Baseball Remembers: Ripper Collins
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What a name, right? “Ripper.”
I mentioned last week that we don’t have enough great nicknames anymore, and this is exactly what I’m talking about.
Apparently James Anthony Collins, known as Jimmy to his family and friends, got the nickname Ripper when he was a young player after a ball he hit got caught on a nail in the fence and the cover ripped a bit. What a great way to get a nickname.
It was certainly a fitting name, because Ripper Collins was a hell of a hitter for a few years, despite a late start in the major leagues.
Born in 1904, Collins left school at age 14 and went to work in the coal mines, just like his father did. Married at 17, and with two children by the time he was 21, Collins had few prospects for a better life outside of becoming a good enough baseball player to attract a big league scout.
He played with his dad, who taught him to switch-hit, for the company team and in small local leagues until he finally managed to sign with Johnstown of the Mid-Atlantic League in 1925. He hit well for them that year and the next, earning a promotion to Rochester of the International League. That was the first of five seasons Collins spent at Rochester, with a few short stints farmed out to lower level teams.
His career seemed stalled, forcing him to returning to mining in the offseason to earns extra money. The problem wasn’t his performance. Collins hit everywhere he went. He batted .313 at both Johnstown and Rochester in 1926, dipped to .246 in 1027, but then shot back up to .387 between Rochester and Danville in 1928, .315 for Rochester in 1929, and .376 for them in 1930.
No, the problem was that the Rochester club was sold to the Cardinals before the 1928 season, and they already had a good-hitting first baseman, future Hall-of-Famer Sunny Jim Bottomley. He was still just 30-years old in 1930, and hit .304 with 97 RBI for the National League champions.
Finally in 1931, just as he was about to quit baseball for good, Collins was promoted to the Cardinals, where he backed up Bottomley and and played some outfield as well. He instantly made them happy that they’d given him a chance, batting .301 in 301 plate appearances, including 34 extra base hits, helping the team to the 1931 World Series title.
In 1932, the roles were reversed. Ripper got the full-time first base job, and Bottomley backed him up. The 28-years old Collins rewarded them by belting out 21 homers and driving in 91 runs, enough to convince the team to trade Bottomley after the season was over.
That became his standard production for the Cardinals for five seasons. He averaged 20 homers and 91 RBI with a .308 batting average from 1932 through 1936, including a league-leading 35 homers in 1934, helping the team to another World Championship.
When future Hall-of-Famer Johnny Mize arrived in 1936 and promptly batted .329 with 19 homers, the Cardinals decided to give him the full-time first base job and traded Collins to the Cubs before the 1937 season. He played there for two decent seasons, but they were distinctly below his prior production, so the team sold his contract to the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League. Other than a brief stint with the Pirates in 1941, his big league career was over.
Collins spent the next several years managing in the minor leagues. An affable, fun-loving man, he collected autographed baseball memorabilia that he happily showed to anyone who inquired. He also collected broken bats, which he used as a makeshift fence around the family home in Rochester.
Ripper Collins, through persistence, hard work, and an upbeat outlook, escaped the coal mines and made a life out of baseball. Playing for one of the oldest, most successful franchises in baseball history, he had a career major league batting average of .296 as held down first base for them between the careers of two Hall-of-Famers, led the league in homers, and won two World Series in the process.
That’s a pretty good career for a guy who dropped out of school at 14 and didn’t reach the big leagues until he was 27, one very much worth remembering.
