George Kelly
⭐ Hall of Fame 1973
Born: 9/10/1895 in San Francisco, CA, USA
Died: 10/13/1984 in Burlingame, CA, USA
MLB Debut: 1915-08-18 | Final Game: 1932-07-26
Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 6'4" | Weight: 190 lbs
Full name: George Lange Kelly
Biography
George Kelly, born in 1895, was a pitcher who made his mark in Major League Baseball between 1915 and 1932. Known for his remarkable control and ability to handle pressure, Kelly played during a transformative period in the sport, witnessing the transition from the Deadball Era to a more offensive-minded game. Despite a modest career record of 1-0 and an impeccable earned run average (ERA) of 0.0, his contributions to the game extended beyond mere statistics. He recorded 2 strikeouts and did not secure any saves throughout his career, but his influence and presence on the mound were felt by teammates and opponents alike.
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1973, Kelly's legacy is cherished by baseball historians and fans. His induction underscores the impact he had on the game during his playing years, and his career serves as a testament to the dedication and skill required to excel at the highest level of baseball. Although Kelly's statistical achievements may not reflect the typical standards of Hall of Famers, his inclusion highlights the broader narrative of baseball history and the various ways players can leave a lasting impression on the sport.
Career Pitching Statistics
| W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | HR | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0.00 | 0 |
Season-by-Season Pitching
| Year | Team | Lg | W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1917 | NY1 | NL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0.00 | 0.0 |
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1622 | 5993 | 819 | 1778 | 337 | 76 | 148 | 1020 | 65 | 386 | 694 | 0.297 | 0.342 | 0.452 | 0.794 | 8046.1 |
Season-by-Season Batting
| Year | Team | Lg | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1915 | NY1 | NL | 17 | 38 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0.158 | 0.0 |
| 1916 | NY1 | NL | 49 | 76 | 4 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 24 | 0.158 | -399.7 |
| 1917 | NY1 | NL | 11 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
| 1917 | PIT | NL | 8 | 23 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0.087 | 0.0 |
| 1919 | NY1 | NL | 32 | 107 | 12 | 31 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 0.290 | 99.7 |
| 1920 | NY1 | NL | 155 | 590 | 69 | 157 | 22 | 11 | 11 | 94 | 6 | 41 | 92 | 0.266 | 67.5 |
| 1921 | NY1 | NL | 149 | 587 | 95 | 181 | 42 | 9 | 23 | 122 | 4 | 40 | 73 | 0.308 | 1992.8 |
| 1922 | NY1 | NL | 151 | 592 | 96 | 194 | 33 | 8 | 17 | 107 | 12 | 30 | 65 | 0.328 | 1675.6 |
| 1923 | NY1 | NL | 145 | 560 | 82 | 172 | 23 | 5 | 16 | 103 | 14 | 47 | 64 | 0.307 | 1150.6 |
| 1924 | NY1 | NL | 144 | 571 | 91 | 185 | 37 | 9 | 21 | 136 | 7 | 38 | 52 | 0.324 | 2375.5 |
| 1925 | NY1 | NL | 147 | 586 | 87 | 181 | 29 | 3 | 20 | 99 | 5 | 35 | 54 | 0.309 | 811.3 |
| 1926 | NY1 | NL | 136 | 499 | 70 | 151 | 24 | 4 | 13 | 80 | 4 | 36 | 52 | 0.303 | 814.1 |
| 1927 | CIN | NL | 61 | 222 | 27 | 60 | 16 | 4 | 5 | 21 | 1 | 11 | 23 | 0.270 | -15.0 |
| 1928 | CIN | NL | 116 | 402 | 46 | 119 | 33 | 7 | 3 | 58 | 2 | 28 | 35 | 0.296 | 322.0 |
| 1929 | CIN | NL | 147 | 577 | 73 | 169 | 45 | 9 | 5 | 103 | 7 | 33 | 61 | 0.293 | -333.9 |
| 1930 | CHC | NL | 39 | 166 | 22 | 55 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 19 | 0 | 7 | 16 | 0.331 | 27.9 |
| 1930 | CIN | NL | 51 | 188 | 18 | 54 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 35 | 1 | 7 | 20 | 0.287 | 27.9 |
| 1932 | BRO | NL | 64 | 202 | 23 | 49 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 22 | 0 | 22 | 27 | 0.243 | -296.8 |
Postseason Statistics
Playoff Career Batting
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | 101 | 11 | 25 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 23 | 0.248 |
Playoff Batting by Year
| Year | Round | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1924 | WS | NY1 | 7 | 31 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 0.290 |
| 1923 | WS | NY1 | 6 | 22 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.182 |
| 1922 | WS | NY1 | 5 | 18 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0.278 |
| 1921 | WS | NY1 | 8 | 30 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 0.233 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
| Position | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1B | 1373 | 0 | 14232 | 861 | 121 | 1111 |
| 2B | 145 | 0 | 337 | 509 | 25 | 84 |
| 3B | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| OF | 67 | 0 | 120 | 6 | 6 | 2 |
| P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1915 | NY1 | 1B | 9 | 0 | 55 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 1915 | NY1 | OF | 4 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 1916 | NY1 | 1B | 13 | 0 | 100 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 1916 | NY1 | 3B | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1916 | NY1 | OF | 12 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1917 | NY1 | P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1917 | NY1 | 1B | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1917 | NY1 | 2B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1917 | NY1 | OF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1917 | PIT | 1B | 8 | 0 | 66 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 1919 | NY1 | 1B | 32 | 0 | 341 | 11 | 2 | 17 |
| 1920 | NY1 | 1B | 155 | 0 | 1759 | 103 | 11 | 115 |
| 1921 | NY1 | 1B | 149 | 0 | 1552 | 115 | 17 | 132 |
| 1922 | NY1 | 1B | 151 | 0 | 1642 | 103 | 13 | 123 |
| 1923 | NY1 | 1B | 145 | 0 | 1568 | 60 | 12 | 111 |
| 1924 | NY1 | 1B | 125 | 0 | 1309 | 60 | 10 | 107 |
| 1924 | NY1 | 2B | 5 | 0 | 9 | 18 | 2 | 2 |
| 1924 | NY1 | 3B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1924 | NY1 | OF | 14 | 0 | 39 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 1925 | NY1 | 1B | 25 | 0 | 263 | 16 | 3 | 13 |
| 1925 | NY1 | 2B | 108 | 0 | 272 | 394 | 13 | 68 |
| 1925 | NY1 | OF | 17 | 0 | 31 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 1926 | NY1 | 1B | 114 | 0 | 1196 | 79 | 9 | 89 |
| 1926 | NY1 | 2B | 18 | 0 | 37 | 65 | 6 | 12 |
| 1927 | CIN | 1B | 49 | 0 | 456 | 32 | 4 | 46 |
| 1927 | CIN | 2B | 13 | 0 | 19 | 32 | 4 | 2 |
| 1927 | CIN | OF | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1928 | CIN | 1B | 99 | 0 | 894 | 69 | 9 | 99 |
| 1928 | CIN | OF | 13 | 0 | 33 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 1929 | CIN | 1B | 147 | 0 | 1537 | 103 | 11 | 127 |
| 1930 | CHN | 1B | 39 | 0 | 414 | 32 | 1 | 31 |
| 1930 | CIN | 1B | 50 | 0 | 503 | 35 | 4 | 44 |
| 1932 | BRO | 1B | 62 | 0 | 575 | 36 | 10 | 48 |
| 1932 | BRO | OF | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Career Games by Position
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| Pitcher | 1 |
| First Base | 1373 |
| Second Base | 145 |
| Third Base | 2 |
| Left Field | 26 |
| Center Field | 16 |
| Right Field | 19 |
Awards & Honors
| Year | Award | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1926 | Baseball Magazine All-Star | 1B |
| 1924 | Baseball Magazine All-Star | 1B |
| 1924 | Baseball Magazine All-Star | 1B |
| 1922 | Baseball Magazine All-Star | 1B |
| 1921 | Baseball Magazine All-Star | 1B |
Award Voting History
| Year | Award | League | Finish | Points Won | Points Max | Votes First |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1926 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 23th | 2.0 | 80 | 0 |
| 1925 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 3rd | 52.0 | 80 | 0 |
| 1924 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 6th | 34.0 | 80 | 0 |