“King” Kelly, Boston Beaneaters, 1887
The Library of Congress is releasing a new publication about baseball, and so, they’ve put a collection of their ye olde baseball images up on Flickr. There are some fantastic shots (one of which, being this image of Babe Ruth knocked out on the ground), but my favorite has to be the one above: Michael “King” Kelly of the Boston Beaneaters. I’ve recently been rewatching my Ken Burns’ Baseball set, and the section on Kelly, baseball’s first superstar, is always a favorite.
Some “King” Kelly fun facts:
- Kelly, a hard drinker, was known to carouse bars until the wee hours of the evening. While playing in Chicago, the team tried to curb his behavior, and hired a detective to follow him. The detective reported back to the team that he had seen Kelly drinking lemonade at 3 a.m. When confronted, Kelly angrily replied: “It was straight whiskey! I never drank lemonade in my life!”
-One summer day, Kelly is playing right field. It’s wicked hot, and so he brings a mug of beer out with him. As he takes a few sips during a lull in the game, his pitcher heaves a fastball down the middle of the plate — the batter hits a shot to right. Not missing a step, Kelly, mug in hand, runs to make a one handed catch. (And, according to legend, he didn’t spill a drop of beer.)
- When Kelly was traded to Boston, he held out for the promised $5,000 salary (he was being stiffed, since the league’s cap was $2,000 per player). The Boston owners offered him three extra grand for the rights to use his name and image. With that, Kelly had the game’s first licensing agreement.
- In Boston, Kelly’s off-the-field antics became even more extreme. He opened a saloon with some drinking buddies. “He was rarely seen without his pet monkey on his shoulder and his Japanese valet at his side.”
- He was constantly finding ways to subvert the rules. While serving as a player/manager for Boston in the short-lived Player’s League, Kelly saw a foul ball heading for the bench (where he sat). Realizing that none of his fielders would catch it, Kelly made a substitution (rules back then allowed for a sub at any time), leaping off the bench and yelling “KELLY NOW CATCHING FOR BOSTON” — and caught the ball for the third out.
- He was a prolific base stealer, getting over 50 steals each year (possibly more, as stolen base numbers were not accurately recorded back then). He was the first player to perfect the take-out slide at second — thought of dirty back then, now accepted practice. He also invented the “hook slide” (called a “Kelly Slide” for many years), widely used, even today.
- Back then, most games only had one umpire. Kelly would watch the umpire and wait until the umpire’s back was turned. Kelly would then run across the diamond, skipping second or third. He would occasionally be caught and reprimanded, but the fans loved it.
- He once faked an injury after sliding into third base after a double by his teammate, Ned Williamson. When Ned came over to check on him, Kelly whispered a plan into Williamson’s ear. On the next pitch, Kelly and Williamson started a double steal — of third and home. The opposing catcher stood at the plate, waiting to tag Kelly out, but Kelly stopped in his tracks — just out of the catcher’s reach. As the catcher moved off the plate, attempting to tag Kelly out, Williamson slid under Kelly’s legs, and onto home — scoring the winning run. Due to this event, the rules were changed, and players are now called out for passing the runner in front of them.
- King Kelly was playing right field in an extra-inning game where darkness was fast approaching. He made an amazing snag of a line drive over his head, and the game was eventually called on account of darkness. When Kelly’s teammates congratulated him on the catch and asked him how far he thought the ball had traveled, Kelly said: “How should I know? That ball was three feet over my head.” He had pulled a spare ball out of his uniform and faked the catch.
- Kelly caught pneumonia after taking a boat from New York to Boston. He was rushed to the hospital, where the staff loaded him onto a stretcher and accidentally dropped him onto the floor. Kelly exclaimed: “That was my last slide.” He died, after spending his last few hours, reminiscing with his teammates, at age 36.
