Jimmy Shinn

James Elmer Shinn

• Throws Right

• Born January 23, 1884 in Oxford, MO USA
• Died February 23, 1944 in Sonoma County, CA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Jimmy Shinn played in the Western minor leagues from 1906 to 1917 and was a top hitter in the Pacific Coast League for several years.

Shinn split 1906 between the San Jose Prune Pickers and Sacramento Cordovas. In 1907, he played for Sacramento (.268/?/.370 in 39 G) and the Portland Beavers (.175/?/.208 in 51 G). The next year, he batted .306 for the Santa Cruz Sand Crabs. Only five players with 200+ AB had better averages in the California League and all would spend time in the big leagues: Joe Nealon, Harry Hooper, Harry Wolter, Happy Smith and Orth Collins. He began a run with the Sacramento Sacts in 1909, hitting .239 and slugging .294 in 758 at-bats over 209 games. He tied for third in the PCL in triples (9), tied Johnny Beall and Jesse Stovall for 8th in hits (181) and tied Chick Gandil for 4th in at-bats.

Shinn batted .225/?/.294 with 28 doubles and 7 triples for the 1910 Sacts. He tied for 7th in the PCL in three-baggers. In 1911, he had a .280 average, .387 slugging percentage, 44 doubles and 14 triples. He was 5th in hits (221, between Babe Danzig and Izzy Hoffman), 4th in doubles (between Ham Patterson and George Stinson), tied for 4th in triples (with Tom Daley) and 5th in total bases (305, between Patterson and Hoffman). From the back of his card shown dated 1911: "Shinn, one of the smallest infielders in the League, plays sensational ball at third base. He is considered one of the fastest, cleaverest and most daring base-runners on the Coast. Is a wonder for getting on bases and as a run-getter he has few equals. He swings the stick hard and timely."

Per a 1911 newspaper article, he was given a tryout with the Boston Red Sox in 1912. He also worked in a barber shop before playing baseball. For Sacramento in 1912, he hit .271 with 35 doubles, 8 triples and a .357 slugging percentage. He tied Dick Bayless and Elmer Zacher for 10th in the PCL in doubles. In '13, he batted .302/?/.391. He was 7th in the PCL in average. He hit .264 and slugged .354 with 10 triples for the 1914 Sacramento/Mission Wolves. Moving to the Salt Lake City Bees for 1915, the veteran rapped 236 hits (52 doubles, 12 triples), batting .312 and slugging .437. He was 4th in hits (behind Jimmy Johnston, Buddy Ryan and Jack Ness), tied for third in doubles (with Ping Bodie and Johnston), was 4th in triples (between Wolter and Joe Gedeon) and ranked 7th in total bases (330, between Ness and Harl Maggert). He fell to .280/?/.367 with 29 doubles and 5 triples for the 1916 Bees. He ended his career in 1917 with Salt Lake City (only .203/?/.253 in 26 G) and the lesser Great Falls Electrics (.353/?/.474 in 116 AB). He had over 1,500 hits in the minor leagues.

Related Sites

• The Tacoma times. (Tacoma, Wash.), 11 Sept. 1911.
• Find-A-Grave Memorial for Jimmy Shinn