William J. Collins (1863 – June 8, 1893) was an Irish

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catcher ...

. He played six seasons in pro baseball; four of those in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

. He was born in

Dublin, Ireland Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

in 1863 (exact date unknown). Collins died on June 8, 1893, and was buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in

Maspeth, New York Maspeth is a residential and commercial community in the borough of Queens in New York City. It was founded in the early 17th century by Dutch and English settlers. Neighborhoods sharing borders with Maspeth are Woodside to the north; Sunnyside t ...

Professional career

Collins began his professional career in 1887 with the major league

New York Metropolitans The Metropolitan Club (New York Metropolitans or the Mets) was a 19th-century professional baseball team that played in New York City from 1880 to 1887. (The ''New York Metropolitan Baseball Club'' was the name chosen in 1961 for the New York ...

of the American Association. He appeared in one game with the Metropolitans and got one

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from ''Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

in four

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s. The next season, 1888, Collins played with the

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in N ...

Lynn Shoemakers The Lynn Shoemakers were an early minor league baseball team based in Lynn, Massachusetts. The "Shoemakers" and other Lynn teams played as members of the New England League beginning in 1877 and continuing through the 1915 season. Lynn played t ...

of the

New England League The New England League was a mid-level league in American minor league baseball that played intermittently in five of the six New England states (Vermont excepted) between 1886 and 1949. After 1901, it existed in the shadow of two Major League ...

. In 1889, Collins played 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, the team became the Oakl ...

of the American Association; in one game he got one hit, one

RBI RBI most often refers to: *Reserve Bank of India *Run batted in RBI may also refer to: Organisations *Radio Berlin International *Raiffeisen Bank International *Reed Business Information *Restaurant Brands International *Ruđer Bošković In ...

, and one stolen base in four at bats. He continued playing for the Athletics in 1890, and went hitless in one at bat. Later that year, Collins played for the minor league

Jersey City Jerseys {{unreferenced, date=January 2023 The Jersey City Jerseys was a minor league baseball team based in Jersey City, New Jersey that played in the International League for two seasons, 1960 and 1961. It was the AAA affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. T ...

of the

Atlantic Association The Atlantic Association was a minor league baseball organization that operated between 1889 and 1890 and again in 1908 in the Northeastern United States. History First Demise In each of the two seasons 4 or more teams failed to finish the season ...

and the Monmouth ball-club of the

Illinois–Iowa League The Illinois–Iowa League was a Minor league baseball league which operated in Illinois, Iowa and Indiana from 1890 to 1892. History The Illinois–Iowa League began play in 1890 and was nicknamed as the "Two I League". The Aurora Hoodoos, Ceda ...

. Collins played for three teams in 1891 including the Class-A

Rochester Hop Bitters Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent **HM Prison ...

and the Class-A

Troy Trojans The Troy Trojans are the sports teams of Troy University. They began playing in the NCAA's Division I-A in 2001, became a football only member of the Sun Belt Conference in 2004, and joined that conference for all other sports in 2005. Troy Unive ...

, both of the Eastern Association. He also played for the major league

Cleveland Spiders The Cleveland Spiders were an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The team competed at the major league level from 1887 to 1899, first for two seasons as a member of the now-defunct American Association (AA), followed ...

that season, and in two games Collins went hitless. Collins played his last season in professional baseball in 1892 with the Class-A

St. Paul Saints The St. Paul Saints are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and have played their home games at CHS Field since 2015. They pre ...

of the Western League and the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

St. Louis Browns.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Bill 1863 births 1893 deaths Major League Baseball players from Ireland Irish baseball players New York Metropolitans players Lynn Shoemakers players Philadelphia Athletics (AA) players Jersey City Jerseys players Rochester Hop Bitters players Troy Trojans (minor league) players Cleveland Spiders players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Major League Baseball catchers 19th-century baseball players Burials at Mount Olivet Cemetery (Queens) Sportspeople from Dublin (city) Irish emigrants to the United States

Professional career

See also

External links