1994 Profile: Pat Kelly

"What a difference a year can make. In 1992, Yankees second baseman Pat Kelly was disgruntled, confused, and even contemplated retirement. After his outstanding performance, the only retirement Kelly considers is to the batting cage, where he can work on improving his .273 batting average, seven homers and 51 RBIs, all career highs set last season.

'It's just a maturing process. You learn situations, and it helps,' Kelly says. 'I've had a good glove, no-bat label. It's good to prove to some people I can hit here in the big leagues. I'm only going to get better.'

Defensively, few can carry Kellly's leather. The infielder turns an outstanding double play, and his range is extensive to both the first base and shortstop sides. In addition, the 26-year-old led the Yankees with 14 stolen bases, 10 sacrifice hits and 14 bunt singles while missing 37 games due to an assortment of injuries.

'I think everything that has happened has helped me, and believe me, everything has happened,' Kelly relates. 'I haven't had an easy time of it but it builds character. Nothing was handed to me in baseball or in life. I'm used to it.'

One of baseball's brightest young infielders, Kelly can look back and laugh at his early-life crisis. Retirement had never seemed so far away."

-The New York Yankees Official 1994 Yearbook

"Second baseman coming into his own.

His average jumped 47 points from the year before. Kelly led the club with 14 stolen bases, 10 sacrifice bunts and 14 bunt singles. He can handle both left-handers (.283) and righties (.268). He batted .271 with runners in scoring position but stumbled with the bases loaded (.133).

His best month was July when he hit at a .310 clip, but he showed his streaky nature by following that with a bleak .212 in August. He made just eight starts in September-October due to a hamstring injury.

Kelly was a disappointing 10th at his position with a .978 fielding percentage, making 14 errors in 628 chances. He possesses incredible range and is quick to turn a double play. He's capable of a spectacular play but is also guilty of too many errors on routine chances.

Born October 14, 1967, in Philadelphia, he was the Yankees' ninth-round choice in the 1988 draft."

-Tony DeMarco, Fort Worth Star Telegram and Tom Pedulla, Gannett Newspapers, The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1994 Edition

"In 1993 Pat had his best season as a major leaguer, hitting .273 with seven home runs, 51 RBIs and 14 stolen base in 127 games, all career highs. His .978 fielding percentage in 125 games at second was 10th best in the American League at that position.

Pat appeared in all 21 games in April, starting at second base in 20 of them. He hit .246 with two home runs and nine RBIs for the month. On Opening Day he went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and a career high three RBIs. On April 10 at Chicago, he scored a career high three runs. Pat had a four-game hitting streak from April 12-16 to raise his batting average to .343 after 10 games (2 HR, 7 BBIs). He went 5-for-34 (.147) the rest of the month, including a 0-for-14 skid from April 16-21.

Pat rebounded in May by hitting in six straight games from May 1-7, raising his batting average from .246 to .289. For the month he hit .264 with two homers and eight RBIs while starting 21 games at second base.

He missed games on May 16, 17 and 18 with assorted injuries to his knee, Achilles, and finger. On May 25 and 26 against Baltimore, Pat homered in consecutive games for the first time in his career. On May 31 against Cleveland, Pat had two hits to end an 0-for-11 skid, and ended the month hitting .255 for the season.

Pat hit .288 in June with a home run and 15 RBIs, a career high number of RBIs in a single month. On June 8 at Kansas City he had one of the best games of his career, going 4-for-4 with two doubles, a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored; the four hits were a career high and the three RBIs tied a career high. From June 19-July 4 Pat hit safely in 11 of 13 games (.351), raising his season average from .259 to .274.

At the All-Star break he was hitting .251 with five homers and 33 RBIs. On July 28 at Detroit, Pat recorded a career high four RBIs, including a two-run homer off Mark Leiter. He finished July with a seven-game hitting streak from July 24-31, tying his career high and lifting his average at the end of July to .277. Pat hit .310 in July, his best monthly average of the season.

Pat followed that with his poorest month of the season, hitting .212 with no homers and six RBIs in August. He was hampered by a nagging hamstring injury in September and October, making just eight starts in those two months. He hit .414 with four RBIs in September/October, including three-hit games on September 1 and 29.

Pat did not go on the disabled list at any point during the season. 

For the season, Pat led the team with 14 stolen bases, 10 sacrifice bunts and 14 bunt sacrifice singles. He tied for second on the team with Mike Stanley for most sacrifice flies (8) behind Wade Boggs (9).

Pat made all of his 119 starts at second base, committing 14 errors in 628 chances (.978). He tied with Spike Owen for the team lead in errors and participated in 84 double plays.

He hit five solo home runs and two two-run home runs. He had 10 two-hit games, four three-hit games and a game with a career high four hits (June 8). He hit .271 with runners in scoring position and .133 (2-for-15) with the bases loaded. He had had eight infield hits and went 0-for-2 as a pinch hitter. 403 of Pat's 406 at-bats came in the No. 9 slot in the batting order and he made all of his starts batting ninth.

His contract is signed through the 1994 season.

In 1992, his first full year in the majors, Pat hit .226 with seven home runs and 27 RBIs over 106 games. He hit .200 in April playing in just 12 games. 

In an April 20 game against Cleveland, he sprained his left thumb diving for a Carlos Baerga base hit. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list on April 21. Pat played two games in Albany on injury rehabilitation before being activated on May 7.

From May 8-15, over six games, he hit .438 (7-for-16), raising his batting average from .182 to a season best .265. He hit .273 in May and was hitting .250 through the end of the month.

Hitting .100 (3-for-30) in June, Pat went hitless in his final 17 at-bats prior to the break, bringing his average down to .195 (3 HR, 9 RBI). He ended July by getting 12 hits in his final 46 at-bats (.261).

Pat hit .294 (3 HR, 11 RBI). From August 16-22, Pat hit .440 (11-for-25) while raising his average from .205 to .230. He had his fourth career three-hit game on September 1 at Milwaukee.

Pat's average was at .239 on September 8, but he finished the season with three hits in his final 29 at-bats. He did not play in the final nine games and only once in the last 15 games, as he suffered from inflammation in his right knee. He hit .279 over his final 32 starts and .254 in the second half of the season.

For the season Pat led the club with 10 hit-by-pitches, tied for sixth in the AL, the most by a Yankee since Don Baylor in 1985 (24). He had a team leading eight bunt base hits plus eight infield hits. He had 15 multi-hit games. 31 of his 72 hits went for extra-base hits, the best ratio on the team. He hit .228 against left-handers, .225 against righties. He batted ninth in 96 of his 98 starts and reached base safely to begin an inning 24 of 77 times. 

Pat finished with a .978 fielding percentage, making 11 errors in 510 chances. He made seven errors in his final 86 games.

Beginning the  1991 season at the AAA level with the Columbus Clippers, Pat was named the Jack Butterfield Player of the Month for April, hitting .336 with three home runs, 19 RBIs and eight stolen bases in 31 games. He was recalled by the Yankees on May 19. Though a natural second baseman, Pat made an immediate impact on the team by filling a void at third base for the remainder of the season.

He made his major league debut on May 20 at Cleveland as a second baseman and his first five starts were at second. His first major league hit came in his seventh at-bat, on May 22 at Cleveland, a two-run double off Tom Candiotti. Pat hit safely in four straight games (May 22-26), going 5-for-16 with four doubles. He played third base for the first time on May 26 at Baltimore.

Pat started 23 of the club's 27 games in June and hit .260 for the month, including 22 at third. On June 15 at Texas, he was hit on the right wrist by a Kevin Brown pitch in the second inning and missed the rest of that game plus three more games with a bad bruise. Pat hit .200 (7-for-35) for the rest of June.

His batting average reached a season high of .258 at the break. He started 24 of the club's 26 games in July.

Pat started August with a season-long five-game hitting streak. He left the game of September 14, against Boston, with stiffness in the lumbar area of his back and did not play the rest of the season, missing 21 games. 

For the '91 season, Pat had the club's best success rate in stealing bases, with 12 steals in 13 attempts (92%); he led the majors in success rate among players with at least 12 steals. He was one of four Yankees to steal 10 bases (with Steve Sax, Roberto Kelly and Bernie Williams), the first Yankee quartet to steal 10 bases each since 1985. He tied Williams for the club lead in triples (4).

Pat was drafted by the Yankees in the 9th round of the June 1988 free agent draft. He was signed by Yankee scout Joe DiCarlo. That season he spent his first year in professional baseball at Class-A Oneonta and hit .327 and stole 25 bases. Drafted as a shortstop, he was converted to second base by Oneota manager Garry Allenson. Pat was named to the New York-Penn League All-Star team as the starting second baseman and helped lead Oneonta to the league championship.

In 1989 he played in 124 games at Class-A Prince William. He was named as the starting second baseman on the Carolina League All-Star team and helped lead Prince William to the league championship. Pat led the league in triples (7) and led second basemen in assists (367) and double plays (67).

At AA Albany in 1990 Pat hit .270 with eight home runs and 44 RBIs. He had 31 stolen bases for the second straight season, finishing fourth in the Eastern League. Pat hit .291 at home and .255 on the road. He had a .970 fielding percentage, making six errors in 667 total chances and participating in 97 double plays.

His best monthly batting average was in June, as he hit .346 with 16 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. Named the starting second baseman on the Eastern League All-Star team, Pat hit .412 in five postseason games.

Pat attended West Chester University where he was a four-year letterman in baseball. He was also a regional All-American and was named a first-team shortstop on the ECAC All-Star team. He attended Catasauqua High School (PA) where he was All-State in baseball and All-League in basketball and football. He played Little League and American Legion ball.

Pat enjoys golf, music, basketball and tennis."

-1994 New York Yankees Information Guide

Named to New York-Penn League All-Star Team (2B), 1988.

Led Carolina League in triples (7), 1989.

Led Carolina League second basemen in assists (372), 1989.

Tied for lead among Carolina League second basemen in total chances (641), 1989.

Led Carolina League second basemen in double plays (76), 1989.

Named to Carolina League All-Star Team (2B), 1989.

Led Eastern League second basemen in putouts (266), 1990.

Led Eastern League second basemen in assists (381), 1990.

Led Eastern League second basemen in total chances (667), 1990.

Led Eastern League second basemen in double plays (97), 1990.

Led Eastern League second basemen in errors (20), 1990.

Named to Eastern League All-Star Team (2B), 1990.

-1994 New York Yankees Information Guide

Patrick Franklin Kelly "PK" "Pat" (2B)     #14

Born October 14, 1967, in Philadelphia, PA, resides in Clearwater Beach, Florida. Height: 6-0, weight: 182. Bats right, throws right. Attended West Chester State University.

Major league service time: 2 years, 140 days. Opening Day Age: 26.

-1994 New York Yankees Information Guide