Eddie Collins, Jr.
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Edward Trowbridge Collins Jr. (November 23, 1916 – November 2, 2000) was an American professional
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...
in the Major Leagues for parts of three seasons between and for the
Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...
.


Career in baseball

Collins' father was
Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United S ...
second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...
Eddie Collins Edward Trowbridge Collins Sr. (May 2, 1887 – March 25, 1951), nicknamed "Cocky", was an American professional baseball player, manager and executive. He played as a second baseman in Major League Baseball from to for the Philadelphia Athle ...
, who is the only player in American baseball history to have more than 3,300 hits in under 10,000 at-bats. Born in the
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
suburbs, the younger Collins attended the elite
Episcopal Academy The Episcopal Academy, founded in 1785, is a private, co-educational school for grades Pre-K through 12 based in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. Prior to 2008, the main campus was located in Merion Station and the satellite campus was located in ...
, graduating in the class of 1935. He went on to
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
, where he played on the team that won the 1937
Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...
championship. In 1939, his senior year, Collins was the Bulldogs' team captain. Upon graduation, he signed with the
Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...
and played 32 games in his rookie year, 1939. For the 1940 season, Collins joined the
International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...
, playing for the
Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...
. Then, in the 1941 season, he returned to the Athletics, appearing in a career-high 80 games. Collins played 20 games for the Athletics in 1942, before entering military service with the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
. Commissioned as a lieutenant, Collins served as a communications officer aboard the , which participated in the
Battle of Leyte Gulf The Battle of Leyte Gulf () 23–26 October 1944, was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. By late 1944, Japan possessed fewer capital sh ...
and supported strikes on
Iwo Jima is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands, which lie south of the Bonin Islands and together with them make up the Ogasawara Subprefecture, Ogasawara Archipelago. Together with the Izu Islands, they make up Japan's Nanpō Islands. Although sout ...
and
Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...
. After the war, Collins returned to the Athletics, but was released in April 1946. He went on to play in the International League for the
Jersey City Giants {{Infobox Minor League Baseball , name = Jersey City Giants , founded = 1937 , city = Jersey City, New Jersey , misc = , logo = , uniformlogo = , class level = , past ...
and
Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...
before retiring from the field. In the Major Leagues, Collins appeared in 132 career
games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Associat ...
and collected 66
hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...
, with nine doubles and three
triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...
. He had 16
runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...
. Upon retiring as an active player, Collins joined the front office of the
Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...
, working from 1947 to 1954 as assistant
farm system In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...
director, and in 1954 and 1955 as assistant
general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...
.


Educator

In 1955, Collins received a master's degree in education from
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...
, and went on to teach at his alma mater, the
Episcopal Academy The Episcopal Academy, founded in 1785, is a private, co-educational school for grades Pre-K through 12 based in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. Prior to 2008, the main campus was located in Merion Station and the satellite campus was located in ...
, from 1960 to 1982. His specialty was American history, and he served for years as chair of the history department at the academy. At Episcopal, Collins also coached squash and baseball.


Family

Four weeks after the bombing of
Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...
, Collins married Jane Pennock, the daughter of
Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...
Herb Pennock Herbert Jefferis Pennock (February 10, 1894 – January 30, 1948) was an American professional baseball pitcher and front-office executive. He played in Major League Baseball from 1912 through 1933, and is best known for his time spent with the ...
, who served as the general manager of the Phillies from 1944 until his sudden death in January 1948. The couple had known each other since childhood. The wedding, which took place at the Episcopal Church of the Advent in
Kennett Square, Pennsylvania Kennett Square is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Kennett Square had a population of 5,943. Kennett Square is located in the Delaware Valley and considered a suburb of both Philadelphia, t ...
, was officiated by the Rev. Paul Collins, brother of the groom.Rick Huhn, Eddie Collins: A Baseball Biography (2008) The Collins family settled in Kennett Square, where the Pennock family had been landowners since the end of the seventeenth century. There, they raised two sons, Peter and Edward Trowbridge Collins III. After 58 years of marriage, Eddie Collins and his wife Jane died within five weeks of each other in 2000.


See also

*
List of second-generation Major League Baseball players Dozens of father-and-son combinations have played or managed in Major League Baseball (MLB). The first was Jack Doscher, son of Herm Doscher, who made his debut in 1903. Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. became the first father-and-son duo t ...


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Eddie 1916 births 2000 deaths Baltimore Orioles (International League) players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Educators from Pennsylvania Episcopal Academy alumni Harvard Graduate School of Education alumni Jersey City Giants players Major League Baseball outfielders Military personnel from Pennsylvania People from Lansdowne, Pennsylvania Baseball players from Delaware County, Pennsylvania Philadelphia Athletics players 20th-century American sportsmen Philadelphia Phillies executives United States Navy officers United States Navy personnel of World War II Yale Bulldogs baseball players