baseballmascots

Babe Ruth and "Little Ray" Kelley at the Polo Grounds Babe Ruth (George Herman Ruth, Jr., 1895- 1948), "Little Ray" Kelly (Ray Kelly, 1918-2001) "One day, Babe saw a man and his little boy playing catch in a park near Babe’s house in New York. He decided to walk over and watch the two play catch for awhile. Babe talked to the man for a little bit and found out that the little boy was only three years old. He was very impressed by how well the boy could play catch. "Babe then got the idea to make the little boy, whose name was Ray Kelly, his personal mascot! So the next day, Babe picked up this little boy and took him to the stadium with him for his game. And, that’s how Little Ray Kelly became a part of the history of the game of baseball. "Little Ray Kelly was Babe’s personal mascot for ten years. He even had his own Yankee uniform. And, he was with the Babe all the time during Yankee home games." [ 1 ] "At age 13, Little Ray retired from the Yankees because his school obligations intervened. But Ruth had the boy and his father as his guests at the 1932 World Series, and they sat in a box seat next to the Yankees' dugout when Ruth hit his famed ''called shot'' home run in Game 3 at Wrigley Field off the Chicago Cubs' Charlie Root. "Mr. Kelly maintained long afterward that Ruth did indeed point to the center-field bleachers before hitting the ball there. 'He absolutely did it,' he said. 'I was right there. Never in doubt.' After leaving the Yankees behind him in the early 1930's, he graduated from high school, then served as a sergeant in the Army Air Forces during World War II. Mr. Kelly later graduated from Pace University and worked as an accountant for Mobil Oil." [ 2 ]

Pixel Wrangler Great story. Thanks for posting.

Pixel Wrangler thanks for this in-depth look into Ray Kelly. We will identify him in the online record and add some of this story to the online record.

September 1, 1912

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1912 Boston Red Sox: www.baseball-reference.com/teams/BOS/1912.shtml

they are: top row: Joseph Quirk (trainer), Tris Speaker, Joe Wood, Hick Cady, Pinch Thomas, Buck O’Brien, Hugh Bradley, Duffy Lewis mid row: Harry Hooper, Bill Carrigan, Steve Yerkes, Olaf Henriksen, Clyde Engle, Les Nunamaker, Charlie Hall, Larry Gardner, Ray Collins, Jake Stahl front row: Heine Wagner, Hugh Bedient, Larry Pape, Marty Krug

bmarlowe1 - I see that you have provided names. Olaf Henriksen is my family member- do you also have a name of the boy standing in front of him, and the little girl standing in the back row. Thank you John

In a newspaper (NY Daily Times) version of a picture of the same group from a different angle, the girl is listed as "Miss Wood," meaning it should be Virginia Wood, Smoky Joe's daughter. The boy is the mascot who is listed as McCarthy, and therefore should be Jerry McCarthy.