"Has a chance for stardom if he can stay healthy. Kelly joined Jose Canseco and Joe Carter as the only American Leaguers to record at least 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases.
He set career highs in home runs (20) and RBI (69), despite being disabled from July 6-August 13 with a sprained right wrist. Kelly piled up 10 home runs and 33 RBI in 51 games after returning from the injury. He led the club with 32 stolen bases. He was shifted to left field because rookie Bernie Williams replaced him in center during his injury.
Kelly has power to the opposite field, although he remains essentially a line-drive hitter. He has blossomed offensively in the big leagues- he compiled only a .260 average in the minors.
Born in Panama City, Panama, Kelly was signed as a free agent by the Yankees in February 1982."
-Tony DeMarco and Tom Pedulla, The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1992 Edition
"Roberto Kelly's statistics last season would have satisfied most major-leaguers: .267 BA, 20 HRs, 69 RBI and 32 stolen bases. And considering the 28-year-old outfielder missed six weeks of the season, his performance becomes even more impressive.
After spraining his wrist crashing into the Stadium's centerfield wall in early July last season, Kelly returned to the Yankee lineup as their left fielder, giving way to rookie center fielder Bernie Williams. The change in positions caused some friction initially, but the fifth-year Yankee will play where needed most.
The Panama native is clearly on the brink of stardom. He became only one of three American League players (along with Jose Canseco and Joe Carter) to join the 20-20 club (steals and HRs) in 1991. Kelly was the first Yankee to accomplish the feat since Rickey Henderson in 1986. Roberto is quickly moving to the upper echelon of the AL talent pool. With time on his side, the sky appears to be the limit as to how bright his star will shine.
'People look at me like I've got eight or nine years in the big leagues,' he says. 'I'm still young. I'm going to get better.' "
-The New York Yankees Official 1992 Yearbook
"Despite missing six weeks because of injuries, Kelly posted outstanding numbers in 1991. He hit .267 with 20 home runs, 69 RBIs and 32 stolen bases.
Kelly hit .279 with two homers and 11 RBIs in April, starting 16 of the club's 17 games in center field. He started with eight hits in his first 39 at-bats and finished with nine hits in 22 at-bats, raising his batting average from .225. Despite hitting in 21 of 25 games in May his average tailed off to .245, with three homers and nine RBIs in the month. The three homers came in the first 11 games (44 at-bats).
He had a tough June, hitting .241 with four home runs and 13 RBIs but finished the month strong, batting .324 (12-for-37) over the final nine games and raising his average from .240 to .251. Roberto carried the momentum into July, hitting .444 (8-for-18) with a homer and three RBIs in five games before getting hurt.
Roberto was injured on July 5 when he sprained his right wrist crashing into the centerfield wall chasing a Cal Ripken double. He was placed on the disabled list on July 7 and remained there until activated on August 13. He missed 33 games, with the Yankees going 13-20 in his absence. Roberto was hitting .263 with 10 home runs and 36 RBIs when the injury occurred. He returned to action as the Yankees left fielder.
In August, Roberto hit only .197 with three home runs and nine RBIs. He started slow again in September, hitting .220 (9-for-41), yet from September 13 through the remainder of the season (23 games), Roberto was unstoppable, hitting .356 (31-for-87) with seven home runs, 20 RBIs, 15 runs, 12 walks and eight stolen bases. He ended the season by hitting .457 (16-for-35) in the second of two season-long nine-game hitting streaks, with six doubles, two homers and seven RBIs. Kelly hit .275 (52-for-189) with 10 homers and 33 RBIs after the break.
Kelly was one of three American League players (with Jose Canseco and Joe Carter) and one of eight in the majors (Howard Johnson, Ron Gant, Ryne Sandberg, Barry Larkin, Barry Bonds in the NL) to join the 20-20 club (home runs and stolen bases) in 1991. He was the first Yankee to accomplish this since Rickey Henderson in 1985 and 1986 and the fifth Yankee overall (Bobby Bonds 1975, Roy White 1970, Mickey Mantle 1959).
He set career highs in home runs (20) and RBIs (69) and a major league high in walks (45). His strikeout total (77) and strikeout to at-bat ratio (1: 6.3 AB) were both personal bests. Before going on the DL he hit 10 home runs in 297 at-bats (1: 29.7 AB); after his DL stint, he hit 10 homers in 189 at-bats (1: 18.9 AB). He hit seven of the club's final 19 homers of the season.
Roberto hit .299 (35-for-117) with runners in scoring position including .345 (20-for-58) with less than two out. He hit .571 (4-for-7) with nine RBIs with the bases loaded, and over the past two seasons has hit .400 (6-for-15) with 15 RBIs with the bases full. Roberto drove the runner home from third base with less than two out 23 of 54 times.
He hit .296 against left-handed pitching and .254 against righties. He hit a team best .310 at home and .228 on the road. He hit .316 (12-for-38) when leading off a game.
Roberto finished with a .986 fielding percentage, 19th in the American League. He started 124 games (5th on the club), 72 in center field, 52 in left. He made four errors (CF-3, LF-1) and finished the season with 56 errorless games. Roberto contributed eight assists, seven from left field, three of which cut down baserunners at the plate.
He stole a team best 32 bases (8th in the AL) and was caught nine times. Kelly now has 123 career steals, 17th on the all-time Yankee list behind Snuffy Stirnweiss (130). He teamed with Steve Sax to become the first Yankee duo to steal 30+ bases in three consecutive seasons since Hal Chase and Bert Daniels in 1910-12. Kelly's 123 steals in 166 attempts give him a 74% success rate.
He stole 11 straight bases without being caught to end the season (last caught 9/9), the longest streak of his career. For the season he was 4-for-4 stealing third and has stolen third six straight times (last caught 8/11/90). For his career, Kelly is 11-for-13 stealing third.
He signed a one-year contract in January 1992, avoiding arbitration.
A consistent player on the 1990 club, Kelly enjoyed a fine season, hitting .285 with 15 home runs, 61 RBIs, 42 stolen bases, playing in all 162 games. He made his first error of the year in game 25 on May 8, breaking a string of 90 consecutive errorless games dating back to July 14, 1989, and played every inning of every game through May 26 (40 games).
Kelly started out hot, hitting .317 in April. On April 17 in Detroit during the second inning, he was caught stealing twice in one inning (once after reaching base safely on an error), becoming the fifth player in major league history to do so. Roberto hit .280 in May with two home runs and 15 RBIs. He played in all 27 games (26 starts) and hit safely in 20.
He hit a solid .282 in June but his production was down (2 HR, 3 RBI). He was hitting .275 on June 10 but hit .329 (24-for-73) over the final 18 games in June to bring his season batting average to .289. On June 20 at Milwaukee Roberto had a game-winning, two-out solo homer in the ninth inning off Chuck Crim to give the Yankees a 5-4 win. On June 22 at Toronto, he had the first of two four-hit games.
At the break, Kelly was hitting .286 with 16 doubles, four home runs, 25 RBIs and 18 stolen bases. He hit.275 in July, starting 28 of 29 games, and it was his biggest month production-wise (7 2B, 4 HR, 18 RBI). He cut down on his strikeouts (24) and had a .344 batting average when he made contact.
Roberto had his best average in August when he hit .320 (6 HR, 11 RBI). He hit in a season best 10 straight games August 18-27 with a .400 average (18-for-45), five doubles, two home runs, six RBIs and six stolen bases, bringing his season average up 10 points to .297. On August 21 at Toronto, he stole home, the first Yankee to steal home since Claudell Washington on September 15, 1988.
Roberto was named American League Player of the Week (along with Dave Parker) for the week of August 20-26. During that week he batted .406 (13-for-32) with four doubles, two homers, five RBIs and six stolen bases. He was the first Yankee to win the award since Don Mattingly (week of July 17, 1988). Kelly capped off August by hitting a home run off Greg Harris at Boston in his final at-bat of the month.
He hit .254 (31-for-122) in September/October. He struck out for the 142nd time on September 24 against Baltimore (Curt Schilling), setting the all-time Yankee strikeout record which was surpassed by Jesse Barfield. He finished the season with 39 straight errorless games. After the break, he hit .285 with 16 doubles, 11 home runs, 36 RBIs and 24 stolen bases.
For the 1990 season, Kelly led the club in seven offensive categories including games played (162), at-bats (641), runs (85), hits (183), total bases (268), doubles (32) and triples (4). He led the club with 52 multi-hit games (tied for fifth in AL) and in two-hit games (38), three-hit games (12) and four-hit games (2). Kelly ranked in the league in at-bats (2nd), caught stealing (tied for 2nd), hits (3rd), stolen bases (3rd), strikeouts (6th) and total bases (10th). He and San Diego's Joe Carter were the only two to play 162 games in 1990; Kelly became only the fifth Yankee to play all 162 games.
He started 155 games (144 in center field, 11 in left). He contributed five outfield assists and ranked 12th in the AL with a .988 fielding percentage. Roberto finished the season with 39 straight errorless games.
Roberto had three lead-off-the-game home runs (July 29 at Cleveland off Cecilio Guante, August 6 against Cleveland off Greg Swindell, September 25 against Baltimore off Anthony Telford); the Yankees were 3-0 in these games. He had 22 two-out RBIs.
He teamed with Steve Sax to become the first Yankee duo to each steal at least 40 bases since Birdie Cree (48) and Bert Daniels (40) in 1911. The Yankees became the first club to have two of the top three in the league since the 1975 Oakland Athletics had Billy North (75, 1st) and Bert Campaneris (54, 3rd). Roberto stole 42 bases in 59 tries, a 71 % success rate. He stole third successfully five times in seven attempts.
Roberto had a career major league average of .256 in two short stints entering 1989 but put together an outstanding season, hitting .302 as the Yankee starting center fielder.
He started the season with a bang on Opening Day at Minnesota, getting his first career four-hit game with a home run (off Juan Berenguer), two RBIs and two stolen bases. He also had a career high four-RBI game on April 17 at Toronto. For the month, he hit a club-best .329.
From May 14-20, Roberto hit in seven straight games (12-for-25, .480). He was placed on the 15-day disabled list on May 26 with a sprained left wrist which he aggravated diving for a ball the previous evening against California and remained on the DL until June 12. Roberto started playing again on June 14 and a 2-for-2 effort on June 16 (first game) put him over .300 to stay for the season. Overall in June, he reached base safely in 14 of 16 games, hitting .340 for the month.
July was his best month offensively, with Roberto hitting .349 with 15 RBIs. He had a four-game hitting streak from July 5-8 that included a home run off Roger Clemens in Boston. He was hitting .312 with five errors at the break, and for the month reached safely in 24 of 27 games.
Roberto continued his torrid hitting in August with a .324 mark for the month. He hit in a career best 11 straight games from July 29-August 7 (20-for-38, .526), and from July 19-August 7 reached base in 20 straight games while hitting .470 (31-for-66) to raise his average from .305 to .341. In Minnesota he went 4-for-4 on August 11 and 2-for-4 on August 12 to boost his batting average to .345, his highest mark since the third game of the season. September was his slowest month, as he hit .188 (12-for-64) with three home runs and six RBIs.
His post-break batting was average was .291. He committed one error after the break (July 14) and ended the year with 66 straight errorless games.
For the season, Roberto ranked first on the club in on-base percentage (.369), second in stolen bases (35), second in sacrifice hits (8), fourth in runs (65), games (137) and hits (133), and sixth in doubles (18). He hit .273 with men in scoring position, 372 against left-handed pitchers and .267 against right-handed pitchers, and .317 at home and .288 on the road.
He stole 35 bases in 47 attempts (74%). He teamed with Steve Sax (43 steals) to become the first Yankee tandem to each steal 30-plus bases since Mickey Rivers (43) and Roy White (31) in 1976.
Roberto was signed as a free agent by the Yankees (scout Fred Ferreira) on February 21, 1982. In his first pro season he hit .198 at Bradenton in 31 games, and in 1983 batted .265 in 20 games at Greensboro and .216 in 48 games in Oneonta. In 111 games with Greensboro in 1984, Roberto hit .238 with 68 runs and 42 stolen bases. He batted .247 in 1985 in 114 games at Ft. Lauderdale of the 'A' Florida State League, had 86 runs along with 49 stolen bases and led that circuit with 13 triples.
In 1986, Roberto batted .291 in 86 games with the Albany-Colonie Yankees (AA Eastern League) with 11 doubles, two homers, 43 RBIs, 42 runs scored and 10 stolen bases. He was placed on the disabled list on July 10 due to the presence of bone chips in his right ankle and was not activated until August 23. Roberto was named to the Eastern League All-Star team but was unable to play due to his injury.
Roberto spent the first part of the 1987 season with the Columbus Clippers before being recalled to New York on July 29. At that point, he was hitting .300 in 102 games with the Clippers, with 10 home runs, 54 RBIs, 48 stolen bases and six times caught stealing.
He made his major league debut with the Yankees on July 29 against Kansas City at Yankee Stadium, going 0-for-3 with a run scored and two stolen bases. His first major league hit came on July 30 off the Royals' Bud Black, a first-inning double. He went 2-for-4 with an RBI (his first in the majors) on August 1 against Detroit. Roberto's first major league home run came on August 6 at Detroit, a three-run homer in the eighth inning off Willie Hernandez.
Roberto was optioned to Columbus on August 14 after playing 10 games with the Yankees, hitting .300 (6-for-20) with a homer, five RBIs and three stolen bases. He remained with the Clippers until the conclusion of their season, finishing with a .278 batting average with 13 home runs and 62 RBIs, and was 51 of 61 in stolen base attempts. His 51 stolen bases led the International League, and he was named as the designated hitter on the postseason IL all-star team.
He was recalled to the Yankees on September 10 and had his first big league three-hit game on September 22 at Milwaukee (second game). In his two stints with the Yankees, Roberto combined to steal nine bases in 12 attempts.
In 1988, an injury-plagued year cut his season short. Roberto began the season on the Yankees roster, when he started as the Opening Day center fielder and went 3-for-4, but was optioned to Columbus on May 21. At the time of his option he was hitting .254 (15-for-59) with five RBIs.
Following his option, Roberto played 30 games with the Clippers, batting .333 (40-for-120) with three homers and 16 RBIs, and was successful on 11 of 14 stolen base attempts. He was recalled to New York on June 24, and on that day hit a leadoff home run off Cleveland's Tom Candiotti at Yankee Stadium, his only home run of the year and one of the two leadoff home runs hit by the Yankees in 1988.
On June 28, against Detroit, he was injured running against the center field wall attempting to catch a triple hit by Pat Sheridan in the 9th inning. Roberto suffered a sprained left wrist and a bruised right knee and was placed on the 15-day disabled list on June 30. He was transferred to the 30-day DL on July 25 and was activated on September 2.
Roberto made 10 appearances with the Yankees after that, all in a pinch-running or defensive replacement capacity, and did not have any plate appearances due to his sprained left wrist. He recorded a stolen base in each of three successive pinch-running appearances from September 8-11 and scored twice as a pinch runner. For the season, he stole five bases in seven attempts.
Roberto played Little League and in 1982 graduated from Instituto Jose Delores Moscote, a high school in Panama City, where he played baseball, basketball and volleyball."
-1992 New York Yankees Information Guide
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