Harry Warren "Rip" Collins (February 26, 1896 – May 27, 1968) was an American

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

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, ...

with the

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and the St. Louis Browns between 1920 and 1931. Collins batted and threw right-handed. Collins was born in the small city of Weatherford, Texas, a longtime seat of Parker County. Attending

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

, Collins was a four-sport star, chiefly known for his ability as a football punter. In 1919, Collins became a starting pitcher for the Double-A Dallas Rangers of the Texas League. A year later, he joined the New York Yankees. Collins was a 14-game winner three times during his major league career (in his 1920 rookie season with the Yankees, for the Boston Red Sox in 1922, and with the Detroit Tigers in 1924). A member of the 1921

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champion Yankees team, he relieved in Game Three of the

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won by the New York Giants in seven games. He finished his major league career with the St. Louis Browns in 1931. Collins and his former Texas A&M teammate Topper Rigney played together for the

from 1923 to 1925. In an 11-season career, Collins posted a 108–82 record with 569 strikeouts and a 3.99 ERA in 1711.1

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

. Collins returned to the Texas League in 1933 to play one season with the

Fort Worth Cats The Fort Worth Cats was a professional baseball team based in Fort Worth, Texas, in the United States. The Cats were a member of the South Division of the now disbanded United League Baseball, which was not affiliated with Major League Baseba ...

and then retired from baseball. Following his playing career Collins joined the Texas Ranger Division. He was elected Travis County

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in 1940 and served for eight years. Then became police chief of the Brazos County city of Bryan in 1950 and retired from law enforcement work in 1959. Chief Collins was one of the first Little League Baseball managers in Bryan. Collins died in Bryan at the age of 72.

External links

Rip Collins
at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
Handbook of Texas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Rip Boston Red Sox players Detroit Tigers players New York Yankees players St. Louis Browns players 20th-century American sportsmen Major League Baseball pitchers Texas A&M Aggies football players Texas A&M Aggies baseball players Members of the Texas Ranger Division Texas sheriffs American police chiefs Law enforcement officials from Texas People from Weatherford, Texas Sportspeople from Bryan, Texas Baseball players from Parker County, Texas 1896 births 1968 deaths Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Fort Worth Cats players American athlete-politicians 20th-century Texas politicians