Pat Kelly (catcher)


Dale Patrick Kelly is an American former professional baseball catcher and current coach. He played in Major League Baseball for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Career

Drafted in the third round of amateur draft, his career in the majors consisted of three games. Kelly made his MLB debut with the Toronto Blue Jays on May 28,, and played his final game six days later. In seven at-bats, he had two hits, for a.286 batting average, with no home runs or RBIs. Kelly batted and threw right-handed.
On July 3, 2007, Kelly replaced Bucky Dent as the Cincinnati Reds bench coach on an interim basis.
On June 5, 2008, Kelly's son Casey was the 30th selection of the first round, by the Boston Red Sox in the MLB's First Year Player Draft. Pat's older son, Chris, is currently in the Tampa Bay Rays farm system.
On January 6, 2014, Kelly replaced Ken Griffey Sr. as the manager of the Reds' Single High-Class A California League affiliate in Bakersfield, California. Kelly had managed the Reds' Rookie League team in Billings, Montana in 2013.
On December 1, 2014, Kelly was announced as the new manager of the Reds' Double-A affiliate, the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. On April 18, 2018, Kelly once again became the interim bench coach for the Reds.
On January 9, 2019, Kelly was named the manager of the Reds' Double-A affiliate, the Chattanooga Lookouts. He was named the manager of the Louisville Bats prior to the 2020 season.

Facts

In between, Kelly played winter ball with the Cardenales de Lara club of the Venezuelan League in the 1977–1978 season, and also managed the Indios de Mayagüez of Puerto Rico to the 1992 Caribbean Series championship title. Besides, he played for the Bradenton Explorers of the Senior Professional Baseball Association in its 1989 inaugural season.