Eddie Collins
Biography
Luckily for Eddie Collins, stealing in baseball is not a crime. If it were, he would be the fourth one in line to stand trial behind Rickey Henderson, Ty Cobb and Lou Brock, the only three thieves that have stolen more bases than Collins. Long before the “Black Sox” scandal of 1919 surfaced, Eddie “Cocky” Collins lit up the ERAs of opposing pitchers. He played his first full season in 1909 with the Philadelphia Athletics and scorched opponents with a .346 average and 67 stolen bases. In 1910, Collins hit for a team-leading .422 average as the Athletics won the World Series.
When Collins signed with the Chicago White Sox, he had already played in four World Series, won three of them, and been named American League Most Valuable Player in 1914. In 1917, the “Cocky” second baseman hit an astounding .409 in the Chicago’s World Series victory over the New York Giants. Collins returned to his sixth World Series in 1919, but later found out eight of his White Sox teammates were paid off to throw the series. He did not let the incident bring him down as he hit his career best of .369 the following season. Between his playing days with the White Sox and his final span with the Athletics from 1927-1930, Collins had a brief managing stint with Chicago.
Eddie Collins retired after the 1930 season, ranking eighth in career hits and fourth in lifetime steals. Unlike some of his “Black Sox” teammates, Collins was rewarded with his induction to baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1939.
Career
Philadelphia Athletics
After spending all but 14 games of the 1907 season in the minor leagues, he played in 102 games in 1908 and by 1909 was a full-time player. That season, he registered a .347 batting average and 67 steals. He would also be named the A’s starting second baseman in 1909, a position he would play for the rest of his career, after seeing time at second, third, short, and the outfield the previous two seasons. In 1910, Collins stole a career-high 81 bases and played on the first of his six World Series championship teams.
As a player, Collins was renowned for his intelligence and confidence on and off the field, and on the field his exceptional batting skills as a top-ten hitter and his speed was known for having the only six-steal game in history, and he achieved that feat twice in two weeks, September 11 and September 22, 1912. He was part of the Athletics’ so-called “$100,000 infield” (and the highest-paid of the quartet) which propelled the team to four American League (AL) pennants and three World Series titles between 1910 and 1914. He earned the league’s Chalmers Award (early Most Valuable Player recognition) in 1914.
In 1914, the newly formed Federal League disrupted major league contract stability by luring away established stars from the AL and NL with inflated salaries. To retain Collins, Athletics manager Connie Mack offered his second baseman the longest guaranteed contract (five years) that had ever been offered to a player. Collins declined, and after the 1914 season Mack sold Collins to the White Sox for $50,000, the highest price ever paid for a player up to that point. The Sox paid Collins $15,000 for 1915, making him the third highest paid player in the league, behind Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker.
Chicago White Sox
In Chicago, Collins continued to post top-ten batting and stolen base numbers, and he helped the Sox capture pennants in 1917 and 1919. He was part of the notorious “Black Sox” team that threw the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. However Collins was not accused of being part of the conspiracy and was considered to have played honestly, his low .226 batting average notwithstanding.
In August 1924, he was named player-manager of the White Sox and held the position through the 1926 season, posting a record of 174-160 (.521).
Return to the Athletics
Collins returned to Philadelphia to rejoin the Athletics in 1927 as a player-coach. He recorded only 143 plate appearances in his last four years, mostly as a pinch hitter. He did not play in any World Series games for the 1929 or 1930 World Series champion A’s and his last appearance as a player was on August 2, 1930.
Collins finished his career with 1,300 runs batted in. To date, Collins is the only MLB player to play for two teams for at least 12 seasons each. Upon his retirement, he ranked second in major league history in career games (2,826), walks (1,499) and stolen bases (744), third in runs scored (1,821), fourth in hits (3,315) and at bats (9,949), sixth in on-base percentage (.424), and eighth in total bases (4,268); he was also fourth in AL history in triples (187).
He still holds the major league record of 512 career sacrifice bunts, over 100 more than any other player. He was the first major leaguer in modern history to steal 80 bases in a season, and still shares the major league record of six steals in a game, which he accomplished twice in September 1912. He regularly batted over .320, retiring with a career average of .333. He also holds major league records for career games (2,650), assists (7,630) and total chances (14,591) at second base, and ranks second in putouts (6,526). Collins is one of only 29 players in baseball history to have appeared in major league games in four decades.
Licensing
As the exclusive licensing agent for Eddie Collins, CMG Worldwide is dedicated to maintaining and developing a positive brand image for our client. CMG is a leader and pioneer in its field, with over four decades of experience arranging licensing agreements for hundreds of personalities and brands in various industries, including sports, entertainment, music, and more. We actively seek out commercial opportunities that are consistent with our brand positioning goals, and we are committed to pursuing strategies that meet the goals of our clients, as well as our licensing partners.
Please contact us today if you are interested in licensing opportunities with Eddie Collins. For a full list of CMG Clients, please visit our website here.