Sports
A minor league baseball journeyman keeps hope alive with the Lancaster Stormers
Each day was a little different for Scott Kelly. He’d put in sheet rock, install electrical panels and dig with an excavator.
If a shovel was in his hands, he’d take a minute for a few practice swings. If it was time for demolition, he’d get his hacks with a sledgehammer.
Working in construction was fulfilling in some ways and necessary in others. He had to make a living and occupy his time until there was more baseball.
In the stadium with Lancaster Stormers’ Scott Kelly [photos]
Lancaster Stormers infielder Scott Kelly (19), right, talks with a teammate during a game against the Staten Island FerryHawks at Penn Medicine Park in Lancaster on Friday, Aug. 1, 2025.
“It’s good for your brain,” Kelly said. “You’re moving for eight hours. What I was doing was important to the company.”
Lunch breaks were spent sending texts to teams and checking for responses. Evenings were spent at a local community college, where he stayed sharp by using whatever workout his imagination provided.
Kelly, 34 years old and 11 years into his professional career, knew every sunset meant his chances of playing again grew a little dimmer. He relied on two words that are essential for every minor league journeyman: belief and hope.
One day a message popped into Kelly’s phone. It was from Ross Peeples. The Lancaster Stormers manager told the free agent to be ready. An opening might come soon. That wasn’t a problem for Kelly, who spent every waking minute making sure he was ready.
Peeples soon offered Kelly what he wanted most in the world: a place on a roster.
“I wanted to keep playing,” Kelly said. “I believed in it. This year, trying to get on a team was a little bit of a process. I knew if I could get an opportunity, I could make the most of it.”
Kelly has more than 3,000 plate appearances in the Atlantic League. That number is difficult to fathom, even for him. He had no idea it had climbed so high. Teammates marvel at his perseverance.
“It’s pretty mind blowing,” Nick Ward said. “I feel like I’ve played this game for a long time. Then we’ve got a guy like Scott. An unbelievable human being. He still brings energy every day, whether he’s in the lineup or not.”
It’s hard to say what’s more unlikely. That Kelly has stuck around for so long or that he had a pro career in the first place.
Lancaster Stormers infielder Scott Kelly (19) talks with team manager Ross Peeples during a game against the Staten Island FerryHawks at Penn Medicine Park in Lancaster on Friday, Aug. 1, 2025.
No. 206
Kelly was a student teacher at Pond Road Middle School in New Jersey in 2014. He used his time off during spring break to attend a tryout with the nearby Somerset Patriots.
It’s rare for players at these tryouts to land a contract and even rarer for them to last an entire season. They are the longest of long shots.
Brett Jodie, Somerset’s manager at the time, first noticed Kelly when he ran an exceptionally fast 60-yard dash. The skipper noticed Kelly again during infield drills.
Kelly’s tryout number was 206. Jodie still remembers it more than a decade later. He kept looking down at his list to see which name matched that number.
“I invited him into camp and I told him there was a very slim chance of making the team,” Jodie said. “He really had to show out.”
Kelly, as best as Jodie can remember, hit around .500 during spring training that year. He stole bases at will.
Each eye-opening performance made it harder for Jodie to cut No. 206. At one point, the longtime indy league manager, who’s now with the Lincoln Saltdogs of the American Association, realized he’d look like a fool if Kelly wasn’t there on opening day.
Jodie released a Triple-A veteran instead. Kelly was handed his first pro uniform.
“The rest,” Jodie said, “is history. He’s been playing forever and at a high level.”
Somerset went 85-55 that season. The Patriots, who have since left the Atlantic League to become the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, had 14 ex-big leaguers on their roster during the five-month schedule.
Kelly struggled to a .193 batting average in 96 games. Peeples said Kelly was “a backup’s backup” in those days.
Jodie kept the rookie around and invited him back for the following season. The former major league pitcher admired Kelly’s work ethic and enjoyed his company. The two talked baseball in the manager’s office until midnight or 1 a.m.
Kelly quickly improved and his prospects shifted the following year. He hit .337 in 31 games and was piquing the interest of major league clubs before he suffered a season-ending injury.
That breakout was enough to give Kelly staying power. He played six seasons for Somerset until COVID-19 canceled games in 2020. The utility man has bounced around from Charleston to Spire City to Long Island to Lancaster over the past five years.
Kelly said he has the numbers of a “good amount” of independent managers stored in his phone. They are his key to baseball survival. The men who make the decisions will always have a soft spot for someone who has grinded it out for so long.
“The guy loves baseball,” Peeples said. “You can tell that by talking with him. He ain’t gonna wow you in any way. He doesn’t have a lot of talent, but he gets the most out of his talent and he’s a good teammate.”
That’s one reason Kelly has been able to endure.
Lancaster Stormers infielder Scott Kelly (19) talks with teammate during a game against the Staten Island FerryHawks at Penn Medicine Park in Lancaster on Friday, Aug. 1, 2025.
The dream lives
Kelly is 10-for-30 with four stolen bases since joining the Stormers on July 14. He made a diving catch in right field in one of his first games back.
It’s hard to find players who can fill in at almost every position and are willing to sit the bench in independent ball.
“He’s an upbeat guy; he brings energy,” Peeples said. “He’s a veteran who has been around the league. He knows his role and he accepts his role.”
Peeples made no long-term promises to Kelly before he signed. The veteran could be on the roster for a few weeks or until the end of the season. It depended on how Kelly performed and how quickly starters returned from injuries.
Eighteen days have passed and Kelly is still here. As he moves deeper into his 30s, and as minor league teams disappear, it has become more challenging to stay in the game.
Kelly was out of baseball for most of this summer. He made a cameo with Long Island before the Stormers called. No matter how bleak it got, he kept believing and kept hoping. He pushed away the possibility that his career was over.
“Did those thoughts creep in? Of course,” Kelly said. “I’m a human being. Those thoughts are gonna come. You’ve got to stay true to what you want.”
People ask Kelly the obvious question all the time. Why keep going? His answer is pure: “I fell in love with the ball. That’s all I can say.”
Each swing of a shovel or sledgehammer reinforced that feeling. Kelly can find security and purpose in construction. He can’t find what a ballpark gives him.
“It was a real job, real world stuff and it’s scary in a way,” Kelly said. “You’re fortunate because you’re making money, you’re saving money, you have a place to go every day.”
But …
“Once I get the opportunity to go play baseball,” he added with a smile, “I ain’t going back.”
Barnstormers Blake Gailen is tagged out at second by Somerset’s Scott Kelly in the 3rd inning on Thursday night September 25, 2014 in Lancaster. Marty Heisey/Staff
