King Kelly Stats

King Kelly was born on Thursday, December 31, 1857, in Troy, New York. Kelly was 20 years old when he broke into the big leagues on May 1, 1878, with the Cincinnati Reds. His biographical data, year-by-year hitting stats, fielding stats, pitching stats (where applicable), career totals, uniform numbers, salary data and miscellaneous items-of-interest are presented by Baseball Almanac on this comprehensive King Kelly baseball stats page.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"His strongest playing point was that he was always ready. He could take advantage of a misplay which others wouldn't see until afterward. He played the umpire as intelligently as he did the opposing nine. He would make a friend of him, engage his confidence, and in various ways get the best of close decisions." - Teammate Fred Pfeffer

King Kelly



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Birth Name:   Michael Joseph Kelly
Nickname:   Honest Joe or King
Born On:   12-31-1857  (Capricorn)
Place of Birth Data Born In:   Troy, New York
Year of Death Data Died On:   11-08-1894 (1,000 Oldest Living)
Place of Death Data Died In:   Boston, Massachusetts
Cemetery:   Mount Hope Cemetery, Mattapan, Massachusetts Click For Grave Photo
High School:   Undetermined
College:   None Attended
Batting Stances Chart Bats:   Right   Throwing Arms Chart Throws:   Right
Player Height Chart Height:   5-10   Player Weight Chart Weight:   170
First Game:   05-01-1878 (Age 20)
Last Game:   09-02-1893
Draft:   Not Applicable

King Kelly

King Kelly Pitching Stats

1880 23 White Stockings 1 0 1 0 0 .000 0.00 0 0 0 3.0 13 3 0 2 0 1 - 1 0 0 0 -
1883 26 White Stockings 1 0 1 0 0 .000 0.00 0 0 0 1.0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -
1884 27 White Stockings 2 0 0 0 1 .000 8.44 0 0 0 5.1 32 12 5 11 2 2 - 1 2 0 0 -
1887 30 Beaneaters 3 0 3 1 0 1.000 3.46 0 0 0 13.0 71 17 5 16 1 14 - 0 5 0 0 -
1890 33 Red Stockings 1 0 1 1 0 1.000 4.50 0 0 0 2.0 0 1 1 1 0 2 - 2 0 0 0 -
1891 34 Kelly's Killers 3 0 2 0 1 .000 5.28 0 0 0 15.1 0 21 9 15 2 7 - 0 0 0 0 -
1892 35 Beaneaters 1 0 1 0 0 .000 1.50 0 0 0 6.0 0 8 1 4 0 4 - 0 0 0 0 -
7 Years 12 0 9 2 2 .500 4.14 0 0 0 45.2 119 63 21 49 5 30 0 4 7 0 0 -

King Kelly

King Kelly Hitting Stats

1878 21 Reds 60 237 29 67 7 1 0 0 27 7 - 7 - - 0 - .283 .303 .321
1879 22 Reds 77 345 78 120 20 12 2 0 47 8 - 14 - - 0 - .348 .363 .493
1880 23 White Stockings 84 344 72 100 17 9 1 0 60 12 - 22 - - 0 - .291 .315 .401
1881 24 White Stockings 82 353 84 114 27 3 2 0 55 16 - 14 - - 0 - .323 .352 .433
1882 25 White Stockings 84 377 81 115 37 4 1 0 55 10 - 27 - - 0 - .305 .323 .432
1883 26 White Stockings 98 428 92 109 28 10 3 0 61 16 - 35 - - 0 - .255 .282 .388
1884 27 White Stockings 108 452 120 160 28 5 13 1 95 46 - 24 - - 0 - .354 .414 .524
1885 28 White Stockings 107 438 124 126 24 7 9 0 75 46 - 24 - - 0 - .288 .355 .436
1886 29 White Stockings 118 451 155 175 32 11 4 0 79 83 - 33 - - 0 - .388 .483 .534
1887 30 Beaneaters 116 429 120 101 34 11 8 0 63 55 - 40 - - 1 - .235 .324 .294
1888 31 Beaneaters 107 440 85 140 22 11 9 0 71 31 - 39 - - 4 - .318 .368 .480
1889 32 Beaneaters 125 507 120 149 41 5 9 0 78 65 - 40 - - 2 - .294 .376 .448
1890 33 Red Stockings 89 340 83 111 18 6 4 0 66 52 - 22 - - 2 - .326 .419 .450
1891 34 Beaneaters 16 52 7 12 1 0 0 0 5 6 - 10 - - 1 - .231 .322 .250
1891 34 Kelly's Killers 82 283 56 84 15 7 1 0 53 51 - 28 - - 2 - .297 .408 .410
1891 34 Reds 4 15 2 4 0 0 1 0 4 0 0 2 - - 0 - .267 .267 .467
1892 35 Beaneaters 78 281 40 53 7 0 2 0 41 39 - 32 - - 0 - .189 .288 .235
1893 36 Giants 20 67 9 18 1 0 0 0 15 6 - 5 - - 0 - .269 .329 .284
16 Years 1,455 5,839 1,357 1,758 359 102 69 1 950 549 0 418 - - 12 - .301 .362 .433

King Kelly

King Kelly Fielding Stats

1878 Reds 3B 2 - - 2 1.0 2 0 2 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 0.00
1878 Reds C 17 - - 158 9.3 138 99 39 20 3 14 - - .873 0.00
1878 Reds RF 47 - - 98 2.1 75 51 24 23 2 n/a n/a n/a .765 0.00
1879 Reds 2B 1 - - 3 3.0 2 0 2 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .667 0.00
1879 Reds 3B 33 - - 149 4.5 124 36 88 25 3 n/a n/a n/a .832 0.00
1879 Reds C 21 - - 130 6.2 118 82 36 12 1 37 - - .908 0.00
1879 Reds OF 29 - - 79 2.7 59 46 13 20 0 n/a n/a n/a .747 0.00
1880 White Stockings 2B 1 - - 1 1.0 1 0 1 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 0.00
1880 White Stockings 3B 14 - - 49 3.5 42 22 20 7 0 n/a n/a n/a .857 0.00
1880 White Stockings C 17 - - 67 3.9 55 40 15 12 2 23 - - .821 0.00
1880 White Stockings P 1 0 9 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1880 White Stockings RF 64 - - 104 1.6 81 49 32 23 1 n/a n/a n/a .779 0.00
1880 White Stockings SS 1 - - 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1881 White Stockings 3B 8 - - 21 2.6 20 8 12 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .952 0.00
1881 White Stockings C 11 - - 47 4.3 37 28 9 10 1 9 - - .787 0.00
1881 White Stockings RF 72 - - 138 1.9 116 85 31 22 2 n/a n/a n/a .841 0.00
1882 White Stockings 1B 1 - - 7 7.0 5 3 2 2 0 n/a n/a n/a .714 0.00
1882 White Stockings 3B 3 - - 8 2.7 7 1 6 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .875 0.00
1882 White Stockings C 12 - - 20 1.7 16 13 3 4 0 4 - - .800 0.00
1882 White Stockings RF 38 - - 80 2.1 71 50 21 9 3 n/a n/a n/a .888 0.00
1882 White Stockings SS 42 - - 226 5.4 183 66 117 43 9 n/a n/a n/a .810 0.00
1883 White Stockings 2B 3 - - 25 8.3 17 6 11 8 0 n/a n/a n/a .680 0.00
1883 White Stockings 3B 2 - - 9 4.5 7 3 4 2 0 n/a n/a n/a .778 0.00
1883 White Stockings C 38 - - 131 3.4 110 73 37 21 2 28 - - .840 0.00
1883 White Stockings P 1 0 3 1 1.0 1 0 1 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 9.00
1883 White Stockings RF 82 - - 171 2.1 139 101 38 32 5 n/a n/a n/a .813 0.00
1884 White Stockings 1B 2 - - 12 6.0 10 8 2 2 1 n/a n/a n/a .833 0.00
1884 White Stockings 2B 1 - - 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1884 White Stockings 3B 10 - - 36 3.6 28 12 16 8 2 n/a n/a n/a .778 0.00
1884 White Stockings C 28 - - 192 6.9 160 105 55 32 3 32 - - .833 0.00
1884 White Stockings P 2 0 16 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1884 White Stockings RF 63 - - 126 2.0 100 69 31 26 1 n/a n/a n/a .794 0.00
1884 White Stockings SS 12 - - 62 5.2 44 7 37 18 3 n/a n/a n/a .710 0.00
1885 White Stockings 1B 2 - - 13 6.5 10 9 1 3 0 n/a n/a n/a .769 0.00
1885 White Stockings 2B 6 - - 25 4.2 22 7 15 3 1 n/a n/a n/a .880 0.00
1885 White Stockings 3B 2 - - 8 4.0 5 2 3 3 0 n/a n/a n/a .625 0.00
1885 White Stockings C 37 - - 240 6.5 210 146 64 30 2 36 - 0 .875 0.00
1885 White Stockings OF 69 - - 143 2.1 124 95 29 19 2 n/a n/a n/a .867 0.00
1886 White Stockings 1B 9 - - 47 5.2 45 41 4 2 0 n/a n/a n/a .957 0.00
1886 White Stockings 2B 6 - - 31 5.2 26 14 12 5 4 n/a n/a n/a .839 0.00
1886 White Stockings 3B 8 - - 17 2.1 14 8 6 3 2 n/a n/a n/a .824 0.00
1886 White Stockings C 53 - - 381 7.2 353 259 94 28 3 46 - - .927 0.00
1886 White Stockings OF 56 - - 106 1.9 86 62 24 20 1 n/a n/a n/a .811 0.00
1886 White Stockings SS 5 - - 5 1.0 4 3 1 1 1 n/a n/a n/a .800 0.00
1887 Beaneaters 2B 30 - - 228 7.6 193 88 105 35 19 n/a n/a n/a .846 0.00
1887 Beaneaters 3B 2 - - 4 2.0 2 1 1 2 0 n/a n/a n/a .500 0.00
1887 Beaneaters C 24 - - 130 5.4 115 80 35 15 3 21 - - .885 0.00
1887 Beaneaters OF 61 - - 104 1.7 89 78 11 15 2 n/a n/a n/a .856 0.00
1887 Beaneaters P 3 0 39 6 2.0 4 0 4 2 0 n/a n/a n/a .667 2.77
1887 Beaneaters SS 2 - - 15 7.5 12 5 7 3 0 n/a n/a n/a .800 0.00
1888 Beaneaters C 76 - - 567 7.5 513 367 146 54 8 54 - 54 .905 0.00
1888 Beaneaters RF 34 - - 44 1.3 32 28 4 12 2 n/a n/a n/a .727 0.00
1889 Beaneaters C 23 - - 97 4.2 85 56 29 12 2 13 - - .876 0.00
1889 Beaneaters RF 113 - - 211 1.9 179 155 24 32 4 n/a n/a n/a .848 0.00
1890 Red Stockings 1B 4 - - 26 6.5 23 18 5 3 3 n/a n/a n/a .885 0.00
1890 Red Stockings 3B 2 - - 6 3.0 5 2 3 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .833 0.00
1890 Red Stockings C 56 - - 282 5.0 258 198 60 24 2 20 - - .915 0.00
1890 Red Stockings OF 6 - - 15 2.5 15 13 2 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 0.00
1890 Red Stockings P 1 0 6 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1890 Red Stockings SS 27 - - 145 5.4 118 43 75 27 6 n/a n/a n/a .814 0.00
1891 Kelly's Killers 1B 5 - - 31 6.2 27 27 0 4 1 n/a n/a n/a .871 0.00
1891 Kelly's Killers 2B 6 - - 19 3.2 19 7 12 0 3 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 0.00
1891 Kelly's Killers 3B 8 - - 33 4.1 29 11 18 4 2 n/a n/a n/a .879 0.00
1891 Kelly's Killers C 66 - - 353 5.3 319 217 102 34 11 22 - - .904 0.00
1891 Kelly's Killers OF 7 - - 10 1.4 9 8 1 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .900 0.00
1891 Kelly's Killers P 3 0 46 5 1.7 5 0 5 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.93
1891 Kelly's Killers SS 1 - - 10 10.0 10 4 6 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 0.00
1891 Reds C 4 - - 20 5.0 19 16 3 1 0 0 - - .950 0.00
1891 Beaneaters C 11 - - 64 5.8 54 44 10 10 2 5 - - .844 0.00
1891 Beaneaters RF 6 - - 4 0.7 2 2 0 2 0 n/a n/a n/a .500 0.00
1892 Beaneaters 1B 2 - - 22 11.0 19 19 0 3 2 n/a n/a n/a .864 0.00
1892 Beaneaters 3B 2 - - 7 3.5 5 2 3 2 0 n/a n/a n/a .714 0.00
1892 Beaneaters C 72 - - 457 6.3 417 319 98 40 11 34 - - .912 0.00
1892 Beaneaters OF 2 - - 2 1.0 0 0 0 2 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1892 Beaneaters P 1 0 18 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1893 Giants C 17 - - 86 5.1 77 55 22 9 1 19 - - .895 0.00
1893 Giants RF 1 - - 1 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
C Totals 583 0 0 3,422 5.9 3,054 2,197 857 368 57 417 n/a 54 .892 0.00
RF Totals 520 0 0 977 1.9 795 590 205 182 20 n/a n/a n/a .814 0.00
OF Totals 230 0 0 459 2.0 382 302 80 77 6 n/a n/a n/a .832 0.00
3B Totals 96 0 0 349 3.6 290 108 182 59 9 n/a n/a n/a .831 0.00
SS Totals 90 0 0 463 5.1 371 128 243 92 19 n/a n/a n/a .801 0.00
2B Totals 54 0 0 332 6.1 280 122 158 52 27 n/a n/a n/a .843 0.00
1B Totals 25 0 0 158 6.3 139 125 14 19 7 n/a n/a n/a .880 0.00
P Totals 12 0 137 12 1.0 10 0 10 2 0 n/a n/a n/a .833 1.97
16 Years 1,610 0 137 6,172 3.8 5,321 3,572 1,749 851 145 417 n/a 54 .862 1,048.66

King Kelly

King Kelly Miscellaneous Stats

1878 Reds - - - 0 0 n/a 0.0 33.9 8.8 - - -
1879 Reds - - - 0 0 n/a 172.5 24.6 7.3 - - -
1880 White Stockings - - - 0 0 n/a 344.0 15.6 5.7 1.00 3.00 3.00
1881 White Stockings - - - 0 0 n/a 176.5 25.2 6.4 - - -
1882 White Stockings - - - 0 0 n/a 377.0 14.0 6.9 - - -
1883 White Stockings - - - 0 0 n/a 142.7 12.2 7.0 0.00 0.00 0.00
1884 White Stockings - - - 0 0 n/a 34.8 18.8 4.8 0.50 1.69 3.38
1885 White Stockings - - - 0 0 n/a 48.7 18.3 5.8 - - -
1886 White Stockings 53 - - 0 0 n/a 112.8 13.7 5.7 - - -
1887 Beaneaters 84 - - 0 0 n/a 53.6 10.7 6.8 0.00 0.00 9.69
1888 Beaneaters 56 - - 0 0 n/a 48.9 11.3 6.2 - - -
1889 Beaneaters 68 - - 0 0 n/a 56.3 12.7 6.5 - - -
1890 Red Stockings 51 - - 0 0 n/a 85.0 15.5 5.2 1.00 9.00 9.00
1891 Beaneaters 6 - - 0 0 n/a 0.0 5.2 10.4 - - -
1891 Kelly's Killers 22 - - 0 0 n/a 283.0 10.1 5.3 0.00 0.00 4.11
1891 Reds 1 - - 0 0 n/a 15.0 7.5 3.8 - - -
1892 Beaneaters 24 - - 0 0 n/a 140.5 8.8 6.9 0.00 0.00 6.00
1893 Giants 3 - - 0 0 n/a 0.0 13.4 4.5 - - -
16 Years 368 - - 0 0 n/a 84.6 14.0 6.1 0.13 0.79 5.91

King Kelly

King Kelly Miscellaneous Items of Interest

1878 Cincinnati Reds n/a Undetermined n/a n/a
1879 Cincinnati Reds n/a Undetermined n/a n/a
1880 Chicago White Stockings n/a Undetermined n/a n/a
1881 Chicago White Stockings n/a $1,300.00 n/a n/a
1882 Chicago White Stockings n/a $1,400.00 n/a n/a
1883 Chicago White Stockings n/a $1,700.00 n/a n/a
1884 Chicago White Stockings n/a $2,000.00 n/a n/a
1885 Chicago White Stockings n/a $2,250.00 n/a n/a
1886 Chicago White Stockings n/a $2,500.00 n/a n/a
1887 Boston Beaneaters n/a $4,000.00 n/a n/a
1888 Boston Beaneaters n/a $4,000.00 n/a n/a
1889 Boston Beaneaters n/a $4,000.00 n/a n/a
1890 Boston Red Stockings n/a Undetermined n/a n/a
1891 Boston Beaneaters n/a $1,750.00 n/a n/a
1891 Cincinnati Kelly's Killers n/a "     "     n/a n/a
1891 Boston Reds n/a "     "     n/a n/a
1892 Boston Beaneaters n/a Undetermined n/a n/a
1893 New York Giants n/a Undetermined n/a n/a

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