Michael Joseph Kelley (December 2, 1875 – June 6, 1955) was, briefly, a first baseman in American Major League Baseball who then forged a 30-year career as a manager in the minor leagues and became a legendary figure in the "Twin Cities" of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. Born in Templeton, Massachusetts, Kelley played only one season in the major leagues, with the 1899 Louisville Colonels of the National League. A righthanded hitter and thrower, he batted .241 with three home runs and 33 runs batted in, appearing in 76 games. At the end of the season, the NL shrunk from 12 to eight teams and the Colonels were disbanded. Many Louisville players were acquired by the surviving Pittsburgh Pirates, but Kelley returned to the minors. By 1901, he was managing Des Moines in the Western League, and the following season he was named pilot of the St. Paul Saints of the American Association, where he won back-to-back pennants in 1903-04. Apart from 4½ seasons, Kelley would manage in the Twin Cities through 1931. He skippered St. Paul for almost 18 seasons (1902-05; August 1908-1912; 1915-23), where he won five championships. His 1920 Saints won 115 games, the 1922 team notched 107 victories – each time winning the pennant – and his 1923 club won 111 games while finishing second, two games behind the Kansas City Blues. Kelley first managed the Minneapolis Millers for one season (1906). At the close of the '23 season, he purchased the Millers and became their manager. He led the Millers through 1931, but never won a pennant; his highest finish was second, to the Indianapolis Indians, in 1928. After a sixth-place finish in '31, he retired to the club presidency, operating the Millers until he sold them to the New York Giants in 1946. Kelley died at age 79 in Minneapolis in 1955. Over 30 years as a minor league skipper, Kelley won 2,390 and lost 2,102 (.532).
References
- Reichler, Joseph, ed., The Baseball Encyclopedia. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1979.
- Lloyd Johnson, ed., The Minor League Register. Durham, N.C.: Baseball America, 1994.
