Late Bloomers: Hurley McNair

This one doesn’t really fit.

From outward appearances, he sure seems to fit the mold of a late bloomer, but looks are deceiving in this case.

Based on his official record, the diminutive Hurley McNair, all 5’6”, 150 pounds of him, appears to have appeared out of thin air as a fully-formed major league outfielder at the age of 31 and was immediately a star. In 1920 he was the everyday left fielder for the Kansas City Monarchs and batted .325/.376/.473. He in the league’s top-10 in WAR, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging, OPS, runs, hits, doubles, triples, homers, total bases, RBI, steals, and OPS+. He also had the most putouts and assists in the league and had the best fielding percentage.

Then he got a bit better.

In 1921 he batted .344/.388/.533, and was in the top-10 in all of those same categories other than steals. His defense wasn’t quite as good but it was still fine, and he more than made up for it with his improved offense.

Then he got better again.

When he was 33 years old in 1922, McNair hit .374/.466/.553. That on-base percentage led the league, helped by a league-leading walk total. He was also back at the top of the league in outfield putouts.