Kick Kelly | |
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Catcher/Manager/Umpire | |
Born: New York City | October 31, 1856|
Died: March 27, 1926[1] Malba, New York | (aged 69)|
Batted: Unknown Threw: Unknown | |
MLB debut | |
May 1, 1879, for the Syracuse Stars | |
Last MLB appearance | |
August 7, 1879, for the Troy Trojans | |
MLB statistics | |
Batting average | .155 |
Home runs | 0 |
Runs batted in | 2 |
Stats at Baseball Reference | |
Teams | |
Career highlights and awards | |
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John O. "Kick" Kelly (October 31, 1856 – March 27, 1926), also nicknamed "Honest John" and "Diamond John",[2] was an American catcher, manager and umpire in Major League Baseball[1] who went on to become a boxing referee and to run gambling houses in his native New York City. He made a notable impact on the development of umpiring, helping to pioneer the use of multiple umpires in games in the 1880s. By the time he initially retired in 1888, he held the record for most games umpired in the major leagues (587); he returned to work the last two months of the 1897 season.