Time for another one of those questionable Hall of Fame inductees,
courtesy of Frankie Frisch and crew: George "High Pockets" Kelly,
inducted in 1973 by the Veteran's Committee.
First, my card design:
Kelly did in fact have some nice seasons in the Majors, but when
you really go over the extent of his career, it does leave you
scratching your head.
Over the course of his 16-years, he led the National League in home
runs once with 23 in 1921 and runs batted in twice with 94 in 1920 and
136 in 1924.
He topped 100 runs batted in five times and hit over .300 seven
times, while being a member of two championship teams, the 1921 and 1922
New York Giants.
Besides his solid bat-work, Kelly was also known as a premier
fielding first baseman , given credit as creating what eventually became
the textbook way to field the bag.
He'd lead the league in putouts three times, as well as assists
three times, and double-plays turned twice with a fielding title in
1926.
But with all of that positive stuff, at the end of it all his "Hall
of Fame" status is still questionable when compared to contemporaries
and other Hall members, especially first basemen.
When he was eligible for BBWA induction, he never garnered more than 1.9% support (1960).
So when his name came up in 1973, especially in light of other
former teammates who were questionably inducted (Stonewall Jackson, Ross
Youngs, etc), you can see where the cronyism claims get some support.
His 16-year totals in the Majors do feed into the argument as well:
1778 hits, 819 runs scored, 148 homers, 1020 runs batted in and a .297
batting average.
You make the call….
