Bobby Kielty, Relief Pitcher. No, that’s not a typo. The red-headed former Red Sox bench player is now making an attempt to revive his career…in the bullpen. The career .254 hitter had one memorable moment in his only at-bat in the 2007 World Series when he hit a pinch-hit homerun that proved to be the game and series clincher for the Sox. Since that at-bat, Kielty has not emerged in the majors, but is hoping his pitching arm will guide him back.
Normally, it frustrates that hell out of me when a player doesn’t know when to hang up his cleats (Brett Favre), but in this case, I just think it’s funny. Growing up in Connecticut, I went to dozens of minor league games in New Britain (the former Sox AA affiliate, now the Twins AA affiliate). In 2000, I went to a bunch of games with my dad and a few of my friends, and remember seeing Bobby Kielty play.
In 2000, Kielty had his best year as a minor leaguer, hitting .262 with 14 HR’s and 65 RBI’s. Kielty made the All-Star game and lead the league with 98 walks. The fans loved him because of his odd personality and even odder hair. Two years later, Kielty had some success in the big leagues in what was considered his rookie season, when he hit .291 with 12 HR’s and 46 RBI’s. He looked as though he was on his way to having a strong career, but never had the same success again.
Now, at age 33, Kielty is attempting to reinvent himself as a reliever, rather than sitting on his couch in retirement. After throwing some bullpen sessions for the Met’s last season, Kielty would like to try his hand at being a bench bat and bullpen arm for a major league club. According to a tweet from Tim Dierkes of MLBTradeRumors.com, Kielty has a ‘pretty good’ slider and a fastball.
I doubt Kielty will get the chance to pitch and hit in the majors again, but I suppose you can’t blame him for trying to make another million or two. Wouldn’t you change your job if it meant you had a chance at making another few million dollars over the next few years? I certainly would.
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Brooks Kieschnick made the switch somewhat successfully, appearing in 74 games as a pitcher in 2003 and 2004 while hitting .300 in 03 and .270 in 04.
And you say mention Favre as someone who should know when to hang up his cleats? He just proved everyone wrong by having maybe his best season ever. I think that entitles him to another go at it, if he wants.
Thanks for the comment Eric!
It’s certainly possible for Kielty to be successful at both, but his hitting numbers have been poor the past few years and probably won’t improve, especially if more attention is placed on improving his pitching.
I’m not arguing Favre’s impressive season, it exceeded everyone’s expectations, probably including his own. What I am opposed to is when a player ‘retires’ to get released by a team so he can come back and sign with a new team. I think it is disrespectful to the game, regardless of the success or failure of the player in future seasons.