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Before becoming manager of the Twins, Tom Kelly was trying to make it as a first baseman or corner outfielder. In the collection are two checks from Kelly’s playing days.

Notice the checks are made out to “Jay” Kelly, a nod to his legal first name instead of his more familiar middle name “Thomas”. The top check is to out the then 21-year old as he played for the Tacoma Twins in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. The bottom check is from two years later with Tacoma.

Kelly played just one year in the bigs with the Twins in 1975. He stayed in the minor leagues from 1968-1980 before being named the Minnesota skipper in 1986.

Kelly guided Minnesota to two World Series championships. The ’87 and ’91 teams were led by first baseman Kent Hrbek and Hall of Fame centerfielder Kirby Puckett.

Outside of his 23-game stint in 1986 and the two championship years of ’87 and ’91, Kelly’s Twins posted winning records in only three other seasons from 1986-2001.

Beloved by Twins fans, Kelly’s #10 was retired by the Minnesota franchise on January 26, 2012.

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On the reserve of each check is the unusual Kelly signature bearing his legal first name, “Jay”. Kelly managed the Minnesota team for sixteen seasons, winning the World Series in both 1987 and 1991.

There have only been 23 men have managed more than one World Series title and most are in the Hall of Fame. Kelly presents an interesting case though as his overall winning percentage is .478 (1140 wins, 1244 losses).