https://www.detroitathletic.com/blog/2016/03/03/17163/
Gator's buddy, former Tiger Kevin Collins made Michigan his home.
Detroit Athletic
When it comes to the history of the Detroit Tigers, Kevin Collins will never be a household name. If you?re a diehard fan of the game, you might remember that Collins was one of the five players that the New York Mets sent to the Montreal Expos as part of the famed 1969 deal for Donn Clendenon. That trade helped the Mets win the National League East, and played an even greater role in pushing the franchise to its first world championship.
Expos manager Gene Mauch insisted that Collins be included in that trade, but the former infielder has a tangible connection to the Tigers, too, and an important association with the state of Michigan. After being rushed to the major leagues at the age of 18, the sure-handed infielder eventually found himself blocked by the Mets? defensive wizard, Buddy Harrelson. With the Expos, he was stuck behind another fine fielding shortstop, veteran Bobby Wine. Spending the first half of the 1970 season in the Expos? farm system, Collins drew the interest of the Tigers, who were looking for some infield depth. On August 2, the Tigers purchased Collins from Montreal?s affiliate at Triple-A Winnipeg and brought him up to the big league roster.
From that point on, the Tigers used Collins as a pinch-hitter and backup first baseman. The lefty-swinging Collins didn?t hit much, putting up a .208 batting average in 28 at-bats. But he drew favor from Tigers manager Mayo Smith and his coaches, who appreciated Collins? upbeat attitude and his willingness to play hard.
The situation didn?t change much, even after the wintertime firing of Smith and the hiring of Billy Martin. Collins was just the kind of player whom Martin appreciated: a scrappy overachiever who would play anywhere in an effort to help the team. Under Martin, Collins played three infield positions and two outfield positions. Hard-nosed in his approach to the game, Collins would come to the defense of one of his teammates without hesitation.
Collins also made some news on a completely different front in 1971. That summer, Collins decided to room with Gates Brown, the Tigers? pinch-hitter extraordinaire. This was a significant development in early 1970s baseball culture. Collins was white; Brown was African American. At the time, very few teams featured integrated roommates.
In fact, the first regularly integrated roommates in baseball had emerged only three years earlier in Oakland, where Chuck Dobson (a white pitcher) and Reggie Jackson agreed to share living quarters on road trips. Shortly thereafter, the Houston Astros joined the fray, with Curt Blefary (a white utilityman) and Don Wilson (an African-American right-hander) becoming roommates. Clearly, this was a new trend in baseball, something that many teams were leery of doing. But it didn?t concern either Collins or Brown, who willingly entered into the arrangement.
As was his manner, Collins did his best to underplay the significance of the rooming relationship. ?I don?t consider this a breakthrough of any kind,? he told The Sporting News. ?People are people. That?s the way I was brought up.?
As a veteran player, Brown had the option of rooming by himself, but told the Tigers that he wanted a roommate for a rather intriguing reason. At the time, the Tigers had to wear jackets and ties on road trips; Brown, who did not particularly like to dress in such a manner, always had difficulty tying his own ties. Brown preferred having a roommate who could help him affix the tie, so as to avoid the inevitable struggle.
Collins didn?t mind helping Brown fix his ties. In fact, he said that there was only one drawback to rooming with the colorful and jovial Brown. ?The Gator? snored incredibly loudly, to the point where he could be heard in other rooms of the hotel. ?The key with Gates was I wanted to fall asleep earlier than he did,? Collins explained to The Sporting News. ?And you hoped to hell you?d fall asleep before he started honking. It was like the Burlington Northern coming down the track.? As always, Collins kept his sense of humor about the situation.
Collins and Brown continued the arrangement through the end of the 1971 season, when the Tigers removed him from the 40-man roster and sent him to Triple-A. He remained there for most of the following two seasons, before the Tigers sold him to the Cleveland Indians. That?s where he closed out his career in 1974.
The Indians wanted Collins to remain with the organization, but the journeyman opted for retirement as a way of stabilizing his family. With his daughter starting at a new school in the fall, Collins received an offer to work in Michigan, where he preferred to work and live. The offer came from another former Tiger, left-hander Hank Aguirre, who had started his own company, an auto parts supplier known as Mexican Industries.
Collins remained with the company while simultaneously pursuing a degree at American International College. After a long stint with Mexican Industries, he then retired to life in Sand Point, where he lived with his wife Linda and spent much of his time playing golf. Every year, the affable and outgoing Collins organized a golf outing for some of his friends and former teammates, inviting them up for a weekend in Port Austin. For at least one of those players, former Met and Expo Jim Gosger, the Collins golf outing was one of the highlights of the year.
It was Gosger who informed me that Collins had passed away earlier this month at the age of 69. Gosger received the news on a Saturday, when Collins? wife called him. Gosger told me that Collins was a ?great person,? someone he would miss badly.
Keep all of that in mind when you see Collins? stat line on the Detroit Tigers Online Encyclopedia, which features a .209 batting average over parts of six seasons. Collins clearly meant more than those meager bottom line numbers. As a racial pioneer in Tigers history, as a hardworking player who drew the respect of his coaches, and as a good-natured, well-liked teammate, Kevin Collins found a way to make an impact.
