In the early days of baseball, Irish Americans dominated the sport and helped shape it into America’s national pastime. Many young men, hardened by the strenuous labor of the few jobs available to them, found solace in the new game. Their physical strength and competitive drive made them natural stars, and they soon became key innovators. Among them, none left a greater mark on the game’s formative years than Michael “King” Kelly.
Michael Joseph Kelly was born in Troy, New York, on December 31, 1857, to Irish immigrants. When the Civil War broke out, his father enlisted in the Union Army. The family followed him to Washington, where young Kelly may have first encountered baseball.
After the war, the Kellys moved to Paterson, New Jersey. When his father died in 1871, 13-year-old Kelly left school to work hauling coal and in a textile mill. But his passion remained baseball. Before long, professional teams took notice.
In 1878, Kelly made his major league debut with the Cincinnati Red Stockings (now the Reds). After two seasons, financial troubles forced the team to release its players, and Kelly was acquired by the Chicago White Stockings (now the Cubs). There, he became the game’s first true superstar, winning two batting titles, leading the league in runs for three seasons, and playing on four championship teams. Primarily a catcher and outfielder, he played every position during his career. At nearly six feet tall, with talent and striking good looks, Kelly became a household name in one of the country’s media capitals.
Following the 1886 season, Chicago sold Kelly to the Boston Beaneaters (now the Atlanta Braves) for a record $10,000. The fee earned him the nickname “$10,000 Beauty,” but in heavily Irish Boston, he was better known as “King Kelly” or simply “The Only.”
Kelly was both an innovator and a showman. He was among the first catchers to wear gloves, use a chest protector, and develop signs to communicate with pitchers. The Baseball Hall of Fame credits him with originating the hit-and-run, the double steal, and an early form of the infield shift. He also exploited the game’s one-umpire system, frequently cutting corners on the bases when the umpire’s attention was elsewhere. He was known to keep a spare baseball hidden in his jersey; during a late-game play as dusk fell, he made a dramatic dive for a ball, then proudly held one up. When his teammates praised the catch, Kelly laughed: “Not at all—it went a mile over my head.” Some claim his popularity also gave rise to the practice of autograph collecting, as young boys sought his signature as proof of meeting him.
Kelly’s greatest innovation was the hook slide. Before him, base stealers ran directly at the bag. Kelly perfected the technique of sliding wide of the base and reaching back with his hand. From 1886 to 1890, he stole at least 50 bases per season, peaking at 84 in 1887. He was among the first players to steal third base and home regularly—often in succession. A print of Kelly sliding became a fixture in Boston bars, and the crowd’s chant of “Slide, Kelly, Slide!” inspired a song that became the first American pop hit when recorded by Edison, at a time when recordings were primarily religious or operatic.
Despite his brilliance on the field, Kelly fell victim to the pitfalls of sudden fame and fortune, a pattern repeated by many athletes since. Known for his generosity and hard-partying lifestyle, he spent his earnings as fast as he made them. A teammate once said, “[Kelly] was a whole-souled, genial fellow with a host of friends and but one enemy—himself.”
A defining moment of Kelly’s character came in 1890, during a labor dispute between players and team owners. Kelly joined other ballplayers in forming the short-lived Players’ League, managing and playing for the Boston Reds. When the league struggled financially, baseball magnate Albert Spalding offered him $10,000 and a lucrative contract to return to the National League’s Beaneaters. Kelly asked for time to think. After taking a walk, he returned and said, “I’ve decided not to accept.” A shocked Spalding asked, “What? You don’t want $10,000?” Kelly replied, “I want it bad enough, but I’ve thought it over, and I can’t go back on the boys. And neither would you.” Spalding shook Kelly’s hand and, knowing he was in need, lent him $500. Kelly led his team to the Players’ League’s only championship before the league folded.
Years of hard playing and harder living took their toll. Kelly retired in 1894 after 16 seasons with little money left. In another first for a ballplayer, he wrote an autobiography and attempted a career on the vaudeville stage. While sailing from New York to Boston for a performance, he reportedly gave his coat to a fellow passenger who was cold. Soon after, he contracted pneumonia and died three days later on November 8, 1894, at just 36 years old.
In 1945, Kelly was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Old-Timers’ Committee. The New York Times noted that his fellow inductees included Bresnahan, Brouthers, Clarke, Jim Collins, Delehanty, Duffy, Jennings, James O’Rourke, and Robinson—underscoring the deep Irish influence on baseball. Sadly, none of Kelly’s immediate family attended the ceremony; his only child had died young, and his wife had passed years before his induction.
Kelly played a pivotal role in popularizing and transforming professional baseball in the 19th century to the national pastime. His creativity on the field led to numerous changes in the rulebook, with many claiming that half of baseball’s rules were rewritten to close loopholes he exploited. His legacy as both a showman and an innovator remains a defining part of the game’s history.
– Neil F. Cosgrove ©