King Kelly and the Boston Strong Boy on the Rails and in Vaudeville
Before there was MTV there was vaudeville.
Before there were jet airelines there were railroads.
And before there were Michael Jordan and Brett Favre there were Michael Kelly, aka “King Kelly,” and John L. Sullivan, aka “the Boston Strong Boy.”
Baseball scholars deem Michael Kelly, a catcher in the National League from 1878 to 1886, to be major league baseball’s first superstar with a national following. The popular Mike, with his handlebar moustache and handsome features, was no doubt the first American idol and sex symbol. He was especially popular among the lady “cranks” as fans were known back in the 19th century.
John L. Sullivan, heavyweight champion of the world, attained the belt when he defeated Paddy “the Troy Giant” Ryan in 1882. The Great Sullivan remained the champ for ten long years until he was, in turn, defeated by James J. “Gentleman Jim” Corbett in 1892.
Michael Kelly’s famed career included two batting championships (.354 in 1994 and .388 in 1886) and the invention of the foot first slide into second base for a stolen base. King Kelly incited the crowd whenever he got on first base with a single or a base on ball. The crowd would immediately start to chant, “slide, Kelly, slide,” encouraging their favorite player to take-off for a steal. He rarely let the crowd down, swiping 315 bases during his career.
Kelly’s base-stealing exploits became so widespread that Maggie Cline, a famous singer at the time, had a popular hit with her song “Slide,Kelly, Slide.” The chorus of the song went: “Slide, Kelly, Slide! You’re running is a disgrace! Slide, Kelly, Slide! Stay there-hold your base!”
During his days in the ring, John L. Sullivan put together a record of 47 wins, including 29 knockouts, against only one loss. Americans throughout the land wanted to meet and shake the hand of America’s most popular athlete. It became a source of pride for people to be able to say, “Shake the hand, that shook the hand of John L. Sullivan!”
King Kelly and the Boston Strong Boy were the first two Americans that people used to beg for their autographs.
For the first time in American history men who turned their hand to sports were receiving national acclaim. Previously, only presidents, generals and the odd frontiersman like Daniel Boone or Davy Crockett rose to such dizzy heights. In a day and age whre most American workers earned less than $1,000, Kelly earned an incredible $,5000 at the peak of his playing days. Kelly’s salary was compared to John L. Sullivan’s earnings of $50,000 in the middle of the 1880s. John L. even outearned Chester Arthur, president of the United States, who earned $25,000 a year.
King Kelly and the Boston Strong Boy’s legends were spread throughout the land because they were able to get to any point in the nation by the railroads. From 1870 to 1880 the mileage of tracks had almost doubled from 54,000 to 93,000. Twenty-two rail lines converged in Chicago, Illinois, linking the country coast from coast. Kelly and Sullivan used these coaches to conviently reach and meet their fans from New York City to San Francisco. Their success was twice as amazing because they were both Irish-Catholics and the sons of immigrants who had settled in the urban north. Their ability to cross ethnic and religious barriers set the template for all popular culture heroes to follow in their footsteps.
Michael Kelly and John L. Sullivan may have increased their popularity beyond the diamond and the ring by performing on the vaudeville circuits that were strung across the country at the close of the nineteenth century. Any city with a population of over 10,000 would of had a theatre that featured the variety acts popular at the time. Song and dance acts, stand-up comics, jugglers, animal acts and dramatic skits provided Americans with a cheap form of entertainment before the days of cinema, radio and television.
Both King Kelly and the Boston Strong Boy were attracted to the footlights. Kelly took a popular piece, “Casey at the Bat,” and transformed it into an even more popular piece, “Kelly at the Bat.” He took the liberty of rewriting the script to where he finished by hitting a game-winning homer as opposed to striking out like poor Casey. Sullivan, following Kelly’s lead, also turned to the stage to bring himself to the adoring the public. For a spell, Sullivan toured in “Uncle Tom’s Log Cabin.” Sullivan, like Kelly, also did a tad of rewriting to craft the piece to his liking. Unfortunately, the bigoted Irishman recasted Uncle Tom as the villian of the play and turned Simon Legree into the hero.
King Kelly was on a ship taking him from New York to Boston where he was to appear in a new melodrama, “Dowd’s Neighbors,” when he caught a cold during a snowstorm at sea. King Kelly died in 1894, age 37. It’s been claimed that his last words to his priest were, “Father, this is my last slide.”
John L. Sullivabn, after drinking his way through a fortune of two million dollars, became a lecturer on the vaudeville circuit, lecturing on the evils of strong drink. He would be consideed expert testimony on the subject. At the conclusion of this author’s stage play, “Boston Knuckles,” John L. concludes his talk with these words: “Before I say goodnight to you, I want to thank you for the kindness you have shown me tonight. And please on your way out tonight do me the honor of shaking my hand. One day I hope it will be a source of pleasure for all of you to hold out your hand and say,” Shake the hand that shook the hand of John L. Sullivan,”"
John L. Sullivan died in 1918, age 57.
King Kelly and the Boston Strong Boy became the first popular culture heroes in our nation’s history. King Kelly and the Boston Strong Boy used the railroads and the vaudeville circuits to spread their fame beyond the baseball field and boxing ring to reach every corner of the country. Finally, these two Irish-Americans blazeda path for all other popular cultures heroes to follow in their footsteps down to the current day.
The End
About the Author
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