Thursday, August 15, 2024

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1890 "BASEBALL CHAMPIONS" KING KELLY

Good day all!
On the blog today, we spotlight my custom card for the great King Kelly, from my early custom "19th Century Base Ball Stars" set released in 2018:






Arguably the best, if not most popular player of the 19th Century, Kelly put in 16 tumultuous years in the Major Leagues, often credited with helping popularize the hit-and-run, the hook slide, and the catcher's practice of backing up first base.
Truly a character of the early game, do yourself a favor and read what you can on the man, as I could spend the next few hours just trying to outline a basic profile of his exploits, so I'll keep to his performance between the foul lines here.
Over his 16 year career he'd take home two batting titles, while leading the league in runs scored three years in a row between 1884 and 1886.
He'd also lead the league in doubles three times and on-base-percentage twice, finishing up his Big League tenure with a .307 average, with 1813 hits over 5896 at-bats in 1456 games between 1878 and 1893.
Sadly, he passed away at the young age of only 36 from Pneumonia in November of 1894, just one year removed from his last action as a player, broke with debt, leaving behind a wife.
In 1945 he became the second player voted into the Hall of Fame by the (then) Old Timer's Committee, now what we call the Veterans Committee.
An early legend of the game who left his permanent mark on the sport.