The Phillies have officially re-signed thirty four year old 1B/OF Kelly Dugan to a minor league contract. Dugan was the Phillies 2nd round draft selection in the 2009 draft from Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California. He reached the AAA level of play in 2015 with the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs where he appeared in 36 games and made 147 plate appearances. Kelly had been added to the 40 man roster on 11/20/13 and was out-righted to LHV on 10/19/15. He was with the organization till 11/6/15 when he declared free agency.
He then signed with the Chicago Cubs on 12/11/15 and played in 97 games at the AA level for them the following summer. On 2/28/17 he signed a minor league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks and played that season at the AA level in their organization hitting .256/.337/.457 with 20 doubles and 13 home runs. He remained with the D-Backs organization till 11/2/18 when he declared free agency, was injured for the 2018 season and did not appear in a game. It marked the last year he was with a major league organization. Kelly appeared in 711 minor league games and recorded a .283/.360/.443 slash line in 2,783 plate appearances with 150 doubles, 16 triples, 69 home runs and 323 RBIs. Defensively he played all three outfield positions along with first base and even pitched an inning! Dugan never reached the major leagues but did appear in 11 spring training games (5 with the Phillies in 2014) and hit a Cactus League home run for the Cubs in 2015.
Kelly didn’t give up his pursuit of the MLB dream as he embarked on an independent league journey signing with the Chicago Dogs of the American Association where he played the entire 2019 season and a partial 2020 year (shortened by the Covid pandemic) - he even played in 18 games for the Sugar Land Lightning Sloths in the Constellation Energy League during 2020 - a pop up league consisting of four teams in Texas. In 2021 he signed on with the Lancaster Barnstormers in the Atlantic League where he played the next three seasons appearing in 205 games and mashing 46 home runs while driving in 181 runs, Lancaster won the league championship in both 2022 and 2023 with Kelly playing a prominent role as a team leader.
On 5/15/24 he signed a contract with the Grand Junction Jackalopes, a Pioneer League team owned by lifelong Phillies fan Mike Tollin. "Kelly Dugan is the real life 'Crash Davis' from Bull Durham", said Jackalopes' owner Mike Tollin. "He remains totally commited to playing baseball for a living and supremely confident in his abilities. When I ask him what keeps him going, he says simply, 'unfinished business!' They also agreed to film the experience as a documentary. Kelly played in 63 games for Grand Junction posting a .369/.469/.711 slash line in 277 plate appearances with 11 doubles, 22 home runs and 68 RBIs.
The journey/documentary now continues with Kelly’s re-signing with the Phillies - he will workout as part of the ongoing minor league mini camp at the complex and is scheduled to appear as a game day call-up in Thursday’s Grapefruit League game at Baycare Ballpark against the Yankees. If ya didn’t already know Kelly’s dad is Dennis Dugan (film Director,Actor & Comedian) and Mike Tollin is a Producer/Director whose credits include the ESPN documentary The Last Dance. The Kelly Dugan film documentary will culminate with his 2025 Phillies experience bringing his pro baseball career full circle - good stuff!
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
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