Joe Collins
First Baseman · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1948-1957)
Joe Collins was a first baseman who played in Major League Baseball from 1948 to 1957 for the New York Yankees, a span of 10 seasons. In 908 career games, he hit .256 with 596 hits, 86 home runs, and 329 RBI. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 3,713.
- AVG (Batting Average):
- Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
- HR (Home Runs):
- Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
- RBI (Runs Batted In):
- Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
- OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging):
- On-base percentage plus slugging percentage, the quickest single summary of offensive value. .900 or better is star-level.
Data updated
- Position
- First Baseman
- Bats / Throws
- L / L
- Height / Weight
- 6'0" / 185 lb
- Died
- 8/30/1989 in Union, NJ, USA
- MLB Debut
- 1948-09-25
- Last Game
- 1957-09-29
Full name: Joseph Edward Collins
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 908 | 2,329 | 404 | 596 | 79 | 24 | 86 | 329 | 27 | 338 | 263 | .256 | .350 | .421 | .771 | 3,713 |
Career AVG .256 vs. league average .261 across their career seasons — near league average.
Career OBP .350 vs. league average .335 across their career seasons — near league average.
Career SLG .421 vs. league average .389 across their career seasons — +8.3% above league average.
Career OPS .771 vs. league average .724 across their career seasons — +6.6% above league average.
Season-by-Season Batting
Click a stat to plot it across every season.
| Year | Team | Lg | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | Lg AVG | Lg OBP | Lg SLG | Lg OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | NYA | AL | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .200 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1949 | NYA | AL | 7 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 2 | .100 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1950 | NYA | AL | 108 | 205 | 47 | 48 | 8 | 3 | 8 | 28 | 5 | 31 | 34 | .234 | .265 (-12%) | .346 (-3%) | .401 (+4%) | .747 (+1%) | 19.6 |
| 1951 | NYA | AL | 125 | 262 | 52 | 75 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 48 | 9 | 34 | 23 | .286 | .260 (+10%) | .336 (+9%) | .385 (+19%) | .721 (+14%) | 750.6 |
| 1952 | NYA | AL | 122 | 428 | 69 | 120 | 16 | 8 | 18 | 59 | 4 | 55 | 47 | .280 | .252 (+11%) | .326 (+11%) | .369 (+30%) | .696 (+21%) | 1713.4 |
| 1953 | NYA | AL | 127 | 387 | 72 | 104 | 11 | 2 | 17 | 44 | 2 | 59 | 36 | .269 | .264 (+2%) | .335 (+9%) | .397 (+11%) | .733 (+10%) | 872.1 |
| 1954 | NYA | AL | 130 | 343 | 67 | 93 | 20 | 2 | 12 | 46 | 2 | 51 | 37 | .271 | .261 (+4%) | .333 (+10%) | .390 (+14%) | .723 (+12%) | 927.2 |
| 1955 | NYA | AL | 105 | 278 | 40 | 65 | 9 | 1 | 13 | 45 | 0 | 44 | 32 | .234 | .258 (-10%) | .332 (+2%) | .393 (+5%) | .726 (+4%) | 252.9 |
| 1956 | NYA | AL | 100 | 262 | 38 | 59 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 43 | 3 | 34 | 33 | .225 | .258 (-13%) | .331 (-5%) | .397 (-13%) | .728 (-9%) | -380.4 |
| 1957 | NYA | AL | 79 | 149 | 17 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 24 | 18 | .201 | .257 (-22%) | .323 (-4%) | .391 (-37%) | .715 (-22%) | -442.6 |
| Career · 10 seasons | 908 | 2,329 | 404 | 596 | 79 | 24 | 86 | 329 | 27 | 338 | 263 | .256 | — | — | — | — | 3,713 | ||
Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.
Postseason Statistics
Playoff Career Batting
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | 92 | 15 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 22 | .163 |
Playoff Batting by Year
| Year | Round | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | WS | NYA | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .000 |
| 1956 | WS | NYA | 6 | 21 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | .238 |
| 1955 | WS | NYA | 5 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 4 | .167 |
| 1953 | WS | NYA | 6 | 24 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | .167 |
| 1952 | WS | NYA | 6 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .000 |
| 1951 | WS | NYA | 6 | 18 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | .222 |
| 1950 | WS | NYA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Game Log & Splits
View full game log (908 games) →Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).
Batting — Home / Away
| Split | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 466 | 1101 | 186 | 253 | 50 | 156 | .230 |
| Away | 442 | 1228 | 217 | 343 | 36 | 174 | .279 |
Last 10 Games — Batting
| Date | Tm | Opp | Res | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1957-09-29 | NYY | BOS | L | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1957-09-28 | NYY | BOS | W | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 1957-09-25 | NYY | BAL | L | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1957-09-22 | NYY | BOS | W | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1957-09-21 | NYY | BOS | L | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1957-09-20 | NYY | BOS | W | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1957-09-15 | NYY | KC1 | W | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1957-09-14 | NYY | CHW | L | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1957-09-13 | NYY | CHW | W | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1957-09-11 | NYY | CLE | L | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
| Position | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1B | 715 | 167 | 4555 | 376 | 49 | 580 |
| OF | 114 | 68 | 192 | 7 | 4 | 0 |
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | NYA | 1B | 5 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 1950 | NYA | 1B | 99 | 0 | 480 | 36 | 7 | 62 |
| 1950 | NYA | OF | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1951 | NYA | 1B | 114 | 0 | 556 | 56 | 8 | 65 |
| 1951 | NYA | OF | 15 | 0 | 19 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 1952 | NYA | 1B | 119 | 0 | 1047 | 73 | 11 | 123 |
| 1953 | NYA | 1B | 113 | 0 | 826 | 65 | 10 | 100 |
| 1953 | NYA | OF | 4 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1954 | NYA | 1B | 117 | 75 | 759 | 60 | 7 | 105 |
| 1955 | NYA | 1B | 73 | 44 | 395 | 42 | 1 | 63 |
| 1955 | NYA | OF | 27 | 23 | 50 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 1956 | NYA | 1B | 43 | 25 | 251 | 30 | 0 | 37 |
| 1956 | NYA | OF | 51 | 37 | 95 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 1957 | NYA | 1B | 32 | 23 | 218 | 14 | 3 | 23 |
| 1957 | NYA | OF | 15 | 8 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Career Games by Position
Circle size = games played at each position.
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| First Base | 715 |
| Left Field | 28 |
| Center Field | 9 |
| Right Field | 82 |
Award Voting History
| Year | Award | League | Finish | Points Won | Points Max | Votes First |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | Most Valuable Player | AL | 33th | 2.0 | 336 | 0 |
Most Similar Players
Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.
Joe Collins (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.
Joe Collins: the record in brief
The profile opens with Joe Collins's first major league game on September 25, 1948; the last one listed came on September 29, 1957. All of the seasons listed were played for the New York Yankees. Born on December 3, 1922, in Scranton, PA, USA, Collins is listed as a first baseman and threw and hit left-handed. The bio gives 6-foot-0 and 185 pounds. Collins died on August 30, 1989, in Union, NJ, USA. The given name on file is Joseph Edward Collins.
The batting record for Collins: 908 games, 596 hits in 2,329 at bats, and a .256 average, along with 86 homers, 329 runs batted in, and 27 stolen bases. On-base and slugging figures of .350 and .421 give Collins a career OPS of .771. Collins hit .256 while the league hit .261 over the same span, a figure close to average. In OPS terms, Collins's .771 stands 6.6% above the league's .724. 1952 was Collins's biggest home run year, with 18. 1952 produced Collins's most hits, 120 of them for the New York Yankees.
Frequently Asked Questions about Joe Collins
- What years did Joe Collins play?
- Joe Collins played in Major League Baseball from 1948 to 1957.
- Was Joe Collins a pitcher?
- No. Joe Collins was a position player (First Baseman).
- How many home runs did Joe Collins hit?
- Joe Collins hit 86 career home runs with 596 hits.
- What teams did Joe Collins play for?
- Joe Collins played for one team, the New York Yankees (1948–1957).
- What were Joe Collins's career stats?
- In 908 games, Joe Collins had 596 hits, 86 home runs, 329 RBI, 404 runs, and 27 stolen bases, with a .256 batting average.
- What position did Joe Collins play?
- Joe Collins played primarily as a first baseman, the position where he appeared in the most games.
- How tall was Joe Collins and how much did he weigh?
- Joe Collins was listed at 6 feet and 185 pounds.
- How many home runs did Joe Collins hit each season?
- Joe Collins's home runs by season: 0 in 1948, 0 in 1949, 8 in 1950, 9 in 1951, 18 in 1952, 17 in 1953, 12 in 1954, 13 in 1955, 7 in 1956, and 2 in 1957. His most in one season was 18, in 1952.
- What was Joe Collins's career batting average?
- Joe Collins batted .256 over his career, with 596 hits in 2,329 at bats.
- How many RBI did Joe Collins have?
- Joe Collins drove in 329 runs in his career.
- Is Joe Collins in the Hall of Fame?
- No. Joe Collins has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.