Mike “King” Kelly, 1887
Source: Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division.
Photo Subject: Mike “King” Kelly posing for a formal cabinet card. The uniform in this image was made special for Kelly by sporting-goods magnate Albert G. Spalding.
Spalding owned the Chicago White Stockings (now the Cubs) and Kelly was his star player. On February 14, 1887, Kelly was sold by Chicago to Boston for a then-record $10,000. Kelly was later dubbed the “$10,000 Beauty” by the press.
The special uniform for Kelly was similar to the 1886 Chicago uniform: blue in color with white lettering across the chest, and a white cap, belt and pant leg piping. The only difference is the city name and the color of the stockings, red instead of white.
Folklore: Innovator is a word often used to describe Mike Kelly. For example, the first sentence of Rule 3.03 in the Official MLB Rules states:
“A player, or players, may be substituted during a game at any time the ball is dead.”
Mike Kelly is thought to be responsible for MLB stating what would otherwise be an obvious rule, a player substitution can only happen when the ball is dead. There are many variations on the story behind this rule being necessary, but the general tales goes like this.
Kelly was not a starter for the game in question when an opposing player hit a foul ball near the dugout bench where he was sitting. He reasoned that his team’s catcher had no chance to catch the ball, and he then did something outrageous - he announced “Kelly, now catching for Boston”, stepped up and made the catch.
Painting Detail: Printed on 13” x 19” canvas and painted using Schmincke Mussini and Marshall’s oil paints. Finer details were made using Prismacolor pencils.
Acknowledgements: Special thanks to Craig Brown’s website, Threads Of Our Game, which is an excellent resource for pre-1900 baseball uniforms. Also, a 12/4/2015 article by Sarah Wexler, Kelly Now Catching: King Kelly and Baseball’s Substitution Rules.