 EDDIE
COLLINS: WHITE ELEPHANTS AND BLACK SOX
by Dale B. Smith
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”.
|
