Kevin Michael Collins (August 4, 1946 – February 20, 2016), was a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

with the

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 ...

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

and

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

. He played primarily as a

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

and sometimes as a second baseman. He also played a few games at other positions, including

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

. Collins was signed by the Mets as an amateur free agent on January 1, 1964 after a high school career at Springfield Tech High School. He began his professional career in 1964 with the Florida Mets, the Mets Rookie League minor league baseball team. He played in 44 games that season, getting 118

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s and posting a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of .220. In 1965, Collins made his major league debut with the Mets on September 1. He played in 11 games for the Mets in 1965, splitting time between third base and shortstop, getting 23 at-bats and a batting average of .174. At age 19 years, 28 days, he was the 4th youngest player to appear in the major leagues that season. In 1966, Collins played the entire season in the minor leagues at the Mets class-AA affiliate, the

Williamsport Mets Williamsport is a place name that may refer to the following places in the United States: *Williamsport, Arizona a ghost town and former steamboat landing on the Colorado River. *Williamsport, Indiana *Williamsport, Maryland *Williamsport, Michigan ...

. Collins appeared in 122 games for Williamsport, almost entirely as a shortstop, and batted .251 with 6

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s in 411 at-bats. He earned Eastern League all star honors in 1966. Collins was promoted to the

Jacksonville Suns The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are located in Jacksonville, Florida, and are named for shrimp caught in the area. The team pla ...

, the Mets class-AAA affiliate in 1967. There, he played several infield positions, sharing time at second base with

Ken Boswell Kenneth George Boswell (born February 23, 1946) is a former Major League Baseball second baseman. Early life Ken attended William B. Travis High School (Austin, Texas) and then the Mets drafted the Sam Houston State University student in the f ...

, at shortstop with

Sandy Alomar Sr. Santos "Sandy" Alomar Conde Sr. (; ; born October 19, 1943) is a Puerto Rican former second baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for fourteen seasons. Alomar was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed. He is the father of former Ma ...

and at third base with

Amos Otis Amos Joseph Otis (born April 26, 1947) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a center fielder from to , most prominently as an integral member of the Kansas City Royals team that won t ...

. In all, Collins played 119 games for Jacksonville in 1967, getting 420 at-bats and 3 home runs, with a batting average of .248, a

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

of .321 and an

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

of .289. Collins also played in 4 games with the Mets in September 1967, getting one hit in ten at-bats. In 1968, Collins again started the year with Jacksonville. He played 28 games at Tidewater, batting .248 in 101 at-bats before being promoted to the Mets. With the Mets in 1968, Collins played in 58 games, mostly as a third baseman. He batted .201 in 154 at-bats. He also hit his first Major League home run that season, on August 6. Collins began the 1969 season with the Mets. He played 16 games for the Mets, all at third base, getting 40 at-bats but only batting .150. His last game with the Mets before being demoted to the Mets new class-AAA affiliate in Tidewater was on May 4. Collins played in 11 games for Tidewater, batting .250 in 32 at-bats before being traded to the

. On June 15, 1969, Collins was traded to the

along with

Steve Renko Steve Renko, Jr. (born December 10, 1944) is a former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the Montreal Expos (1969–1976), Chicago Cubs (1976–1977), Chicago White Sox (1977), Oakland Athletics (1978), Boston Red Sox ...

, Bill Carden and Dave Colon in exchange for

Donn Clendenon Donn Alvin Clendenon (July 15, 1935 – September 17, 2005) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman from to . He is most notable for his performance during the 1969 World Series when he ...

. This was a momentous trade in Met history, since Clendenon would go on to be the

World Series Most Valuable Player The Willie Mays World Series Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award is given to the Major League Baseball (MLB) player deemed to have the most impact on his team's performance in the World Series, which is the final round of the MLB postseason. The aw ...

in 1969. Collins appeared in 52 games for the Expos in 1969, split between second base and third base. He batted .240 in 96 at-bats. After the 1969 season, Collins was sold by the Expos to the

. With the Tigers in 1970, Collins played only 25 games, mostly as a pinch hitter. He played in only one game in the field, his only career game at first base. He batted .208 in 24 at-bats for the Tigers that season. Collins only played in 35 games with the Tigers in 1971, and again only a few in the field. In 1971 he played some games at third base, second base and in the outfield. He batted .268 in 41 at-bats, the highest batting average in his major league career. In June, 1973, Collins was traded by the Tigers along with

Tom Timmermann Thomas Henry Timmermann (born May 12, 1940) is a former American baseball player. He played professional baseball for 15 years from 1960 to 1974, including six seasons in Major League Baseball as a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers (1969–1973) an ...

to the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

in exchange for

Ed Farmer Edward Joseph Farmer (October 18, 1949 – April 1, 2020) was an American professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for eight different teams, predominantly in the American League, between 1971 and 1983. The team h ...

. Collins never played a game for the Indians and never played a major league game after the trade. After a few more minor league seasons, Collins retired from baseball in 1974. He declined the opportunity to remain with the Indians as a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

. After retirement, he worked in the automotive supply business, losing part of his right foot in a warehouse accident in 1993. He was born in

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

and died in

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the historical city (i.e. in the immediate vicinity of downtown Naples) was 19,115. Naples is a principal city of the Naples-Marco Island, Flori ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Kevin 1946 births 2016 deaths Baseball players from Massachusetts American expatriate baseball players in Canada Major League Baseball third basemen New York Mets players Montreal Expos players Detroit Tigers players Winnipeg Whips players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Jacksonville Suns players Tidewater Tides players Williamsport Mets players Toledo Mud Hens players Oklahoma City 89ers players Cocoa Rookie League Mets players Florida Instructional League Expos players Florida Instructional League Mets players