Joe Kelly is heading back to the Dodgers on the three-year anniversary of his most iconic moment with the franchise.
The White Sox traded Kelly to the Dodgers on Friday in a package that also sends starting pitcher Lance Lynn to Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Chicago will acquire prospects Nick Nastrini and Jordan Leasure and veteran outfielder Trayce Thompson, who was originally drafted by the White Sox in 2009.
The deal will certainly excite Dodgers fans, as the team needed some pitching staff upgrades to challenge for a World Series title in 2023. It will also allow them the perfect excuse to look back on Kelly's legendary mocking of the Astros during a regular-season game between the two teams exactly three years earlier.
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In that contest — which was played on July 28, 2020 — Kelly took the mound in the sixth inning of a game that the Dodgers were leading 5-2. He was wild during the outing, throwing pitches near the heads of both Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa, but he ultimately struck out Correa to exit the inning unscathed.
However, Correa and Kelly exchanged words when the Dodgers pitcher was leaving the field. The then-Astros shortstop was evidently irked by Kelly throwing near his and Bregman's heads.
Kelly's response? He mocked Correa, stuck out his tongue and pouted on his way back to the dugout. The benches cleared because of this incident.
Joe Kelly gets traded back to the Dodgers on the same day that this happened three years ago 👀 pic.twitter.com/rHySxRY55l
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) July 28, 2023
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Though no fans were in attendance to see the contest because of MLB's COVID policy, Dodgers fans rallied around that moment. It was viewed as a measure of revenge for the Astros' sign-stealing scandal, which had been revealed by MLB ahead of the 2020 season. The sign-stealing was confirmed to have dated back to the 2017 World Series during which the Astros beat the Dodgers.
Kelly wasn't a part of either of those teams during that campaign; he was a member of the Red Sox through the 2018 MLB season. Still, he felt it appropriate to send a message to the Astros — and, in a way, to his new Dodgers teammates.
Kelly paid a price for it. MLB eventually suspended him eight games for his actions in the contest, though an appeal later reduced the ban to five games.
Still, he established himself as something of a Dodgers folk hero in doing so, much like his brawl with Tyler Austin of the Yankees in 2018 established the "Joe Kelly Fight Club" in Boston.
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Now, Kelly will return to the Dodgers in the hopes of leading the team to another World Series title.
And despite his struggles in 2023 — he has a 1-5 record with a 4.97 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 29 innings — Dodgers fans should welcome him back with open arms.
