Among all the major league ballplayers of the early 1900’s “Cocky Eddie” Collins stood out for more reasons than one. First was his bat – the name “Collins” was often found either at the top or at least the top five on the list of batting statistics. He was especially great in post-season play where he played in six World Series and batted a collective .328 including over the .400 mark in three of those series. The second reason Cocky Collins stood out from the pack was his base running ability – Eddie had a complete understanding of the game’s nuances which allowed him to swipe bases with abandon. To this day he’s still the only man to have stolen six bases in one game – and he did it twice in his career! The third thing that made Collins a giant among his peers was his fielding. Eddie was the first modern second baseman. His leadership and sheer talent in the infield was often enough to inspire ordinary infielders to extreme feats of fielding. When he was with Connie Mack’s Philadelphia A’s he was the key component of what was called “the $100,000 infield”. The final, and maybe the key to Collins’ success was his background – while most of ballplayers were either farmers or inner-city toughs, Eddie Collins was a refined Columbia University man, renowned for his high intelligence. Besides using his brains to excel on the field, he used his education to make sure he got what he deserved salary-wise from management. This was most evident when he was with the Chicago White Sox. While his teammates like Joe Jackson and Chick Gandil complained they were taken advantage of by owner Charles Comiskey, Eddie Collins was able to command a very generous salary from the notoriously tight-fisted Comiskey. This disparency in paychecks became the basis for the infamous 1919 World Series scandal. While eight of his teammates were tossed from the game for life, Collins remained above the muck and played for Chicago through 1926. It was during the post-Black Sox period that the Hall of Fame second baseman wore this remarkable glove.

     The Eddie Collins model 72 Goldsmith glove is a rare type of glove to begin with, but add to its rarity that it was actually game used by its Hall of Fame namesake. Through vintage catalogue research it can be determined that Goldsmith offered this model glove from 1924 and discontinued it after 1925. While we can’t discount Collins as having used the glove after 1925 we at least can get a general time period as to when the Hall of Famer took the field with this magnificent piece of leather. As it was used by the man who was the first modern second baseman, it shows tremendous game use and as a testament to the high quality of its manufacturer it remains in excellent condition. The black leather has been broken in through much use and the inside leather shows consistent wear from contact and honest to goodness sweat. The one-inch leather strip connecting the thumb and index finger remains tightly attached. The edge of the wrist strap and opening has been worn through in parts and the stitching though loose in parts remains intact. The distinctive brass Goldsmith wrist strap button is still in place and the Goldsmith gold and black embroidered label shows wear but has remained in remarkable condition. The Goldsmith logotype and Eddie Collins model stamping is present in the glove’s pocket, and though worn from use and age, both are easily readable.

     It cannot be over stated that this is a spectacular example of a 1920’s game used glove and its well used but excellent condition makes a gorgeous display piece. The glove stems from the collection of Chicago White Sox collector Pat Quinn whose letter of provenance states in part “I obtained these items from Collin’s grandson at a memorabilia show at New York’s Penta Hotel in 1973, and they have been in my possession ever since.” The Game Used experts at MEARS have examined the glove and issued their Letter of Authenticity for this truly remarkable piece of baseball history.

Auction Notepad