Charles Augustus "Chub" Collins (October 12, 1857 – May 20, 1914) was a Canadian professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

player and politician. He played two seasons 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) ...

from 1884 to 1885 as a second baseman and

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

for the

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 ...

Indianapolis Hoosiers Indianapolis Hoosiers was the name of three major league and at least three minor league baseball clubs based in Indianapolis. * Indianapolis Hoosiers (American Association), which played in 1884 * Indianapolis Hoosiers (National League), which p ...

, and

Detroit Wolverines The Detroit Wolverines were a 19th-century Major League Baseball team that played in the National League from 1881 to 1888 in the city of Detroit, Michigan. In total, they won 426 games and lost 437, taking their lone pennant (and winning the pre ...

. He later served as the mayor of

Dundas, Ontario : ''For the county in eastern Ontario see Dundas County, Ontario. For the upper tier county, see United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry.'' Dundas is a community and town in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It is nicknamed the ''Valley Tow ...

, from 1901 to 1902. Collins compiled a .182

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average i ...

and .901

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

in his major league career. In its obituary of Collins, '' Sporting Life'' wrote: "Charles 'Chub' Collins was a brainy ball player, a mediocre hitter, and one of the fastest base runners in America." Collins also played and managed in baseball's minor leagues from 1885 to 1890 and 1896 to 1900, including stints with 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 level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ( ...

and

Canadian League The Canadian League was a minor league baseball league that operated in Canada in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The first version of the league operated in 1885, then from 1896–1899, becoming a Class-D league in 1899 and merging into the Int ...

teams in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of ...

(1885-1887, 1897-1900),

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located i ...

(1888-1889), and

Galt, Ontario Galt is a community in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario on the Grand River. Prior to 1973, it was an independent city, incorporated in 1915, but amalgamation with the town of Hespeler, Ontario, the ...

(1896). He stole 45 bases in 1886, 85 bases in 1888, and 81 bases in 1889. His 1898 Hamilton team won the league championship "with one of the strongest minor league aggregations ever seen In Hamilton." He also served as an umpire in the

Western Association The Western Association was the name of five different leagues formed in American minor league baseball during the 19th and 20th centuries. The oldest league, originally established as the Northwestern League in 1883, was refounded as the Wester ...

in 1891.

Early years

Collins was born in

(now a constituent community in the city of

), in 1857. He began his professional baseball career playing for several clubs in the

Northwestern League The Northwestern League was a sports league that operated in the Central United States during the early years of professional baseball for five seasons: 1879, 1883–1884, and 1886–1887. After the 1887 season, the league was replaced by the ...

in 1883 and 1884, including a stint with the team from

Bay City, Michigan Bay City is a city and county seat of Bay County in the U.S. state of Michigan, located near the base of the Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 34,932, and it is the principal city of the Bay City Metrop ...

Professional baseball career

Major leagues

Collins reached the major leagues in May 1884 at age 26. He played 45 games, mostly at second base, for the

of 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 ...

. He compiled a .178

with six doubles and 20 RBIs in 169 at bats for Buffalo. He was reportedly released "owing to light stickwork." On July 21, 1884, Collins signed as a free agent with the

of the American Association. He appeared in 38 games at second base for the Hoosiers, compiling a .225 batting average. Collins began the 1885 season with Indianapolis, though the team that year joined the newly formed Western League and was no longer considered a major league club. He compiled a .242 batting average with four doubles, a triple and a home run in 132 at bats for Indianapolis in 1885. The Hoosiers were the dominant team in the Western League, compiling an .880 winning percentage. In mid-June 1885, the Western League disbanded, and a rush developed to sign the players on the Indianapolis roster, a line-up that included

Sam Thompson Samuel Luther "Big Sam" Thompson (March 5, 1860 – November 7, 1922) was an American professional baseball player from 1884 to 1898 and with a brief comeback in 1906. At , the Indiana native was one of the larger players of his day and was known ...

and

Deacon McGuire James Thomas "Deacon" McGuire (November 18, 1863 – October 31, 1936) was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach whose career spanned the years 1883 to 1915. He played 26 seasons in Major League Baseball, principally as a ca ...

. The

of the National League sent two representatives to Indianapolis, principally to sign the Hoosiers' battery of Larry McKeon and

Jim Keenan James William Keenan (February 10, 1856 – September 21, 1926) was a professional baseball catcher. He played most of his major league career with the Cincinnati Red Stockings of the American Association and later National League, after they bec ...

. The Wolverines were outbid by the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

for McKeon and Keenan but wound up with the Hoosiers' manager ( Bill Watkins) and the rest of the team's starting lineup. Collins made his debut with Detroit on June 24, 1885, against Providence. He scored a run and had two RBIs in the game. Collins lasted less than three weeks with the Wolverines, appearing in his final major league game on July 11, 1885. He appeared in 14 games at the shortstop position for the Wolverines, committing 11 errors for a .792

. He also compiled a .182 batting average in 55 at bats for Detroit.

Minor leagues

Chub Collins - Winners of the Ontario Tankard - 1903

After being released by the Wolverines, Collins finished the 1885 season with the Hamilton Clippers in the Canadian League. He became a player-manager for Hamilton when the team joined the

in 1886 and the International Association in 1887. He then played during the 1888 and 1889 seasons with the Buffalo and Rochester teams in the International League. He compiled a career high .276 batting average in 1889. One of the fastest base-runners in baseball, Collins stole 45 bases in 1886, 85 bases in 1888, and 81 bases in 1889. Collins played for the Omaha Omahogs in the

during the first half of the 1890 season. When he signed with Omaha, the ''Sporting Life'' wrote that he was "a wonder on the bag and a fine fielder," but required "a little more control of temper." He was released by Omaha in July 1890, and in September 1890, he was playing with a team in his hometown of

, with three other former major league players ( Fred Wood, Pete Wood, and John Rainey). In the spring of 1891, Collins was sued by Phoebe Smith, a former employee of the Dundas Cotton Mills, for breach of promise of marriage. Collins was at the time at

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

, serving as an umpire in the Western Association. After a five-year absence from baseball, Collins returned in 1896 as a player-manager in the Canadian League for the team in

. He also managed the

team in the

and International League from 1897 to 1900. His 1898 Hamilton team won the league championship "with one of the strongest minor league aggregations ever seen In Hamilton." In September 1898, ''Sporting Life'' wrote: "Manager Charles ('Chub') Collins occasionally gets in the game, and the old ex-International Leaguer has not forgotten how the game is played. His work on several occasions has been of the fire-escape order."

Politics and later years

From 1901 to 1902, Collins served as the mayor of his hometown,

. After completing his term as mayor, Collins occupied the councillor's chair of

Barton Township, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

(now part of

). Following an illness that lasted for several months, Collins died at his home in Dundas in 1914 at age 56. He was buried at St. Augustine Cemetery in that city. The ''Sporting Life'' newspaper wrote in its obituary of Collins: "Charles 'Chub' Collins was a brainy ball player, a mediocre hitter, and one of the fastest base runners in America."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Chub 1857 births 1914 deaths 19th-century baseball players 19th-century Canadian people (post-Confederation) Baseball players from Hamilton, Ontario Curlers from Hamilton, Ontario Buffalo Bisons (NL) players Canadian expatriate baseball players in the United States Major League Baseball players from Canada Canadian baseball players Canadian sportspeople of Irish descent Detroit Wolverines players Indianapolis Hoosiers (AA) players Major League Baseball second basemen Major League Baseball shortstops People from Dundas, Ontario Minor league baseball managers Bay City (minor league baseball) players Indianapolis Hoosiers (minor league) players Hamilton Clippers players Hamilton Hams players Rochester Jingoes players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Omaha Omahogs players Omaha Lambs players Hamilton Blackbirds players Galt (minor league baseball) players Canadian sportsperson-politicians Mayors of places in Ontario