Harry Warren "Rip" Collins (February 26, 1896 – May 27, 1968) was an American

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), ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

with the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

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 ...

and the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

between 1920 and 1931. Collins batted and threw right-handed. Collins was born in the small city of

Weatherford, Texas Weatherford ( ) is a city and the county seat of Parker County, Texas, United States. In 2020, its population was 30,854. Weatherford is named after Thomas J. Weatherford, a State senator and advocate for Texas’ secession to the Confederate S ...

, a longtime seat of Parker County. Attending

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, Collins was a four-sport star, chiefly known for his ability as a football punter. He was on the team when the heavily favored Longhorns took the field against the Aggies in 1915. Collins punted the ball twenty-three times that afternoon for an average of fifty-five yards per kick, that resulted in thirteen

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...

s by Longhorns' return men. One fumble set up the only

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

scored that day, a run by Collins. The final score was 13–0. In 1919, Collins became a starting pitcher for Double-A Dallas Rangers of the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

. A year later, he joined the New York Yankees. Collins was a 14-game winner three times during his majors career, in his 1920 rookie season with the Yankees, for the Boston Red Sox in 1922, and with the Detroit Tigers in 1924. A member of the 1921

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

champion Yankees team, he relieved in Game Three of the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

won by the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

in seven games. He finished his major league career with the St. Louis Browns in 1931. Rip and his former Texas A&M Aggie teammate

Topper Rigney Emory Elmo "Topper" Rigney (January 7, 1897 – June 6, 1972) was an American professional baseball player between 1920 and 1928. He played six seasons in Major League Baseball as a shortstop for the Detroit Tigers (1922–1925), Boston Red ...

both played together for the

from 1923 to 1925. In an 11-season career, Collins posted a 108–82 record with 569

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s and a 3.99

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

in 1711.1

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

. Collins returned to the

in 1933 to play one season with

Fort Worth Cats The Fort Worth Cats was a professional baseball team based in Fort Worth, Texas, in the United States. The Cats were a member of the South Division of the now disbanded United League Baseball, which was not affiliated with Major League Baseball. ...

and then retired from baseball. Following his playing career Collins joined the

Texas Ranger Division The Texas Ranger Division, commonly called the Texas Rangers and also known as ''Los Diablos Tejanos'' (), is an State bureau of investigation, investigative law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction in the US state of Texas. It is ba ...

. He was elected

Travis County Travis County is located in south central Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,290,188. It is the fifth-most populous county in Texas. Its county seat is Austin, the capital of Texas. The county was established in 1840 and is na ...

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

in 1940 and served for eight years. Then became police chief of the

Brazos County Brazos County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 233,849. The county seat is Bryan. Along with Brazoria County, the county is named for the Brazos River, which forms its western border. The c ...

city of Bryan in 1950 and retired from law enforcement work in 1959. In the first years of Little League Baseball in Bryan, Chief Collins was one of the first managers. Collins died in Bryan at the age of 72.

External links

Rip Collins
at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
Rip Collins
at Baseball Library
Handbook of Texas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Rip Boston Red Sox players Detroit Tigers players New York Yankees players St. Louis Browns players Major League Baseball pitchers Texas A&M Aggies football players Texas A&M Aggies baseball players Members of the Texas Ranger Division Texas sheriffs American police chiefs People from Weatherford, Texas People from Bryan, Texas Baseball players from Texas 1896 births 1968 deaths Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Fort Worth Cats players 20th-century American politicians