Kelly he was released by the Cubs in February 1931. He returned to the Millers for the 1931 season, and participated in a tour of Japan along with Frisch, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Cochrane, Al Simmons, Lefty Grove, and Rabbit Maranville, among others. In April 1932, the Millers traded Kelly to the Brooklyn Dodgers for Pea Ridge Day. With the Dodgers, he filled in for the injured Del Bissonette. Kelly played his final MLB game on July 27, 1932. He returned to the International League to finish the 1932 season with the Jersey City Skeeters, and played the 1933 season for the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League before retiring. In 1,622 games over 16 seasons, Kelly posted a .297 batting average (1,778-for-5,993) with 819 runs, 337 doubles, 76 triples, 148 home runs, 1,020 RBI, 65 stolen bases, 386 bases on balls, .342 on-base percentage and .452 slugging percentage. He finished his career with a .992 fielding percentage at first base, his primary position, and a .991 fielding percentage overall playing also at second base and all three outfield positions. In 26 World Series games from 1921-'24, he batted .248 (25-for-101) with 11 runs, 2 doubles, 1 home run, 11 RBI and 5 walks. Kelly was known as an excellent defensive first baseman. His positioning and footwork on hits to the outfield became the standard method for teaching future first basemen to handle relays. Frisch considered Kelly the finest first baseman he had seen. Kelly also had a reputation as a clutch hitter. McGraw said there was no player he preferred to have bat in a big situation. Waite Hoyt considered him dangerous in clutch situations. To be inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, a player must receive at least 75% of the vote from the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) or the Veterans Committee. Kelly was on the BBWAA ballot seven times, never coming close to being elected, and never garnering more than 1.9% of the vote. By year, voting results for Kelly were: 1947 (one vote, 0.6%), 1948 (two votes, 1.7%), 1949 (one vote, 0.7%), 1956 (two votes, 1.0%), 1958 (two votes, 0.8%), 1960 (five votes, 1.9%), and 1962 (two votes, 0.6%).