Kick Kelly - Umpiring Career

Umpiring Career

After his playing days were over, Kelly became an umpire, working games in both the National League and the American Association. He began in the NL in 1882, working 51 games, but then jumped to the American Association from 1883 to 1886. He returned to the NL in 1888. The early years of the major leagues were particularly hard on umpires, with hostile crowds and vicious arguments, in addition to the difficulty of constantly working games single-handedly. Few officials lasted more than two or three seasons, and by the end of the 1885 campaign Kelly had passed Billy McLean's total of 317 major league games as an umpire.

Among the highlights of his officiating career, he called two no-hitters. The first game came on September 20, 1882 when he called ball and strikes for the Chicago White Stockings star pitcher Larry Corcoran, who tossed his second of three career no-hitters, and on September 18, 1897 when future Hall of Famer Cy Young threw his first of his three career no-hitters.

Kelly's record of 587 career games as an umpire was broken by Bob Ferguson in 1890. He finished his umpiring career in 1897, after eight seasons and 626 games. At one point in his career, he departed to enjoy a short run as manager of the Louisville Colonels in 1887 and 1888. Following the 1887 season, Kelly and NL official John Gaffney officiated the 15-game World's Championship Series between the NL champion Detroit Wolverines and the AA champion St. Louis Browns. They devised a new system whereby one umpire would call balls and strikes behind the plate, while the other would make calls on the basepaths. The system was regarded as a great improvement over the 1886 attempt at the use of multiple umpires, in which two umpires were stationed behind the plate, with a third official – stationed behind the pitcher – who was allowed to intervene only to settle disagreements between the other two. In 1946, Kelly was one of 11 umpires named by the Baseball Hall of Fame to a Roll of Honor.