Joe Collins

Joe Collins
Joe Collins
	First baseman
	Born: December 3, 1922; Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S.
	Died: August 30, 1989 (aged 66); Union Township, Union County, New Jersey, U.S.
	Batted: Left Threw: Left
MLB debut
	September 25, 1948, for the New York Yankees
Last MLB appearance
	September 29, 1957, for the New York Yankees
MLB statistics
Batting average	.256
Home runs	86
Runs batted in	329
Teams
	New York Yankees (1948–1957);
Career highlights and awards
	6× World Series champion (1949–1953, 1956);

Joseph Edward Collins (born Joseph Edward Kollonige; December 3, 1922 – August 30, 1989) was an American Major League Baseball player born in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

On September 25, 1948 he began his major league career playing for the New York Yankees. He played in 10 Major League seasons and seven World Series, all for the Yankees. At 6'0" tall and 185 pounds, he batted left and threw left, which made him unavailable to play most infield positions, where he was a first baseman in 715 games regular-season games. He also played 114 games as an outfielder, while his peak number of games played in a season was 130 in 1954.^[1] Collins often platooned with Moose Skowron.^[2] Collins hit 86 regular-season home runs, but more importantly, four in the World Series with powerful Yankee teams. He was a teammate of both Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle.

His last Major League game was on September 29, 1957. His entire major league career was spent with the Yankees. He was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies at the start of the 1958 season, but he chose to retire rather than join the Phillies, thus cancelling the trade.

In 908 games over 10 seasons, Collins posted a .256 batting average (596-for-2329) with 404 runs, 79 doubles, 24 triples, 86 home runs, 329 RBI, 338 bases on balls, .350 on-base percentage and .421 slugging percentage. He finished his career with a .990 fielding percentage primarily as a first baseman but also played at all three outfield positions. In 36 postseason games, he made his hits count. He hit only .163 (15-for-92) with 15 runs, 3 doubles, 4 home runs, 10 RBI and 14 walks.

He died in Union Township, Union County, New Jersey in 1989, and there is a small park there named in his honor. The park is located off of Liberty Avenue and also has a memorial plaque honoring him.

References

^ "SamHeads.com – Joe Collins page". Archived from the original on August 11, 2014. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
^ Loomis, Tom (May 13, 1987). "Don't Blame Casey Stengel For Inventing Platoon System". Toledo Blade. p. 26. Retrieved February 3, 2014.

External links

Baseball Almanac
Baseball Gauge Archived 2014-08-11 at the Wayback Machine
Baseball Reference
Baseball Reference (Minor Leagues)
Joe Collins Biography
Retrosheet
Venezuelan Professional Baseball League

[1] "SamHeads.com – Joe Collins page". Archived from the original on August 11, 2014. Retrieved July 31, 2014.

[2] Loomis, Tom (May 13, 1987). "Don't Blame Casey Stengel For Inventing Platoon System". Toledo Blade. p. 26. Retrieved February 3, 2014.

[1]

[2]

v t e New York Yankees 1949 World Series champions
1 Snuffy Stirnweiss 5 Joe DiMaggio 6 Bobby Brown 7 Cliff Mapes 8 Yogi Berra 10 Phil Rizzuto 11 Joe Page 14 Gene Woodling 15 Tommy Henrich 17 Vic Raschi 22 Allie Reynolds 24 Billy Johnson 25 Hank Bauer 27 Johnny Lindell 28 Tommy Byrne 29 Charlie Silvera 30 Ed Lopat 36 Johnny Mize 38 Gus Niarhos 42 Jerry Coleman
Manager 37 Casey Stengel Coaches 2 Frankie Crosetti 31 Jim Turner 33 Bill Dickey
Regular season Dodgers–Yankees rivalry Subway Series

v t e New York Yankees 1950 World Series champions
5 Joe DiMaggio 6 Bobby Brown 7 Cliff Mapes 8 Yogi Berra 10 Phil Rizzuto (AL MVP) 11 Joe Page 12 Billy Martin 14 Gene Woodling 15 Tommy Henrich 17 Vic Raschi 19 Whitey Ford 21 Fred Sanford 22 Allie Reynolds 24 Billy Johnson 25 Hank Bauer 26 Tom Ferrick 28 Tommy Byrne 29 Charlie Silvera 30 Ed Lopat 32 Ralph Houk 35 Joe Ostrowski 36 Johnny Mize 38 Johnny Hopp 40 Jackie Jensen 41 Joe Collins 42 Jerry Coleman
Manager 37 Casey Stengel Coaches 2 Frankie Crosetti 31 Jim Turner 33 Bill Dickey
Regular season

v t e New York Yankees 1951 World Series champions
1 Billy Martin 5 Joe DiMaggio 6 Bobby Brown 7 Mickey Mantle 8 Yogi Berra (AL MVP) 10 Phil Rizzuto 11 Johnny Sain 12 Gil McDougald (AL ROY) 14 Gene Woodling 17 Vic Raschi 19 Spec Shea 20 Art Schallock 21 Bob Kuzava 22 Allie Reynolds 24 Stubby Overmire 25 Hank Bauer 28 Tom Morgan 29 Charlie Silvera 30 Ed Lopat 32 Ralph Houk 35 Joe Ostrowski 36 Johnny Mize 38 Johnny Hopp 40 Bobby Hogue 41 Joe Collins 42 Jerry Coleman
Manager 37 Casey Stengel Coaches 2 Frankie Crosetti 15 Tommy Henrich 31 Jim Turner 33 Bill Dickey
Regular season Giants–Yankees rivalry Subway Series

v t e New York Yankees 1952 World Series champions
1 Billy Martin 7 Mickey Mantle 8 Yogi Berra 9 Hank Bauer 10 Phil Rizzuto 11 Johnny Sain 12 Gil McDougald 14 Gene Woodling 17 Vic Raschi 18 Ray Scarborough 21 Bob Kuzava 22 Allie Reynolds 24 Tom Gorman 25 Irv Noren 29 Charlie Silvera 30 Ed Lopat 32 Ralph Houk 36 Johnny Mize 40 Ewell Blackwell 41 Joe Collins
Manager 37 Casey Stengel Coaches 2 Frankie Crosetti 31 Jim Turner 33 Bill Dickey
Regular season Dodgers–Yankees rivalry Subway Series

v t e New York Yankees 1953 World Series champions
1 Billy Martin 7 Mickey Mantle 8 Yogi Berra 9 Hank Bauer 10 Phil Rizzuto 11 Johnny Sain 12 Gil McDougald 14 Gene Woodling 15 Joe Collins 16 Whitey Ford 17 Vic Raschi 18 Jim McDonald 21 Bob Kuzava 22 Allie Reynolds 24 Tom Gorman 25 Irv Noren 29 Charlie Silvera 30 Ed Lopat 36 Johnny Mize 38 Art Schallock 45 Don Bollweg
Manager 37 Casey Stengel Coaches 2 Frankie Crosetti 31 Jim Turner 32 Ralph Houk 33 Bill Dickey
Regular season Dodgers–Yankees rivalry Subway Series

See also

References

External links