In his major-league debut for the Cardinals, a batter named Paris faced a pitcher from Paris and sparked a winning rally.
On Sept. 1, 1982, Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog sent Kelly Paris to bat for pitcher Doug Bair to lead off the 13th inning of a game against the Dodgers at Los Angeles.
Paris, appearing in the big leagues for the first time after eight seasons in the minors, batted from the right side against Dodgers reliever Ricky Wright, a rookie left-hander who was born and raised in Paris, Texas.
Not exactly a French connection, but a neat bit of serendipity.
Paris played four seasons in the big leagues as an infielder with the Cardinals, Reds, Orioles and White Sox.
His debut game, when he got a hit in his first at-bat and scored the winning run for the Cardinals, stands out as an enduring highlight.
Traveling man
Paris was a high school baseball teammate of future Hall of Famer Robin Yount in Woodland Hills, Calif. In 1975, Paris, 17, was chosen by the Cardinals in the second round of the June amateur draft.
Projected to play shortstop, Paris developed a circulatory problem in his right arm and it slowed his development.
He found his stride in 1979 when he hit .284 with 53 RBI for Class A St. Petersburg. He followed up by batting .301 in 1980 for Class AA Arkansas and, after breaking an ankle in 1981, rebounded to hit .328 with 83 RBI for Class AAA Louisville in 1982.
“I definitely have seen a lot of small towns,” Paris said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “A lot of them more than once.”
Paris was rewarded when the Cardinals brought him to the big leagues for the final month of the 1982 regular season.
Rally starter
The Cardinals were in first place in the National League East Division, 2.5 games ahead of the Phillies, entering September.
In the finale of a three-game series at Dodger Stadium, the Cardinals rallied with a run in the ninth inning, tying the score at 5-5.
When Paris led off the 13th in his major-league debut, he bounced a grounder up the middle and beat the throw from shortstop Alex Taveras for an infield single.
“I’ll take them any way I can,” Paris said to the Post-Dispatch.
After Paris advanced to second on Tommy Herr’s sacrifice bunt, Mike Ramsey struck out and George Hendrick was walked intentionally, bringing Ozzie Smith to the plate.
When the count got to 3-and-2, Smith looked for a fastball from Wright, got it and drove a hard grounder up the middle. Second baseman Steve Sax attempted a backhand play, got his glove on the ball but couldn’t secure it.
“The only play was to backhand the ball and get rid of it as quickly as he could,” Smith said. “It was going to be a tough play for him and I think he rushed it.”
Paris, running hard, rounded third and headed for the plate. Taveras yelled for Sax to throw home, but Sax held onto the ball and Paris scored, giving the Cardinals a 6-5 lead.
The Dodgers got a single and a double in the bottom half of the inning but failed to score and the Cardinals had a valuable win on their way to their first postseason berth in 14 years. Boxscore
Parting ways
The Cardinals won the 1982 National League pennant and World Series championship. Paris wasn’t on the postseason roster but he did receive a World Series ring for his help in September.
At spring training in 1983, Paris and Rafael Santana competed for a reserve infielder spot on the Opening Day roster and Paris felt the stress to impress.
“I feel as if I’m on stage all the time,” Paris said. “I find myself trying to do too much. This is the first chance I’ve had at making the major leagues. I guess I’m trying too hard at-bat. It’s stupid and I’m not a dumb person.”
Said Herzog: “I thought he’d be a pretty good right-handed pinch-hitter … but he hasn’t shown it.”
Santana won the job and Paris no longer was in the Cardinals’ plans.
On March 31, 1983, the Cardinals traded Paris to the Reds for pitcher Jim Strichek and the rights to retain pitcher Kurt Kepshire, whom they’d drafted from the Cincinnati system three months earlier.
Wakeup call
On Dec. 26, 1986, Paris nearly was killed when he “lost control of his sports car, driving it over the side of the road and into a ravine near his home in Gastonia, N.C.,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
According to the newspaper, Paris suffered a broken back, broken sternum and broken ribs. He needed extensive plastic surgery to repair cuts around his left eye. “Only his spirit remained intact,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
Paris admitted he was driving under the influence of alcohol and vowed to quit.
“I thank God for it, really,” Paris said of the accident. “It was a valuable lesson to learn.
“After the accident, I quit drinking … Your priorities change immensely when you’re that close to death.”
RetroSimba 
It’s good to know that after this tragic accident he got his life back in order. From what I understand Kelly and his brother Brett have their names in the record books for being the only brothers to hit homeruns in the same inning for the same team. They accomplished this feat down in the minors playing for the Johnson City Cardinals.
Thank you for the information! I didn’t know Kelly Paris had a brother who also played in the Cardinals’ system. After reading your comment, I did some research and found that, indeed, Kelly Paris and his older brother, Bret Paris, were teammates on the 1976 Johnson City Cardinals. According to the Johnson City Press, Bret and Kelly hit first-inning home runs vs. Elizabethton on Aug. 26, 1976, in a win that clinched the Appalachian League championship for Johnson City. Bret batted in the No. 1 spot and Kelly batted in the No. 3 spot. Also, research shows that Lloyd and Paul Waner hit home runs in the same inning for the Pirates vs. the Giants on Sept. 15, 1938, and Justin and B.J. Upton hit home runs in the same inning for the Braves vs. the Rockies on April 23, 2013. Here is a link to the baseball-reference page with the minor-league stats for Bret Paris, who began is career in the Giants’ system: https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=paris-001bre