Jim Fraasch took time out from planning the Neil Ess Memorial Twin Cities APBA Baseball Tournament to nominate a Terrible Tuesday card. Of course knowing Jim, his submission is a Minnesota Twins legend.
Two-time World Series champion Twins manager Tom Kelly played just one year in the majors before he realized he could contribute more with his coaching skills. Drafted by the Seattle Pilots, he finally got his shot for the Twins as a first baseman in 1975. Unfortunately, he hit like a utility shortstop batting just .181 in 127 at-bats.
He hit five doubles and even hit a tater. He collected 15 walks but his OBP (.262)and SLG (.244) were not of firstbaseman’s caliber and couldn’t upend other Twins firstbasemen like John Briggs or Craig Kusick. In fact, the Twins moved Rod Carew to first base the very next year.
| Split | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 Totals | 49 | 147 | 127 | 11 | 23 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 15 | 22 | .181 | .262 | .244 |
Nothing exciting about Tom Kelly’s card at all. In fact, his 25-37 is cringe-worthy. For an AL firstbaseman to have an 11-7 over a sample size of 147 plate appearances, it makes me happy that Minnesota had a decent pitching staff that year.
Ugly numbers: 25-37, 11-7, 33-8
The rest was history for T.K. He took over as manager of the Twins midseason in 1986. Twice in the next five years, he won World Series championships.
Kelly retired in 2001 on a positive note, a second place finish for the Twins with a 85-77 record. He recorded 1140 wins in 16 years all with the Minnesota Twins.
thanks Jim!!
Thanks for posting this. I was not aware he ever played. Further proof that most of the better managers were actually pretty bad performers.