Kelly Paris

Kelly Jay Paris (October 17, 1957 – May 27, 2019) was a professional baseball player who played in the Major Leagues with the St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles, and the Chicago White Sox. He played as a third baseman and shortstop.

Career

Paris was born in

All three of Paris' career major league home runs were hit in 1988 in 44 at-bats while a member of the Chicago White Sox.^[4]

He died on May 27, 2019, after a battle with lung cancer.^[5]

Return to MLB

After playing with Cincinnati, Paris spent the next part of his career playing for the Rochester Red Wings, the Triple-A team for the Baltimore Orioles at the time. It was during his time with the Reds that Paris developed a drinking problem, which led to him ending up in Baltimore. While in Cincinnati, he checked into rehab, but the stay was brief. He was drinking the night he nearly lost his life in an accident that left him with a bruised sternum, a broken back, and broken ribs. Paris would spend the 1987 season out of baseball, working in a dental lab making dentures for $4.25 an hour.^[6] Paris would later sign a contract with the Chicago White Sox, playing in the minors until he was called up in the summer of 1988. In one of his first games back in the big leagues, he hit a homer run to help the White Sox defeat the Angels 6–3.^[7] His stay in the big leagues would be brief. He'd play his last major league game on August 30 against the Detroit Tigers and the White Sox released him on November 8, 1988.^[8]

References