Kelly, "King" (Michael J.)
Baseball
b. Dec. 31, 1857, Troy, NY
d. Nov. 8, 1894
The most colorful and most popular player of the 1880s, Kelly played for Cincinnati in 1878 and 1879, when he hit .348, then went to Chicago, where the fans began calling him "King" because of his dandyish off-the-field apparel, featuring a London silk hat, jeweled ascot, and patent leather shoes.
Primarily an outfielder, Kelly was a versatile player who handled every position, including pitcher, at one time or another. He spent most of the 1879 season at third base, was a shortstop for most of 1882, and in his later years was usually a catcher.
Though not particularly fast, he was a good base stealer because he invented the hook slide, which often allowed him to avoid a fielder's tag, and he may also have been the first to use the head-first slide. The chant of Chicago fans, "Slide, Kelly, slide" when he got on base was adopted by Boston fans when he played for the Beaneaters and it later became the title of a popular song.
Kelly led the league in doubles with 27 in 1881 and 37 in 1882, and he was the batting champion in 1884 with a .354 average and in 1886 with a .388 average. He also led in runs scored three years in a row, with 120 in 1884, 124 in 1885, and 155 in 1886.
After he demanded more money before the 1887 season, he was sold to Boston for an unprecedented $10,000. National League owners that year established a salary limit of $2,000. When Kelly refused to accept that amount, the Beaneaters offered him another $3,000, supposedly for the use of his photograph in advertising.
Boston fans loved the "$10,000 Beauty" even more than Chicago fans had. After he hit .322 and stole 84 bases in his first season there, they gave him a house and a carriage, drawn by two white horses, in which he could ride to the park.
After hitting .318 in 1888 and .294 in 1889, when he led the league with 41 doubles, Kelly became playing manager of the Boston team in the new Players' League. The league lasted just one season. In 1891, he went to Cincinnati in the American Association, then a major league. The Cincinnati franchise didn't last the season and Kelly returned to Boston with the American Association team there. After just 4 games, though, he jumped back to the Beaneaters.
A heavy drinker, Kelly was rapidly losing his baseball skills. He batted only .189 in 78 games in 1892. The following season, he went to the New York NL team and was ordered to take a turkish bath before every game to remove the alcohol from his system. He was suspended early in the season for passing up too many of his turkish baths.
Kelly was still popular in Boston and he was offered a chance to appear on stage there. While taking the boat from New York, he caught a severe cold and he died a few days later of pneumonia. As his body lay in state at the Elks Hall, 5,000 loyal fans turned out to pay him a final tribute.