Until Pie Traynor came along in the 1920s, Jimmy Collins was universally considered baseball's greatest third baseman. Playing at the turn of the century, when the bunt was a big part of the game, Collins was the best at fielding them. His 601 chances accepted at 3B in 1899 remain a National League record. He led his league's third basemen in putouts five times, assists four times, double plays twice, and still stands second all-time in career putouts at 3B.

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Collins was also outstanding at the plate. He topped the .300 mark five times, with a high of .346 for Boston (NL) in 1897. In 1898, he won the NL home run crown with 15, drove in well over 100 runs for the second consecutive season, and scored more than 100 runs for the third of four times.

Collins was player-manager of the Red Sox in the American League's first six seasons, leading Boston to a victory over Pittsburgh in the initial World Series in 1903. The Red Sox repeated in 1904, but interleague feuding cancelled the WS. Relieved of the managerial reins in 1907, Collins was traded to the Athletics, and he left the majors after batting .217 in 1908. He played and managed in the minors through 1911 before retiring to his native Buffalo. Wiped out by the Depression, he became a Buffalo parks employee. His 1945 election to the Hall of Fame preceded Traynor's by three years, though Traynor had been eligible before Collins's induction. (JK)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » May 11, 1898: With the bases full and one out, Oriole RF Tommy O'Brien muffs Bobby Lowe's short fly, recovers the ball, runs in, tags Jimmy Collins at 2B, and steps on the bag to force Chick Stahl and complete an unassisted DP. » March 2, 1901: Jimmy Collins, Connie Mack’s choice for the all-time best third baseman, leaves the Boston NL club to manage the AL’s new Boston Somersets. The Beaneaters also lose OF Hugh Duffy, who will manage Milwaukee (AL), and C Billy Sullivan, who signs with the Chicago White Stockings. More than half the AL rosters-a total of 185-will be filled by NL players. » June 2, 1901: Milwaukee P Bill Reidy surrenders 10 consecutive hits to the Boston Somersets with two outs in the 9th inning to set a ML record. Nine runs score, a ML-record-tying number set a week ago, as Milwaukee loses 13-2. Boston pitcher Ben Beville, who took over at 1B in the 5th after Jimmy Collins and Buck Freeman had been tossed by umpire Haskell for arguing and kicking dirt, contributes two doubles-the only hits of his career-in the big inning. » August 7, 1901: In Boston's 10-5 win in game 1at Baltimore, the Bostons pull off a triple play. Pitcher Lewis starts the TP, which goes to Jimmy Collins (3B), Schreckongost (C), Ferriss (2B), and Parent (SS). The Orioles take game 2, 10-4. » September 28, 1901: In the 2nd game of a doubleheader, Boston rookie Jake Volz walks nine Brewers, but still wins 10-9 in a game called after seven innings. Manager Jimmy Collins has two homers and Hobe Ferris wins the game with a 2-run triple in the bottom of the 7th. This is the season finale for Boston and it is the 3rd doubleheader in a row shortened because of darkness. Boston takes the opener, 8-5. » July 11, 1903: At Boston, Jimmy Collins collects five hits, including a triple and homer, to pace the Pilgrims to a 8-5 win over Chicago. It is Boston's 45th win of the year. » August 6, 1903: At Philadelphia, the A's top the Pilgrims 4-3 in a game called after eight innings because of dark clouds. Boston manager Jimmy Collins protests to no avail. » September 17, 1903: The Boston Pilgrims clinch the AL pennant, beating Cleveland 14-3, but their record of scoring in 17 consecutive innings is stopped in the 7th inning. George Winter coasts to a win today, helped by homers from Hobe Ferris and Jimmy Collins. » October 3, 1903: Deacon Phillippe comes back on one day's rest to beat Boston 4-2 before 18,801, the biggest crowd of the Series. Jimmy Collins has half the Boston hits with a single and double. » October 7, 1903: Cy Young, who will also pitch in four games, stops the Pirates 11-2 on six hits. The 36-year-old righthander drives in three runs. Pittsburgh's Brickyard Kennedy, pitching on his 35th birthday, is ahead 4-2 in the 6th when Wagner makes two errors, and Boston scores six runs. After giving up another four runs in the 7th, Kennedy is gone, and will not pitch in the majors again. Patsy Dougherty has a single a two triples, while Chick Stahl and Jimmy Collins add three baggers. » October 10, 1903: Three days rest are apparently too much for Deacon Phillippe, who gives up first-inning triples to Boston's Jimmy Collins and Chick Stahl for a 2-0 lead. Five of the first 11 hits are triples, as the ground rules call for any balls hit into the crowds to be three baggers. Cy Young wins 7-3. » November 11, 1903: Jimmy Collins signs a contract to manage the Pilgrims for three years. They will be called the Pilgrims, then the Red Sox during his tenure. » August 29, 1906: After Pilgrims manager Jimmy Collins takes a vacation without permission, he is suspended. Chick Stahl is named acting manager. » March 28, 1907: Popular Boston Pilgrims OF Chick Stahl, who replaced Jimmy Collins as manager of the now named Red Sox at the end of the 1906 season, commits suicide while travelling with the team in West Baden Springs, IN. After breakfast he returned to his room and drank four oz. of carbolic acid. He left a note: "Boys, I just couldn't help it. You drove me to it." Cy Young reluctantly agrees to start the season as Boston's manager, but there will be three others during the year. » June 7, 1907: Boston (AL) ships former player-manager Jimmy Collins to the Athletics for infielder John Knight. Collins guided the team to two pennants. They then buy 43-year-old Deacon McGuire from the Yankees and make him manager. » April 25, 1945: Baseball writers cannot seem to get any Hall of Fame candidates past the 75 percent requirement, but a committee selected to bring in some old-timers succeeds with a group of turn-of-the-century names: Jimmy Collins, Roger Bresnahan, Fred Clarke, Dan Brouthers, Ed Delahanty, Hugh Jennings, Mike "King" Kelly, Jim O'Rourke, Wilbert Robinson, and Hugh Duffy. Collins, overlooked in six HOF elections, was on the all-time teams of Connie Mack and John McGraw.