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The Chicago White Sox victory in the 2005 World Series represented a cleansing of sorts. Gone was the curse of the 1919 Black Sox and perhaps no player in baseball heaven could have been more happy to “move on” than Eddie Collins.
Thanks to the baseball movie classic Eight Men Out, today Eddie Collins is perhaps most widely remembered as the “College Boy” second baseman of the Black Sox team that was beyond reproach and maybe a little of a tattle tale in the eyes of the eight players who took or knew about bribes to throw the 1919 World Series. While Collins was surely the self confident player he was portrayed in the movie, he deserves to be remembered as scrappy, intelligent and one of the greatest hitters and fielders in the history of baseball. The Black Sox Scandal was just a blip in the storied career of Eddie Collins that went long before and long after 1919.
The long before began May 2, 1887 when Edward Trowbridge Collins was born in Millerton, New York. Collins attended prep school and Columbia University where he played baseball and was team captain. Philadelphia Athletics manager Connie Mack liked to recruit college players and in September 1906 Collins and Mack tried to keep Collins’ identity hidden by playing him under the last name of Sullivan so he could continue his college career. The 17 at bats under Sullivan did not fool Columbia officials who disqualified him from playing although he did coach through graduation.
By 1908 Eddie was a full time player for Connie Mack’s “White Elephants”. The 21 year old Collins took over second base and was joined by rookies Jack Berry and Frank Baker to form what would be ¾ of the “$100,000 Infield”. While hitting a respectable .273 in 1908, it was 1909 when the baseball world would take notice of the hot shot player who quickly developed the nickname “Cocky”.
From 1909 to 1914, Eddie Collins was a model of consistency for the Philadelphia Athletics. Each year he collected 180 or more hits. Each year he hit .322 or above and scored 80 or more runs. Eddie led the American League in runs scored from 1912 to 1914, scoring a high of 137 in 1912. He led the league with 81 stolen bases in 1910 and, except for one year, had at least 55 stolen bases during his White Elephant career. His dramatic hits and base running helped lead the Philadelphia A’s to World Series play in 1910, 1911, 1913 and 1914. Eddie Collins and Frank “Home Run” Baker provided much of the punch that brought victories in the first three. It was often his defense, however, that added innumerable victories at Shibe Park. In 1914 Eddie Collins won the American League MVP award. It was a hollow victory, however, as the Athletics were swept by the “Miracle” Boston Braves.
In 1914 baseball had been hurt by rumors of impending defections of star players to the upstart Federal League, including several A’s players. Connie Mack decided it was time to start over. His first move was to trade Eddie Collins to the Chicago White Sox for $50,000. Eddie quickly inked a five year contract for $90,000. It was the beginning of a long association with the White Sox that lasted from 1915 to 1926. During this 12 year span he would hit under .300 only twice. He set a career high in hits with 222 in 1920. He became player manager for the White Sox for the 1925 and 1926 seasons. And in the middle of this Hall of Fame span was 1919.
First, however, there had been the 1917 World Series which the Chicago White Sox won 4 games to 2 over the New York Giants. Eddie Collins led the White Sox with a .409 Series average and nine hits. Future conspirator Chick Gandil led the Sox with 5 RBI. The White Sox would not see another World Series victory until 2005.
The 1919 “Black Sox” World Series team was, with the unfortunate exception of sore armed Red Faber, essentially the same as the 1917 team. The five games to three loss to the Cincinnati Reds was personally embarrassing to Eddie who slumped, hitting only .226 with one RBI. Even the infamous Chick Gandil out hit Eddie with a .233 average and 5 RBI. It was the last World Series appearance for the White Sox for several decades but not for Eddie Collins.
Collins played regularly at second base for the White Sox until the age of 39 in 1926. Released by the Sox as managerat the end of 1926, Eddie Collins returned to Connie Mack and his White Elephant roots in 1927 where he played back up second base, coached and hit .338. His World Series experience was expanded in 1929, 1930 and 1931 as third base coach of the great Philadelphia Athletics team of this era.
In 1933, friend Tom Yawkey bought the Boston Red Sox on Collins advise. Eddie Collins tried on Sox of a different color as he left the Athletics to become part owner and general manager. Red Sox fortunes greatly improved. On a scouting trip to San Diego, Eddie noticed a tall, skinny outfielder playing for the Padres named Ted Williams. The rest changed the course of Red Sox history.
On June 12, 1939, at the dedication of the Hall of Fame, the first group of the greatest baseball players ever known received their HOF plaques. Of the seven living hitters, Eddie Collins received his plaque along with Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Tris Speaker, Nap Lajoie and George Sisler. In that same year, Edward Trowbridge Collins Jr. started his major league career with none other than the Philadelphia Athletics.
Today it seems that Eddie Collins’ 3,311 hits (10th all time), 1,821 runs (14th all time), 743 stolen bases (7th all time), 512 sacrifice hits (1st all time), 2,643 singles (3rd all time), .333 career batting average and .328 World Series average in 34 games that spanned a 25 year playing career have been largely relegated to an asterisk along side being remembered as “College Boy” who played on the 1919 Black Sox team. Throughout his career, Eddie Collins had given it his all whether as player, coach, manager or administrator. To Eddie, every game was a World Series game. That someone would conspire to throw a game was unconscionable to Eddie Collins. Whether as White Elephant, White Sox or Red Sox, Eddie played to win.
The last minute of the 2005 World Series television broadcast featured an unknown player dressed in a 1919 White Sox uniform with a smile on his face. In my mind, it was Eddie Collins thinking “at last”.
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