John P. ("Jocko") Collins (November 13, 1905 – March 2, 1986) was a professional basketball referee, and a

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

scout for the Philadelphia Phillies,

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

, Houston Astros,

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

, and Milwaukee Brewers. He was supervisor of officials for the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

(NBA) for 12 years, until he was fired in 1961. As a baseball scout, he was credited with finding and signing players (and future executives) such as

Del Ennis Delmer Ennis (June 8, 1925 – February 8, 1996) was an American professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1946 to 1959 for the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, and Chicago Whit ...

,Edward Veit
"Del Ennis"

Society for American Baseball Research The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball primarily through the use of statistics. Established in Cooperstown, New ...

(accessed 2012-10-16).

Tommy Lasorda Thomas Charles Lasorda (September 22, 1927 – January 7, 2021) was an American professional baseball pitcher and manager. He managed the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1976 through 1996. He was inducted into the Natio ...

, Dallas Green,

Bob Bailor Robert Michael Bailor (born July 10, 1951) is a former Major League Baseball player best known for being the first player selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1976 Major League Baseball expansion draft. Early years Bailor was born in Connell ...

,Jim Nicholson
"Sports Figure 'Jocko' Collins, 80; Coach, Baseball 'super Scout'"
'' Philadelphia Daily News'', March 5, 1986.

Dick Allen Richard Anthony Allen (March 8, 1942 – December 7, 2020) was an American professional baseball player. During his fifteen-year-long Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he played as a first baseman, third baseman, and outfielder, most notably ...

, and

Dave May David LaFrance May (December 23, 1943 – October 20, 2012) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from through for the Baltimore Orioles, Milwaukee Brewers, Atlanta Braves, Texas Rang ...

. Collins was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and raised in the Port Richmond neighborhood of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. He attended

Saint Joseph's Preparatory School St. Joseph's Preparatory School, known as "St. Joseph's Prep" or simply "The Prep", is an urban, private, Catholic, college preparatory school run by the Jesuits in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1851. Curriculm The ...

and Saint Joseph's College, where he was captain of the baseball and basketball teams and graduated in 1927. He also served as a high school basketball coach and scouted for the Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA. He died in Philadelphia in 1986 at the age of 80.

References

National Basketball Association referees Baltimore Orioles scouts Philadelphia Phillies scouts San Francisco Giants scouts Houston Astros scouts New York Mets scouts Milwaukee Brewers scouts Sportspeople from Philadelphia Saint Joseph's University alumni 1905 births 1986 deaths {{1900s-US-basketball-bio-stub