Richard Anthony Kelley (January 8, 1940 – December 11, 1991) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player. A left-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

, Kelley's career extended for 14 seasons, and he spent all or parts of seven years in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

as a member of the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves and

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

. The native of

Brighton, Massachusetts Brighton is a former town and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, located in the northwestern corner of the city. It is named after the English city of Brighton. Initially Brighton was part of Cambridge, and known as " ...

, attended Saint Columbkille's High School. He stood and weighed during his playing career. He pitched in 188 Major League games between 1964 and 1969 and in 1971, 61 as a starter. In , as an original member of the

, acquired during the

expansion draft An expansion draft, in professional sports, occurs when a sports league decides to create one or more new expansion teams or sports franchising, franchises. This occurs mainly in Sports in North America, North American sports and closed leagues. O ...

, he started 23 games, fourth most on the club. Overall, Kelley won 18 of 48 decisions (.375) in MLB, with five

shutouts In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

and five saves and an earned-run average of 3.39. He had a 69–45 (.605) record in

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

, including a stellar 11–2 mark and 2.16 ERA in 14 starts in the Triple-A

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

in 1965. Kelley retired as an active player after the 1972 season, and died in

Northridge, California Northridge is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles. The community is home to California State University, Northridge, and the Northridge Fashion Center. Originally named List of minor biblica ...

, at the age of 51.

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1940 births 1991 deaths Atlanta Braves players Atlanta Crackers players Austin Senators players Baseball players from Boston Boise Braves players Cedar Rapids Braves players Denver Bears players Major League Baseball pitchers Milwaukee Braves players Richmond Braves players Salt Lake City Bees players San Diego Padres players 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-pitcher-1940s-stub