Meet Bobby Kielty

This post of course in a few days could be meaningless as Bobby Kielty has the option of getting out of his deal with Boston if not added to the major league roster within a week of his signing. But let's get to know him anyway.

Kielty was born in Fontana, California on August 5, 1976 and signed with the Boston Red Sox the day after his birthday on August 6, 2007... Happy Birthday!

Kielty attended the University of Southern California and the University of Mississippi with a stop in between at Riverside Junior College. He began his professional career in 1999 after signing with the Minnesota Twins.

Quad City River Bandits
In 1999, Kielty began his minor league career with the Quad City River Bandits of the Midwest League. An eye problem forced him to miss more than a month of action (May 21-June 24), and he was disabled with a strained right hamstring (August 25-September 3). In only 69 games, Kielty batted .294 with 13 HR and 43 RBI and 12 SB. He homered in 3 consecutive games from August 14-16.

New Britain Rock Cats
Kielty was promoted to the New Britain Rock Cats of the Eastern League in 2000. He hit a grand slam against Portland on April 8, and another against Erie on May 26. He played in the Eastern League all-star game held in Bowie, Maryland. Bobby led the team in home runs (14), was 2nd in RBI (65) and 3rd in hits (118). His 98 walks led the league. He also had a .262 batting average for the season.

Salt Lake Stingers/Edmonton Trappers
On August 26th, Kielty was promoted to the Salt Lake Stingers of the Pacific Coast League, where he played in only 9 games, and hit .242 with 2 RBI. He was rated the Twins 8th best prospect, and the 9th best prospect in the Eastern League.

Kielty then began the 2001 season with the Twins newly relocated Pacific Coast League team in Edmonton with the Edmonton Trappers. Then in early April, the Minnesota Twins selected his contract and Kielty made his major league debut on April 10th against the Detroit Tigers. On April 13th, he got his first major league hit off Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox. The Twins optioned Kielty back down to Edmonton on April 21st, but was recalled by the team on July 31st. He hit his first career home run off Chris Carpenter of the Toronto Blue Jays on August 2nd. Bobby then found himself in Edmonton again on August 17th, but then returned to the Twins on September 3rd when he was recalled by the team again and played in 28 of the Twins last 37 games. Overall with Edmonton, he finished with a .287 average, 12 HR and 50 RBI, while with Minnesota he hit .250 with 2 HR and 14 RBI.

Minnesota Twins
Kielty once again started the 2002 season in Edmonton, but only appeared in 2 games (.429, 0 HR, 0 RBI) before the Twins called him up. On April 14th, he hit a 2 run pinch homer against Detroit. On May 17th against the New York Yankees, Kielty recorded his first career 4 hit game, and on June 26th against the White Sox, he had his first ever 4 RBI game. Kielty made his post-season debut against the Oakland Athletics in the ALDS, going 0 for 4 in the series. He then went 0 for 3 with a walk and RBI in the ALCS against the Anaheim Angels. After the season, he won the Bill Boni Award as the Twins most outstanding rookie, and he finished 4th in the American League for AL Rookie of the Year. Kielty finished the year with a .291 average, 12 HR and 46 RBI in 112 games.

After the Twins traded right fielder Matt Lawton to the New York Mets midway through the 2001 season, the Twins frequently used a platoon of Kielty and Dustan Mohr in right field. Twins fans were so accustomed to seeing one or the other player in right field that they dubbed the duo "Dusty Kielmohr". This situation persisted until midway through the 2003 season.

Kielty began the 2003 season with a 12 game hitting streak with the Twins, and had his first career 2 homer game on April 17th against Detroit. On May 16th against the White Sox, Kielty had a career high 5 RBI game, and on May 27th against Oakland, he hit a game winning pinch hit 3 run homer in the 8th inning off Barry Zito. On July 16th, Minnesota traded Kielty to the Toronto Blue Jays for LF Shannon Stewart.

Toronto Blue Jays
Bobby made his Blue Jays debut the next day against the Boston Red Sox, going 3 for 4 with a home run and 3 RBI. On September 21st against the Baltimore Orioles, he had his first career 2 stolen base game. Kielty's final Twins stats were a .252 average, 9 HR and 32 RBI, then in Toronto he hit .233 with 4 HR and 25 RBI. His combined stats were .244, 13 HR and 57 RBI. In the off-season, the Blue Jays traded Kielty to Oakland for starting pitcher Ted Lilly.

Oakland Athletics
Bobby was the Athletics opening day left fielder in 2004, and through May 19th, he was hitting .250 with 4 HR and 14 RBI. After then, he hit .190 with 3 HR and 17 RBI for the rest of the season, ending up with a .214 average, 7 HR and 31 RBI. All 7 of his home runs gave the A's the lead. Kielty hit his first career walk off home run on June 1st against the White Sox.

Kielty rebounded in 2005 by hitting .263 with 10 HR and tied his career high with 57 RBI. On May 20th against the San Francisco Giants, Kielty went 4 for 4 with 3 runs scored. However, he missed 3 weeks in September due to an oblique injury.

In the 2005 season Kielty, along with other members of the team, grew out his hair and refused to cut it. He earned the nickname "Ronny Mac" due to his similarity to McDonalds mascot, Ronald McDonald. Before a game at McAfee Coliseum, Kielty dressed up in full Ronald McDonald attire and amused the crowd. Many fans wore ginger wigs to the game in dedication to Kielty.

Kielty cut his hair in the 2005 off-season, and began the 2006 season with the Athletics Triple A affiliate, the Sacramento River Cats. He spent 10 games there, batting .222 with 1 HR and 4 RBI before being recalled by the A's. As of August 15th, Kielty has a .266 average with 5 HR and 23 RBI, along with 2 SB's.

In the 2006 season as a backup player for the A's, Kielty hit his first career grand slam. On September 19, he hit a grand slam against the Indians off pitcher Cliff Lee. Coincidentally, Lee and Kielty are very good friends as their wives were good childhood friends.

On July 23, Kielty was designated for assignment by the Oakland Athletics to make room for closer Huston Street.

*Team career recaps are from Wikipedia entry for Bobby Kielty.