Loading players...
King Kelly played 16 major-league seasons (1878-1893) as a OF (750), C (584), 3B (96), SS (90), 2B (54). Career totals and every year-by-year line below come from the SABR/Lahman database (CC BY-SA), covering 1871-2025.
Showing 17 season lines
| Year | Age | Team | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1878 | 21 | CN1 | 60 | 237 | 29 | 67 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 7 | 7 | .283 | .624 | 109 |
| 1879 | 22 | CN1 | 77 | 345 | 78 | 120 | 2 | 47 | 0 | 8 | 14 | .348 | .855 | 184 |
| 1880 | 23 | CHN | 84 | 344 | 72 | 100 | 1 | 60 | 0 | 12 | 22 | .291 | .716 | 143 |
| 1881 | 24 | CHN | 82 | 353 | 84 | 114 | 2 | 55 | 0 | 16 | 14 | .323 | .786 | 150 |
| 1882 | 25 | CHN | 84 | 377 | 81 | 115 | 1 | 55 | 0 | 10 | 27 | .305 | .755 | 142 |
| 1883 | 26 | CHN | 98 | 428 | 92 | 109 | 3 | 61 | 0 | 16 | 35 | .255 | .669 | 105 |
| 1884 | 27 | CHN | 108 | 452 | 120 | 160 | 13 | 95 | 0 | 46 | 24 | .354 | .938 | 199 |
| 1885 | 28 | CHN | 107 | 438 | 124 | 126 | 9 | 75 | 0 | 46 | 24 | .288 | .791 | 160 |
| 1886 | 29 | CHN | 118 | 451 | 155 | 175 | 4 | 79 | 53 | 83 | 33 | .388 | 1.018 | 218 |
| 1887 | 30 | BSN | 116 | 484 | 120 | 156 | 8 | 63 | 84 | 55 | 40 | .322 | .880 | 148 |
| 1888 | 31 | BSN | 107 | 440 | 85 | 140 | 9 | 71 | 56 | 31 | 39 | .318 | .848 | 177 |
| 1889 | 32 | BSN | 125 | 507 | 120 | 149 | 9 | 78 | 68 | 65 | 40 | .294 | .824 | 136 |
| 1890 | 33 | BSP | 90 | 342 | 83 | 111 | 4 | 66 | 51 | 52 | 22 | .325 | .864 | 137 |
| 1891 | 34 | CN3|BS2 | 86 | 298 | 58 | 88 | 2 | 57 | 23 | 51 | 30 | .295 | .814 | 139 |
| 1891 | 34 | BSN | 16 | 52 | 7 | 12 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 10 | .231 | .572 | 72 |
| 1892 | 35 | BSN | 78 | 281 | 40 | 53 | 2 | 41 | 24 | 39 | 32 | .189 | .522 | 62 |
| 1893 | 36 | NY1 | 20 | 67 | 9 | 18 | 0 | 15 | 3 | 6 | 5 | .269 | .612 | 67 |
| Year | Age | Team | G | GS | W | L | SV | IP | SO | BB | ERA | ERA+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 23 | CHN | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0.00 | — |
| 1883 | 26 | CHN | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | — |
| 1884 | 27 | CHN | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.1 | 1 | 2 | 8.44 | 35 |
| 1887 | 30 | BSN | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 14 | 3.46 | 117 |
| 1890 | 33 | BSP | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4.50 | 94 |
| 1891 | 34 | CN3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15.1 | 0 | 7 | 5.28 | 70 |
| 1892 | 35 | BSN | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 1.50 | 219 |
| Year | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1878 | OF | 47 | 0 | 51 | 24 | 23 | 2 |
| 1878 | C | 17 | 0 | 99 | 39 | 20 | 3 |
| 1878 | 3B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1879 | 3B | 33 | 0 | 36 | 88 | 25 | 3 |
| 1879 | OF | 29 | 0 | 46 | 13 | 20 | 0 |
| 1879 | C | 21 | 0 | 82 | 36 | 12 | 1 |
| 1879 | 2B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 1880 | OF | 64 | 0 | 49 | 32 | 23 | 1 |
| 1880 | C | 17 | 0 | 40 | 15 | 12 | 2 |
| 1880 | 3B | 14 | 0 | 22 | 20 | 7 | 0 |
| 1880 | 2B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1880 | P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1880 | SS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1881 | OF | 72 | 0 | 85 | 31 | 22 | 2 |
| 1881 | C | 11 | 0 | 28 | 9 | 10 | 1 |
| 1881 | 3B | 8 | 0 | 8 | 12 | 1 | 0 |
| 1882 | SS | 42 | 0 | 66 | 117 | 43 | 9 |
| 1882 | OF | 38 | 0 | 50 | 21 | 9 | 3 |
| 1882 | C | 12 | 0 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| 1882 | 3B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| 1882 | 1B | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 1883 | OF | 82 | 0 | 101 | 38 | 32 | 5 |
| 1883 | C | 38 | 0 | 73 | 37 | 21 | 2 |
| 1883 | 2B | 3 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 8 | 0 |
| 1883 | 3B | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| 1883 | P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1884 | OF | 63 | 0 | 69 | 31 | 26 | 1 |
| 1884 | C | 28 | 0 | 105 | 55 | 32 | 3 |
| 1884 | SS | 12 | 0 | 7 | 37 | 18 | 3 |
| 1884 | 3B | 10 | 0 | 12 | 16 | 8 | 2 |
| 1884 | 1B | 2 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 1884 | P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1884 | 2B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1885 | OF | 69 | 0 | 95 | 29 | 19 | 2 |
| 1885 | C | 37 | 0 | 146 | 64 | 30 | 2 |
| 1885 | 2B | 6 | 0 | 7 | 15 | 3 | 1 |
| 1885 | 1B | 2 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 1885 | 3B | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 1886 | OF | 56 | 0 | 62 | 24 | 20 | 1 |
| 1886 | C | 53 | 0 | 259 | 94 | 28 | 3 |
| 1886 | 1B | 9 | 0 | 41 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| 1886 | 3B | 8 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 2 |
| 1886 | 2B | 6 | 0 | 14 | 12 | 5 | 4 |
| 1886 | SS | 5 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1887 | OF | 61 | 0 | 78 | 11 | 15 | 2 |
| 1887 | 2B | 30 | 0 | 88 | 105 | 35 | 19 |
| 1887 | C | 24 | 0 | 80 | 35 | 15 | 3 |
| 1887 | P | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| 1887 | 3B | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 1887 | SS | 2 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 0 |
| 1888 | C | 76 | 0 | 367 | 146 | 54 | 8 |
| 1888 | OF | 34 | 0 | 28 | 4 | 12 | 2 |
| 1889 | OF | 113 | 0 | 155 | 24 | 32 | 4 |
| 1889 | C | 23 | 0 | 56 | 29 | 12 | 2 |
| 1890 | C | 57 | 0 | 199 | 60 | 24 | 2 |
| 1890 | SS | 27 | 0 | 43 | 75 | 27 | 6 |
| 1890 | OF | 6 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 1890 | 1B | 4 | 0 | 18 | 5 | 3 | 3 |
| 1890 | 3B | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 1890 | P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1891 | C | 81 | 0 | 277 | 115 | 45 | 13 |
| 1891 | OF | 13 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 1891 | 3B | 8 | 0 | 11 | 18 | 4 | 2 |
| 1891 | 2B | 6 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 0 | 3 |
| 1891 | 1B | 5 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 1891 | P | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 1891 | SS | 1 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 1892 | C | 72 | 0 | 319 | 98 | 40 | 11 |
| 1892 | 1B | 2 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| 1892 | 3B | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 1892 | OF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 1892 | P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1893 | C | 17 | 0 | 55 | 22 | 9 | 1 |
| 1893 | OF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Team codes are the source codes (e.g. NYN for the New York Mets, BS1 for the 1875 Boston club). OPS+ is league-season normalized, not park-adjusted; unrecorded source values (such as RBI in the earliest recorded seasons) are absent, never zero-filled.
King Kelly ranks on 4 all-time single-season position leaderboards (1871-2025, league-season-normalized OPS+ / ERA+).
| Rank | Board | Year | Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| #5 | catchers | 1888 | 177 OPS+ |
| #7 | right fielders | 1886 | 218 OPS+ |
| #13 | third basemen | 1879 | 184 OPS+ |
| #24 | right fielders | 1884 | 199 OPS+ |
Every career total and season line is computed from the SABR / Sean Lahman baseball database (2025 edition, CC BY-SA 3.0), the same source behind our historical position leaderboards. Rate stats use league-season normalization only (OPS+ and ERA+ as marked, never park-adjusted); unrecorded early-era values stay absent rather than being invented. Career totals sum only what the source records.
Award winners and MVP / Cy Young / Rookie of the Year voting history come from the same database; the year pages live under MLB award voting history. Official transactions (2011 to the current season) come from the MLB StatsAPI feed on our transactions archive.