John Francis Kelly (March 3, 1859 – April 13, 1908) was a

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 ...

player. As a player, he was primarily a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

, but also played 17 games as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

and one game as a

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. He played for the Cleveland Blues of the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

in 1879 and 1882, both the National League Philadelphia Quakers and the American Association's

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

in 1883 and the

Cincinnati Outlaw Reds The Cincinnati Outlaw Reds of 1884, also called the Cincinnati Unions, were a member of the short-lived Union Association. One of the league's best teams, they finished third with a record of 69–36. The team was owned by former Cincinnati Stars ...

and

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

, both of the

Union Association The Union Association was an American professional baseball league which competed with Major League Baseball, lasting for just the 1884 season. St. Louis won the pennant and joined the National League the following season. Seven of the twelv ...

in 1884, so that he played in three different Major Leagues in his four-year career. His time with the Blues in 1879 consisted of a single game on June 7. Kelly played both catcher and

during the game, and got one hit in four

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, ...

s. In 1880, The Only Nolan recruited him to play for a team in

Frisco, Texas Frisco is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Collin County, Texas, Collin and Denton County, Texas, Denton counties. It is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex (DFW) and about from both Dallas Love Field and Dallas/Fort Worth In ...

but he returned home to New Jersey when his father died. In 1883 he played in 30 games for the Blues, all at catcher, and had 14 hits in 104 at-bats for a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of .135. He played 48 games for the Orioles in 1883, with 38 at catcher and 13 in the outfield. He had 46 hits in 202 at-bats for a batting average of .228. He only played one game for the Quakers in 1883, going hitless in three at-bats. In 1884 he played mostly for the Outlaw Reds, playing in 38 games, almost all at catcher. He had 40 hits in 142 at-bats for a .282 batting average, and hit his only Major League

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

. He also played four games for the Nationals in 1884, with 5 hits in 14 at-bats. For his Major League career, he had 106 hits in 469 at-bats for a .226 batting average, and hit one home run. As a fielder, he made 142 errors in 835 chances, for a

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

of .830. Besides playing in the Union Association in 1884, Kelly also served as an

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French , , and , : (as evidenced in cricke ...

for three Union Association games in October 1884. Some sources list John F. Kelly as the manager of the

Louisville Colonels The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as th ...

in 1888 and 1889. But others claim John O. Kelly, also known as

Kick Kelly John O. "Kick" Kelly (October 31, 1856 – March 27, 1926), also nicknamed "Honest John" and "Diamond John", was an American catcher, manager and umpire in Major League Baseball who went on to become a boxing referee and to run gambling houses in ...

, was the Colonels' manager in those seasons. He was born and died in

Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Totowa, New Jersey Totowa (pronounced "TO-tuh-wuh" ) is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 11,065, an increase of 261 (+ ...

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, John 1859 births 1908 deaths 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball umpires Baseball players from Paterson, New Jersey Cleveland Blues (NL) players Washington Nationals (UA) players Cincinnati Outlaw Reds players Baltimore Orioles (NL) players Philadelphia Quakers players Minor league baseball managers Manchester (minor league baseball) players Burials at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery (Totowa, New Jersey) Acid Iron Earths players