Published: July 17, 2007 01:27 am    PrintThis  

Stuffy’s baseball record snapped, but golf mark still stands

Kevin Youkilis erased Gloucester’s Stuffy McInnis’ Red Sox first base record for consecutive games without an error in June, a string of 120 without a miscue, eclipsing a standard that stood since 1921.

It would probably take a PGA tour regular to even threaten another of McInnis’ records that has withstood the sands of time, and that’s his nine-hole course mark of 27 at Candlewood Golf Course in Ipswich in 1941.

“I was about six years old at the time and my mom, Gladys, ran the course, which was family owned,” Dave Whipple recalled. “Stuffy played a lot of courses in the area. He wasn’t a member anywhere, but he showed up two or three times a week at Candlewood. He was a wonderful guy. Stuffy was movie-star handsome and friendly. He was a true celebrity who had been born in Gloucester and lived in Manchester.

“I can only tell you he was a natural athlete. He took up golf late, after retiring from baseball, and was close to a scratch golfer,” Whipple, now Candlewood’s director of operations, said.

Oddly enough, McInnis didn’t talk much baseball around the golf club, Whipple said, nor did he bring around any former big league teammates. He did make an exception to talk baseball with only two people Whipple knew of — Jim Riley, the city auditor from Ipswich, and Dave Williams, who drove a truck for Cushman’s Bakery.

“He had a gang from Salem — Joe Gibbons and Frank Lynch are two I remember — that he always faced in best ball. He’d play his ball alone against the Salem players, who seldom beat him,” Whipple said. “McInnis was a tough competitor. Kids were around to caddie for him, but he always carried his own bag.”

Whipple became good friends with McInnis and can still see McInnis pulling up to Candlewood in his big Oldsmobile.

Apparently, autographs weren’t a big deal in those days. Whipple never got McInnis’ signature.

“He did give me a Michigan helmet once, but I never understood the significance of it. I don’t even have it anymore,” Whipple said. “Stuffy also knew I was a nut about Ted Williams, but rarely had much to say about Ted.”

McInnis once said he had a 67 at Kernwood, according to Whipple.

“He was just a marvelous athlete,” Whipple said. “In those times on public courses you could take a preferred lie, but I never knew that he ever did.”

It was awesome for the Candlewood crowd to think that McInnis once roomed with Babe Ruth after joining the Red Sox.

McInnis also was part of the $100,000 Philadelphia A’s infield under Connie Mack, one of the most famous infields in the history of the game.

“He was a .307 lifetime hitter and you should have seen his glove,” Whipple said. “It’s hard to describe, what it looked like. That year he set the record for the Red Sox he made only one error all season, and I’m pretty sure it was an American League record.”

McInnis once coached baseball at Harvard and the big rival was Holy Cross since his former A’s teammate Dave Barry was the coach.

Whipple also said Salem legend Glenn O’Brien joined McInnis in coaching a semi-pro baseball club on the North Shore.

“A lot of people knew McInnis. He was a humble man,” Whipple said, “He was not long, but straight as an arrow on the golf course. He was accurate and could putt and chip. Those were his strengths, and it’s not like the course has changed much. It’s probably 100 yards shorter, that’s insignificant.”

Part of the Stuffy McInnis legacy is that he also performed on the Original Celtics with Nat Holman.

Bill Kipouras is a staff writer. He can be reached at 98-338-2615 or by e-mail: bkipouras@ecnnews.com.