the closest hidden ball instead of finding the ball batted into the outfield. Kelley hit ten home runs in 1895, a then-franchise record, tying him for fifth in the NL with five other players. He also tied Brodie for second with 134 RBI, finished fourth with 54 stolen bases, fifth with a .546 SLG, and sixth with a .456 OBP. In 1896, Kelley finished seventh in the NL in batting average (.364), fourth in runs scored (148), fourth in SLG (.543), fifth in OBP (.469), ninth in hits (189), and tied Gene DeMontreville for eighth in home runs (8).
In 1897, Kelley agreed to serve as the coach of the Georgetown Hoyas, the college baseball team of Georgetown University. That year, he finished fifth in the NL in batting average (.362) and RBI (118), seventh in OBP (.447), and eighth in SLG (.489).
By 1898, Kelley earned an annual salary of $2,500 ($96,750 in current dollar terms), plus a $200 ($7,740 in current dollar terms) bonus for serving as team captain. He finished third in the league with 110 RBI and ninth with a .438 SLG. Due to insolvency, the Brooklyn Superbas purchased the Orioles after the 1898 season and transferred Kelley, Hanlon, Keeler, Joe McGinnity, and Hughie Jennings to Brooklyn. Wanting an opportunity to manage, and to remain near Baltimore, Kelley requested a transfer to the Washington Senators, but Washington did not have enough talent to send to Brooklyn to make a trade.
With McGraw remaining in Baltimore, Hanlon named Kelley team captain. The Superbas won the NL pennant in 1899 and 1900, as Kelley finished tenth in RBI (93), OBP (.410), and tied several players for tenth in home runs (6) in 1899 and led the team with a .319 batting average in 1900, while finishing fourth in the league in SLG (.485), tying Hickman for seventh in RBI (91), and tying Jimmy Collins and Buck Freeman for tenth in home runs (6).
Kelley moved back to the infield, becoming the regular first baseman in 1901.
After the 1901 season, Kelley denied reports that he would jump from the Superbas to the Detroit Tigers of the American League (AL), the former Western League which had decided to compete with the NL by creating franchises in east coast cities that housed NL franchises. However, the opportunity to return to Baltimore proved irresistible to Kelley, and after the AL's successful 1901 season, he jumped from the Superbas to the Baltimore Orioles AL. Kelley's father-in-law, John Mahon, was president and principal share holder of the AL's Orioles.
Kelley was named Orioles' captain and received some stock in the team. McGraw, player-manager of the Orioles, resigned from the team to take over as manager of the New York Giants on July 7, 1902. In his absence, Kelley and Wilbert Robinson took over in the interim. Under indefinite suspension by Ban Johnson by July 1902 for fighting with umpires, Kelley entertained the idea of leaving the Orioles with McGraw, who was becoming frustrated with Johnson, and had begun negotiating to join the New York Giants of the NL. With the team in financial straits, Kelley sold his shares of the Orioles to Mahon, who had purchased McGraw's shares when he left for New York, becoming principal shareholder of the Orioles. Mahon then sold controlling interest in the Orioles to Andrew Freedman, principal owner of the Giants, and John T. Brush, principal owner of the Cincinnati Reds, on July 17. On the day they owned the franchise, they released the best players on the Orioles from their contracts so that they could be signed by National League teams: Kelley and Cy Seymour signed with the Reds, while McGinnity, Roger Bresnahan, Dan McGann, and Jack Cronin signed with the Giants. Johnson, along with Orioles minority owners, took control of the Orioles franchise, which had to forfeit their game that day as they did not have enough players. Kelley stated that the Orioles owed $12,000 ($446,538 in current dollar terms), and that selling his shares was the only way Mahon could pay the team's debts.