Jimmy Collins Marquee Hall of Fame 1945

The Baltimore teams of the 1890s bunted relentlessly and third basemen had no answer. Collins moved in onto the grass, charged the ball, and threw barehanded on the run, and the position has been played that way ever since. He spent 1,682 games there and led the National League with 15 home runs in 1898.

When the American League formed in 1901 he left the Boston Beaneaters for the city's new club, which made him its manager. Boston won the pennant in 1903 and beat Pittsburgh in the first World Series, then won again in 1904, when no Series was played. In 1906 the team lost 105 games and he barely played.

The writers came around slowly, reaching 121 votes of 247 in 1945 when 186 were needed, and the Old Timers Committee elected him the same year. His 1,999 hits leave him one short of a round number that meant nothing to anyone while he played. Totals from those years are still revised, so even that is not quite settled.