One of the greats of the early years of the game, and widely regarded by his contemporaries as the best ever. Had a very good glove, and was fine hitter.

Its very hard to make comparisons between recent players and those who played a lot of their career in the 19th century, but it is clear that Collins was a very fine player, and deservedly among the top rank at the position.

A player of the 1890's and 1900's, Hall of Famer Collins was the best third baseman in the A.L.for the first decade of the 20th century, and probably all of baseball for that matter, though there was a now obscure guy named Bill Bradley with Cleveland, who sometimes had better years than Collins. Perhaps best remembered as a member of the Red Sox, who he managed to the title in 1903. He also had some excellent years with the Braves dynasty of the 1890's.

Should rate in the upper half of greatest 3rd basemen.