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George Kelly

Baseball is an outdoor sport in which a pitcher pitches a hard, fist sized ball to the hitting area of a batter. The batter hits the hard ball with a tapered, smooth, cylindrical bat made up of wood or metal. The batsman scores by running counter-clockwise within the four markers called the bases arranged at the corners of a diamond. Baseball is sometimes called hardball to differentiate it from similar games such as softball.

George Kelly is one of the former baseball players who hold the honor of being inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame. Kelly was born on September 10, 1895, in the San Francisco city at California. Kelly was only 19 years old when he broke into the big leagues on August 18, 1915, with the New York Giants baseball team and since then compiled many records. Kelly died on October 13, 1984 in Burlingame, Canada.

Kelly was a power hitting first baseman who led the National League in home runs in 1921 and finished in the top six positions for six times. He was the RBI, Runs Batted in man in the middle of John McGraw's lineups that won four straight pennants from the 1921 to 1924 seasons. At 6 feet 4 inches, Kelly was known as Highpockets, and was a fan favorite in New York and everywhere else he played. Kelly formed an All Hall of Fame infield for the Giants in the 1920 season.

Kelly’s best season in 1921 clubbed 23 homers, which led the league, and his 122 RBI were second in the loop. He hit 0.308 with 42 doubles, nine triples and 95 runs scored. The Giants won the National League flag and defeated the Yankees in the World Series. In July of 1924 he set a National League record with seven long balls in six games, and at least one in six straight. He also clubbed three homers in a game twice, and once batted in all eight of his team's runs in one of those three homer games.

Kelly’s baseball career came to an end as he was found guilty in participating with the gambling and bribery scandal during the 1924 World Series, between the Giants and Senators. However, Kelly exonerated from the blame later, threatening to boycott the World Series against the cheating Giants. Kelly was still in the minds of many people for his unique playing and striking style. He was a potential player with a team spirit.

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