David S. Collins (born October 20, 1952 in Rapid City, South Dakota) is a former outfielder in Major League Baseball from 1975 to 1990. He is currently the first base coach for the Florida Marlins.

[edit] Playing career

Collins was drafted in the 1st round of the 1972 draft out of Mesa Community College by the California Angels. He made his professional debut with the Angels Rookie ball team in Idaho Falls and moved up through the Angels farm systems with stops in Single-A Quad City and Salinas, Double-A El Paso and Triple-A Salt Lake City. Was dubbed "fastest white man in baseball" after his 9.6 speed at the 100 yard dash and high stolen base totals.

He made his major league debut for the Angels on June 7, 1975, playing left field and batting leadoff, against the Milwaukee Brewers. He recorded his first career hit the following day against Brewers pitcher Tom Murphy.

After two seasons as a utility player/reserve outfielder with the Angels, the Seattle Mariners picked him with the 14th pick in the expansion draft in 1976. He became the very first batter to step up to the plate for the Mariners in their first game and also scored the team's first run in its history two days later.^[1]

Collins was traded by the Mariners to the Cincinnati Reds following the season in exchange of Shane Rawley and he spent the next four seasons in a Reds uniform. He hit .318 in 1979 and .303 in 1980, where he also stole 79 bases.

Signed by the New York Yankees prior to the 1982 season as a free agent, and was then traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in 1983 (with Mike Morgan, Fred McGriff and cash) for Tom Dodd and Dale Murray. Hit . 271 and .308 in his two seasons in Toronto.

Traded again, by the Blue Jays, (along with Alfredo Griffin and cash) to the Oakland Athletics for Bill Caudill in December 1984. Hit .251 in 112 games for Oakland during the 1985 season and was then traded to the Detroit Tigers for Barbaro Garbey in November 1985.

As a part time outfielder with Detroit, he hit .270 and stole 27 bases. Picked up by the Montreal Expos as a free agent after the season, he was then cut during spring training and signed by the Cincinnati Reds, with whom he had previously had the most success with. Used as a fourth outfielder/pinch hitter by the Reds this time, he found some success in the role, hitting .294 in 1987 but his average dropped to .236 in 1988 and 1989 and he was released.

Played one last season, in 1990, with the St. Louis Cardinals, batting .224 in 99 games as a 1st baseman. He played briefly for the Fort Myers Sun Sox of the Senior Professional Baseball Association after his retirement from the majors. He finished with a career batting average of .272 in his 16 year career, with 1,335 hits.

[edit] Coaching career

• 1991-1992: First Base coach for the St. Louis Cardinals
• 1992-1994: Head coach for Anna High School, Anna, Ohio
• 1996-1998: Head coach for Lake Orion High School, Lake Orion, Michigan
• 1999-2000: First Base coach for the Cincinnati Reds
• 2001: Manager of the Single-A Salem Avalanche - Won League Championship
• 2003-2006: First Base coach for the Colorado Rockies
• 2007: Manager of the Single-A Inland Empire 66ers (resigned on January 24th, 2008)
• 2009: Assistant Coach for the Ontario Blue Jays 18U team
• 2010: First Base coach for the Florida Marlins

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
• Inland Empire 66ers bio