Kelly, who I still cannot find out whether he went by “Jay” at that time since the image was named this, was actually drafted by the Seattle organization back when he was a 17-year-old in 1968.
He put in a few seasons in their Minor League system before getting released in April of 1971, then getting signed by the organization for which he’d spend his long MLB life with, the Minnesota Twins less than a month later, on April 28th, 1971.
Basically a career-Minor Leaguer, Kelly would get the only taste of Major League playing time in 1975 when he appeared in 49 games for Minnesota, batting .181 with 23 hits over 127 at-bats.
He’d play another five years in the Minors, before retiring as a player in 1980 and moving on to coaching/managing soon after.
In 1986 he would become the Twins manager with only 23 games left in the season, a gig that would last another 15 years, guiding the team through two World Championships in 1987 and 1991.
He’d spend 16 years as a manager, all with the Twins, winning 1140 games and being the American League Manager of the Year in 1991.
Neat to find this image of the young teenager, almost 20 years before he’d find Major League glory with a championship, leading a team with stars like Puckett, Hrbek, Viola and Blyleven.
