Dottie Wiltse Collins
Dorothy Wiltse Collins | |
---|---|
Pitcher | |
Born: September 23, 1923 Inglewood, California | |
Died: August 12, 2008 Fort Wayne, Indiana | (aged 84)|
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
AAGPBL debut | |
1944, for the Minneapolis Millerettes | |
Last appearance | |
1950, for the Fort Wayne Daisies | |
Career statistics | |
Career Batting Average | 0.099 in six seasons |
Lifetime Pitching Record | 117-76 |
Lifetime ERA | 1.83 |
Winning Percentage | 60.6% |
Years Won 20 or More Games | 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947 |
Career Strikeouts | 1,205 |
Teams | |
Dorothy Wiltse "Dottie" Collins (September 23, 1923 – August 12, 2008) was an American professional baseball pitcher for the
The
Early years
Wiltse Collins, born September 23, 1923, in
Collins's father was her biggest role model in her baseball career. Every day once she got home from school, she would wait for her dad to get home from work so they could play catch in the
Collins's sports career really started at the age of 9 when she became a bat girl for the Mark C. Bloome softball team, part of the Los Angeles' parks department softball league.
As she got older, Collins was not able to play
Professional baseball
In 1944, Bill Allington, Collins's former manager for her softball teams growing up, recommended that she try out for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL).[6] Along with choosing Collins, Allington hand-picked five other girls from California to try out for the AAGPBL.[6] That spring, Collins got on a train in Los Angeles and made her way to Chicago to try out for the League.[6] Tryouts were very competitive, but all six of the 'California girls' ended up making it onto some of the League's teams.[6] The fact that all six of the California girls made it into the League goes along with the idea that they were often described as having a lot of confidence and sometimes were even seen as cocky.[7]
Over the course of Collins's career, the AAGPBL switched their pitching styles form underhand, to sidearm, and eventually settled on the overhand pitch.
Minneapolis Millerettes (1944)
In their first and only season, the
One of Collins's best games with the Millerettes was on June 17. She led the team against the
The Minneapolis Millerettes' main problem was where they were located on the map. The team was 400 miles away from the closest League town, which was the Rockford Peaches in Illinois.[9] When scheduling, Minneapolis games were seen as a nightmare because the visiting teams would arrive to the stadium 'surly and exhausted'.[9] Also, it was thought that the League's teams could not last longer in bigger cities, like Minneapolis. Smaller cities were thought to be better for the League. In 1945, the Minneapolis Millerettes were adopted by Fort Wayne, Indiana, and became the Daisies.[9]
Fort Wayne Daisies (1945–1948 and 1950)
After Minneapolis was picked up by Fort Wayne in 1945, Collins had her best season as lead
In the 1946 season, Collins, now pitching under her married name, Collins, won 22 games and struck out 294 batters, which was another record.
After taking the 1949 season off to raise her daughter and work, Collins returned to the League for the 1950 season. In the 1950 season, she had an ERA of 3.46 and a winning percentage of 0.619.[17] She ended the season with a 13–8 record.[5] At the end of the 1950 baseball season, Collins decided to permanently retire from the game of baseball.[17]
Player's support
Many people were very big fans of Collins. Many Fort Wayne Daisy fans would ask her for
After Collins had gotten married, her husband Harvey would bring carloads of friends to away games to support her.[8] Once Collins came back to baseball after having her daughter, Patricia, her teammates, husband, and mother-in-law were all very supportive of her. Collins's mother-in-law would sit with Patty on her lap in the stands to watch her games.[17]
Personal life
On August 28, 1945, Collins pitched and won both games of a doubleheader against the Rockford Peaches.[5] After watching both baseball games, Harvey Collins, who had spent four years in the Navy during World War II, mentioned to his friend that he wanted to meet Dottie.[17][8] Harvey's friend arranged for him to deliver beer to the apartment that she shared with five other players.[17] Harvey asked Dottie out on a golf date for the next day, and she accepted.[17] On March 10, 1946, Harvey Collins and Dottie got married and would be together for over 50 years.[18][17]
After getting married, Collins continued to pitch very well. While four-months pregnant during the 1948 season, Collins finally decided to bench herself in the middle of the first game of a doubleheader.[17] Harvey and Dottie's first child, Patricia, was born on December 22, 1948.[19] Harvey and Dottie's second child, Daniel, was born on March 18, 1954.[19]
Retirement
After retiring from baseball in 1950, Collins started working for General Electric Company in Fort Wayne, Indiana.[5] After her son Daniel was born in 1954, Collins started playing golf quite often.[17] She won the Fort Wayne All-City Golf Championship twice, and even was able to share the trophy one time with her husband Harvey.[17]
Collins was not able to stay away from sports for very long after she retired, and she soon started working part-time while also raising her family.[17] She worked for Vim's Sporting Goods, and enjoyed helping young baseball players find the right bat for them, and then worked for The Baseball Blue Book, which is where all of the records for Major League Baseball were kept.[17]
Collins was also very active in her community by promoting youth sports through the Elks Club in Fort Wayne during the late 1950s, into the 1960s and 1970s.[17] She organized beginning and intermediate level golf games for children and also helped coordinate a children's bowling league.[17] Although these sports that Collins helped promote and coordinate were for both boys and girls, they especially benefitted girls because there were very few sports options for girls to play during this time period.[17]
Baseball in retirement
In the year 1982, the AAGPBL had their first reunion in over 30 years.
Along with helping for the Players Association, Collins also helped open the "Women in Baseball" exhibit at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, in 1988.[17] Fittingly, Collins was able to open the curtain for the new exhibit in Cooperstown.[20]
The
In 1999, Collins became one of the first two women to be included into the Fort Wayne Baseball Hall of Fame.[20]
Death
Collins died on August 12, 2008, at the age of 84.
References
- ISBN 0028649540.
- ^ )
- ISBN 0028649540.
- ^ ISBN 0786421002.
- ^ ISBN 0313311749.
- ^ ISBN 0786421002.
- ISBN 0156982978.
- ^ ISBN 9780786469833.
- ^ ISBN 0002158388.
- ^ ISBN 0275947351.
- ISBN 0275947351.
- ISBN 0002158388.
- ISBN 0275947351.
- ^ ISBN 0156982978.
- ISBN 0275947351.
- ISBN 0275947351.
- ^ ISBN 0786421002.
- ISBN 9780786469833.
- ^ a b "Dorothy (Wiltse) Collins AAGPBL Profile". www.aagpbl.org. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
- ^ ISBN 0786421002.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-11.