Buffalo's Baseball Hall of Famer: The legend of Jimmy Collins

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- National Baseball Hall of Famer James “Jimmy” Collins, known best for in the early 1900s revolutionizing the way third base is played, was a first-generation Irish-American, a savvy businessman, and was dedicated to the game even beyond his retirement in 1908, as he served as president of the Buffalo Municipal League for 22 years.

He died of pneumonia at Millard Fillmore Hospital on March 6, 1943 at the age of 73. His battle with the illness lasted 12 days, followed by a three-day Irish wake that, like his play on the field, would become a thing of legend.

In his front-page obituary on that evening’s edition of “The Buffalo Evening News,” Collins was referred to as “the greatest star Buffalo has produced for the major leagues, the game’s premier third baseman of all time and the manager of the first world-champion team.”

Collins led the Red Sox, then the Boston Americans, to victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first-ever World Series in 1903 as player-manager. Collins was multi-faceted, with arguably an even more successful career off the field. Throughout his life, Collins made several investments in his hometown of Buffalo, specifically in South Buffalo real estate.

According to "The Buffalo Evening News" upon his Hall of Fame induction, Collins had been in good health until a fall on an icy sidewalk just before he fell ill with pneumonia.

After his wake, Collins’ funeral services were held at Murphy Funeral Home at 1700 Hertel Avenue and Holy Spirit Church on Dakota Avenue, which is still open, though the “Avenue” moniker has been changed to “Street” in the past 80 years. The services were just around the corner from his final residence at 75 Wilbury Place.

In the years and decades following his death, many chronicled about the celebration held at Collins’ wake, including Richard Johnson, curator of The Sports Museum in Boston, who in the early-2010s wrote lyrics telling the tale of the celebration, which were ultimately picked up by Celtic punk rock band Dropkick Murphys, who recorded the song "Jimmy Collins' Wake" for their 2013 record, “Signed and Sealed In Blood.”

Collins’ legacy lives on through the song, as well as in the hearts of Buffalo and Boston baseball fans. Not only was he the first third baseman enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, but is also a member of the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame, the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame, the St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute Sports Hall of Fame, and was an inaugural member of the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame.

In his 14-year major league career (1895-1908), Collins amassed 1,999 hits, including 65 home runs, with a .294 batting average, 983 RBI, and scoring 1,055 runs. He is still second on the list on put-outs by a third baseman, behind only Brooks Robinson of the Baltimore Orioles, who played nine seasons and over 1,220 more games than Collins, notching 325 more put-outs in that time.

Collins was a prominent figure in the early success of the Players Protective Association, an early baseball union, as one of Boston's representatives in negotiations. Shortly thereafter, he left the Boston Beaneaters -- later the Boston Braves, which have since moved to Milwaukee and again to Atlanta -- for the Boston Americans in an effort to get a better contract. The move, along with similar moves from other future Hall of Famers like Cy Young, Napoleon Lajoie, and Jack Chesbro, helped to legitimize the American League.

In the Jan. 16, 1943 edition of "The Buffalo Evening News," just weeks before Collins' death, an interview with the third baseman was published by reporter Cy Kritzer in celebration of Collins' 73rd birthday. The interview was one of few Collins gave in recollection of his time in the Major Leagues.

It was in this article that Kritzer noted Collins was recovering at his home on Wilbury Place from bruises due to the fall on a slippery sidewalk. He also mentioned the push by sportswriters across the nation for Collins to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, which Collins said he had given up hope for in the six years prior.

"It is 32 years since he retired but his fame is as enduring as the day he quit," Kritzer wrote.

In the interview, Collins claimed to have been the highest-paid ballplayer of the era, making $18,000 in the 1903 season, once again speaking to his talent in business dealings.

Collins also praised Babe Ruth's "lively" offensive play, but it was Collins himself, and those on the early Boston Americans teams, who opened the door for Ruth and Red Sox legends down the line to succeed in the league, by helping to establish the team, the league, and the World Series in the first place, as well as fighting for higher pay for players.

Johnson, who in 2000 co-authored "Red Sox Century: One Hundred Years of Red Sox Baseball," in an interview, deemed Collins "the prototype for the modern ballplayer."

"He literally crossed the train tracks to go from the Boston Nationals to the Boston Americans, as they were then known before they were known as the Red Sox," Johnson said. "And he was player-manager, so he immediately gave the new franchise credibility and star power because he was a great player. You know, certainly considered one of the four or five greatest third basemen of all-time. And it didn't hurt that he was Irish-American in Boston."

The way Collins "revolutionized" third base play was by playing in closer to field short hits, sometimes even on the grass, according to reports of the time. "The Buffalo Evening News" dubbed him "king of the hot corner," who "dared to play third base as he thought it should be played."

The legend of Jimmy Collins was berthed from accounts of an 1895 game against the Baltimore Orioles, while Collins was on loan from Boston to the Louisville Colonels that season. During the game, Collins came in from the outfield to play third base after Louisville struggled with a string of Baltimore bunts. Collins allegedly fielded multiple bunts in a row and threw out each player in order, and in turn earned a new role as a third baseman.

"The Buffalo Evening News" later credited Collins' time watching the game from the outfield for him being able to devise a way to stop the Baltimore bunting attack.

Collins biographer and Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) member Charlie Bevis, in his research, figured out that the legend was developed from a compounding of interviews and articles across several decades with minor information wrong in each recounting, ultimately forming a grander story. He said in the biography that the "consecutive" bunts aspect came from "Buffalo Evening Post" sports editor and PONY League president Bob Stedler's 1943 campaign to elect Collins to the Hall of Fame.

Collins in his final interview recalled the legend, saying Orioles manager Hughie Jennings told him Baltimore wouldn't bunt anymore that game, but said he responded that he'd "show 'em something."

Johnson said Collins and Cy Young were the two stars from that championship-winning team who led the Americans to victory. In that final interview, Collins deemed the 1903 series as "the hardest games I ever played."

The year after the Americans' world title victory in 1903, the National League champion New York Giants -- now the San Francisco Giants -- refused to play what would have been the second World Series.

Johnson said this was done out of fear that if the New York Highlanders -- now the Yankees -- won the American League pennant and defeated the Giants in the World Series, it would make the Giants appear as the inferior team in "the battle of New York." Despite these fears, the Highlanders never advanced, as the Americans won the pennant on the final day of the season. This did not change the Giants' decision.

"They had already announced before the American League championship had been decided that they weren't playing the 'upstarts' from the new league," Johnson said. "It's the only time in Major League history that a defending champion has been denied the right to defend their title."

Regardless of the fact that the Americans were unable to compete for a second-straight world title, fans of the team contributed to a fund to purchase a 26" tall loving cup to honor Collins at the Americans' final home game of the season. The cup which was later mentioned in the Dropkick Murphys' song.

"The leader of the champions will receive today the magnificent testimonial of the Boston fans," wrote "The Boston Journal" on Oct. 8, 1904.

The "Journal" reported that the cup was also 18" wide, including its handles, and was furnished by A. Stowell & Co. of coin silver, with a solid ebony base. It also includes a ladle.

Two days after the cup's presentation, "The Boston Journal" published a follow-up article about the trophy, which was to be displayed in the newspaper's Washington Street window for contributing fans to appreciate, including the Royal Rooters -- Boston's fanbase, which in the words of Johnson, was much more akin to a European soccer crowd than any modern baseball audience.

The cup was reportedly presented by Collins' friend and Royal Rooters member Charles Lavis in the bottom of the second inning, when Collins stepped to the plate. According to the "Journal," the umpire signaled for the New York pitcher to wait while presentation took place and the Americans gathered around Collins.

"Capt. James smiled, happy in the thought that he was so secure in the hearts of the fans," the article said.

As the legend goes, the cup became a part of Collins' wake, as attendees continued to reminisce and drink at the event, Collins was taken out of his coffin and placed in a chair, with the cup placed in his lap.

"It was very much a traditional Irish Catholic wake held in the parlor of Collins' home, and a number of players -- a number of his former teammates -- had traveled to Buffalo to pay their respects," Richard Johnson said. "After several hours of storytelling and carousing, they took Jimmy Collins out of his coffin, put him in a chair in the parlor, posed him with the trophy in his hands, and I'm guessing probably continued to tell stories and sing songs."

From this, another legend was born, although Johnson said the lyric about drinking from the cup was embellishment.

The cup now belongs to Collins' grandson Jim -- full name James Collins Walsh -- who said he and his family would ideally like to get it back to the Red Sox.

Johnson said he hopes the cup might make its way to The Sports Museum at some point.

"I'm hoping... they might think of the The Sports Museum, where I'm curator in Boston, and we might, you know, they might allow us to borrow it to display at some point," he said. "Because, again, his role in Boston sports history and baseball history in general is very significant."

More on the legend of Jimmy Collins will be available starting tomorrow in the form of links below.

Part II: Jimmy Collins’ Wake: How a Red Sox Hall of Famer from Buffalo inspired a Dropkick Murphys song
Part III: Growing up in WNY and playing for the Bisons - Publishes Oct. 23 at 8 a.m.
Part IV: The Irish in Boston - Publishes Oct. 24 at 8 a.m.
Part V: Collins' family and legacy - Publishes Oct. 27 at 8 a.m.