Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 176, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 July 1919 — M’INNIS ONE OF BASEBALL’S WONDER MEN NOT BUILT ACCORDING TO STANDARD [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

M’INNIS ONE OF BASEBALL’S WONDER MEN NOT BUILT ACCORDING TO STANDARD

John (Stuffy) Mclnnis, first baseman of the world’s champion Boston Red Sox, has been for many years now past one of the striking wonders of the game. If one were looking for a baseman among a crowd of uni-t. formed men on the bench Mclnnis is about the very last man he would suspect of class for the position. Physically he is a living refutation, in appearance, of everything a good first sacker is supposed to be in these times of highly developed specialties. , To begin with he is a chunky looking fellow who belies his five feet ten inches.. He is somewhat deliberate of action off the field. His arms are short and he does not appear possessed of the reach or “stretch” which has. come to be associated with the fifcst' base type. He is a right-handed thrower in a day when southpaws are in demand for the position. Class of First Basemen. Yet Mclnnis comes very near to being the class of first basemen of the American League, a circuit which boasts of a number of rare professionals of exceptional merit, Wally Pipp and George Sisler among them, the last tw’o mentioned of the southpaw variety of course. : To begin with Mclnnis is one of the niftiest and surest infielders of the game, for if he lacks any way in physical handicaps he more than makes up for the deficiency in agility. And if he foozles a wild throw now and then that a bigger man—a Chase or a Pipp—might get he more than makes up the difference in the deadly punch he carries at bat. For Mclnnis is a .300 hitter in every accepted sense of the word.

In the last nine campaigns, since he first gained recognition as a regular player in fast company, Mclnnis has failed but twice to bat better than .300. His successful campaign last season with the world’s champions witnessed his lightest hitting performance. He batted only .272 in Boston. Once before, only, he failed to qualify in the charmed circle. That was in 1916. He clubbed for .295 that year as a member of the Athletics. But it was only a remnant of the old machine with which Connie Mack had won four championships and three world championships. Mclnnis at the time was the sole survivor of the Illustrious “hundred thousand dollar Infield.” Best Hitting Year. Tn 1912, the year Jake Stahl’s Red Sox nosed out the Athletics, Mclnnis had his best hitting year, a .327, and that year, too, he stole the most bases, 27. The next year, when the Quakers beat the Giants for the second time in the world’s series, Mclnnis hit .326. In 1911 he clubbed .321. He hit .314 in each of the seasons of 1914 and 1915, and .303 in 1917, his last year with the Athletics. "It can be seen, then, that Stuffy is a consistent as well as a brilliant hitter. Mclnnis was one of many brilliant phenoms unearthed and schooled by Connie Mack for the purpose of reconstruction after his great team of 1905 —which was beaten by McGraw’s Giants in the world’s series —had gone to seed. The list included such other illustrious personages as “Home Run” Baker, Jack Barry and Eddie Collins, all of them still in the game and going strong as ever, apparently.

Nifty First Baseman of Boston Red Sox.