Kelly played just one season in the National League in 1879, split between two teams, the Syracuse Stars, for which he played in ten games, eight of them at catcher, and then another six games with the Troy Trojans. He played in 16 total games, had a .155 batting average, and scored five runs.\n', '

After his playing days were over, Kelly became an umpire, working games in both the National League and the American Association. He began in the NL in 1882, working 51 games, but then jumped to the American Association from 1883 to 1886. He returned to the NL in 1888. The early years of the major leagues were particularly hard on umpires, with hostile crowds and vicious arguments, in addition to the difficulty of constantly working games single-handedly. Few officials lasted more than two or three seasons, and by the end of the 1885 campaign Kelly had passed Billy McLean\'s total of 317 major league games as an umpire.\n', '

Among the highlights of his officiating career, he called two no-hitters. The first game came on September 20, 1882 when he called ball and strikes for the Chicago White Stockings star pitcher Larry Corcoran, who tossed his second of three career no-hitters, and on September 18, 1897 when future Hall of Famer Cy Young threw his first of his three career no-hitters.\n', '

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