Lucky Hall Of Famer Number 46 - Jimmy Collins

    Jimmy Collins was a Major League third baseman from 1895 through 1908. He was a solid player throughout his career, but was only a big star for a few seasons. He was inducted in 1945 by the Old Timers Committee. 

    Collins made his debut in 1895, hitting .273 for two teams. In 1897, he had his first big season, batting .346 with 132 RBI's for Boston. The next season, Collins hit .328 and led the Majors with 15 home runs. It looked like a promising start to a long, successful career for the third baseman, but it never really panned out. His only other big year was 1901, when he batted .332 with 94 RBI's. He finished his career with a .294 / .343 / .409 slash line, which was good for a 113 OPS+, definitely a respectable figure, but not one that screams "HALL OF FAME!" throughout your eardrums. He wasn't typically a league leader in batting statistics, and his counting stats are nothing to fall in love with (1,999 hits, 983 RBI's). 

    Perhaps Collin's biggest claim to fame is his glove. He was a very good third baseman, fielding .929 (league average .907) with a 3.68 range factor / nine innings (league average 3.48). Sure he was terrible at every other position, but what was there to gain by taking him out of his happy place? However, I still don't think that his defense outweighs his lack of hitting; sure he was really good, but he wasn't Brooks Robinson; he probably wasn't even the best of his generation. And he wasn't bad with the bat - he just didn't make a serious Hall of Fame case with it. 

My opinion: Jimmy Collins is not a Hall of Famer.