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George Lange Kelly (September 10, 1895 – October 13, 1984), nicknamed "Long George" and "High Pockets",〔〔 was a Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman. He played most of his MLB career for the New York Giants (1915–1917, 1919–1926), but also played for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1917), Cincinnati Reds (1927–1930), Chicago Cubs (1930), and Brooklyn Dodgers (1932). Kelly is a two-time World Series champion (1921 and 1922). He led the National League in home runs once (1921) and runs batted in twice (1920 and 1924), and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973. However, his selection is regarded as controversial, as many believe he is undeserving of the recognition and was only elected by the Veterans Committee because it consisted of his former teammates.〔〔〔〔 ==Career== Kelly began his professional career for the Victoria Bees of the Class-B Northwestern League in 1914 and 1915. During the 1915 season, he was purchased by the New York Giants from Victoria for $1,200 (equal to today). The Giants were rebuilding their team, and they saw Kelly as a possible replacement for Fred Merkle. However, he played sparingly for the Giants in his first MLB seasons, appearing in only 17 games in 1915 and 49 games in 1916. He was selected off waivers by the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 25, 1917 to back up Honus Wagner, but did not hit sufficiently.〔 The Pirates waived Kelly, and he was reclaimed by the Giants from the Pirates on August 4, 1917.〔 The Giants optioned Kelly to the Rochester Hustlers of the Class-AA International League, where he played the rest of the 1917 season.〔 Kelly did not play professionally in 1918 due to his military service.〔 The Giants sold Kelly to Rochester before the 1919 season to acquire Earl Smith.〔 Finding success in Rochester, Kelly was purchased by the Giants in 1919 when Hal Chase was suspended.〔 He became a regular in the Giants line-up in 1920, when he had a league-leading 94 runs batted in (RBIs).〔 He led the league in assists and putouts in 1920 and 1921; his 1,759 putouts in 1920 remains a league record.〔 Kelly batted in 100 or more runs for four consecutive seasons and hit for a batting average of .300 or higher six consecutive seasons.〔 He opened the 1921 season with at least one hit and one RBI in eight consecutive games, a record that stood until it was broken by Jorge Cantú in 2010. The Giants appeared in the World Series in 1921, 1922, 1923, and 1924, winning in 1921 and 1922. Kelly set a National League record with seven home runs in six consecutive games in 1924, which has since been matched by Graig Nettles, Walker Cooper, and Willie Mays. In the final series of the 1924 season, the Giants were playing the Philadelphia Phillies at the Polo Grounds and battling for the pennant with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Jimmy O'Connell offered Phillies shortstop Heinie Sand $500 to intentionally lose the games. Sand rejected the bribe and reported it to Phillies manager Art Fletcher. It eventually led to the lifetime suspension of O'Connell and Giants coach Crazy Dolan by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis. O'Connell implicated Kelly, Frankie Frisch, and Ross Youngs as co-conspirators. However, Commissioner Landis cleared Kelly, Frisch and Youngs of any wrongdoing.〔 〕 That following offseason, Kelly, Sam Bohne and other Major League Baseball (MLB) players agreed to play professional basketball with O'Connell. National League (NL) president John Heydler insisted that anyone who played with O'Connell could be suspended.〔 〕 The Giants were also displeased with Kelly's arrangement, as they were concerned about the chance he could injure himself in non-baseball activity.〔 However, Kelly had not played in any games at that point. He was removed from the roster and thus avoided suspension by MLB. Kelly, naturally a first baseman, saw regular time as a second baseman in 1925 when Frisch injured his hand, while backup Bill Terry began playing first base.〔 With the emergence of Terry, who requested a trade so that he could receive more playing time, and Giants manager John McGraw desiring an improvement in the outfield, Kelly was traded to the Cincinnati Reds prior to the 1927 season for Edd Roush. The Reds traded Roush due to a contract dispute.〔 With Wally Pipp at first base for the Reds, Kelly was slated to play center field. The Reds released Pipp before the 1929 season, and Kelly returned to first base.〔()〕 Kelly was released by the Reds on July 10, 1930, and signed by the minor-league Minneapolis Millers of the Class-AA American Association.〔 The Millers traded Kelly to the Chicago Cubs for Mal Moss and a player to be named later (Chick Tolson) late in the 1930 season to fill in for the injured Charlie Grimm.〔 Kelly he was released by the Cubs in February 1931.〔 He returned to the Millers for the 1931 season, and participated in a tour of Japan along with Frisch, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Cochrane, Al Simmons, Lefty Grove, and Rabbit Maranville, among others. In April 1932, the Millers traded Kelly to the Brooklyn Dodgers for Pea Ridge Day.〔 With the Dodgers, he filled in for the injured Del Bissonette. Kelly played his final MLB game on July 27, 1932.〔 He returned to the International League to finish the 1932 season with the Jersey City Skeeters, and played the 1933 season for the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League before retiring.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「George Kelly (baseball)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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