Eddie Collins Marquee Hall of Fame 1939

He played second base in the Philadelphia infield of the early 1910s that the newspapers called the $100,000 infield. The Athletics won the World Series in 1910, 1911 and 1913, and he was the American League's most valuable player in 1914. That club went 99-53 in 1914 and 43-109 in 1915, sold off by Connie Mack. Collins went to Chicago and won a fourth title there in 1917.

The 1919 White Sox lost the World Series on purpose. Collins had no part in it and kept playing beside the men who did: Chicago won 96 games in 1920 with all eight still on the field, then lost 92 in 1921 without them. He led the league in stolen bases again in 1923 and 1924, at thirty-six and thirty-seven.

He reached 3,000 hits on June 2, 1925, in a 16-15 loss at Detroit, while managing the White Sox and playing second base for them. Twenty-five seasons gave him 3,315 hits, a .333 average, 741 stolen bases and 1,499 walks. Cooperstown elected him in 1939, the same year it took George Sisler.