Detroit Tigers: Let’s Relive Don Kelly’s Greatest Moment

In honor of Don Kelly’s retirement from the game of baseball, let’s relive his greatest moment as a member of the Detroit Tigers.

According to Colin Dunlap, CBS Radio host in Don Kelly’s home town of Pittsburgh, the former Detroit Tigers utility man has decided to retire from the game of baseball.

Kelly debuted in the major leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2007, and spent the last two seasons with the Miami Marlins, but the bulk of his career — spanning parts of nine seasons — was spent in Detroit.

Kelly was ironically loved by many Tigers fans despite his light bat and hated by just as many for being a pet favorite of erstwhile manager Jim Leyland (he appeared in 100+ games in a season three times in his Tigers career).

Kelly’s run in Detroit coincided with the club’s most successful stretch in recent history. They won the division and reached the postseason in four consecutive seasons from 2011 through 2014. The winning had very little to do with Kelly, who was a replacement level player for his career, but he did direly impact one big game in a particularly big way.

It was the 2011 American League Division series and the Tigers found themselves in a winner-take-all game on the road against the New York Yankees. After taking a two games to one lead in the series the Tigers had failed to close out the series at home in game four, suffering a crushing 10-1 defeat.

Looking for a spark, Leyland opted to give Kelly the start at third base and hit him second in the batting order. After the game Leyland would say that Kelly has “a little pop in his bat.” With a career .104 isolated slugging average his amount of pop was indeed rather little, but, then again, Kelly might be able to make use of Yankee Stadium’s short right field porch.

That, he did. Kelly golfed a low 0-1 curveball from pitcher Ivan Nova and flipped it over the right field fence to put the Tigers in front 1-0 in the top of the first inning.

Delmon Young, as the next hitter, made it back-to-back dingers for the Tigers to give them a 2-0 lead. It was a lead that they wouldn’t give up as they eliminated the Yankees in New York by a 3-2 final score.

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Don Kelly was not a good player but funny things in can happen in the game of baseball. It was a special night for the Tigers and a special moment for Kelly. Jim Leyland choked back tears as he talked about the game being one that Kelly could hold on to for the rest of his life.