Shano Collins

John Francis "Shano" Collins (December 4, 1885 – September 10, 1955) was an American right fielder and first baseman in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox.

Early life Collins was born on December 4, 1885, in Boston's Charlestown neighborhood and grew up in Newton, Massachusetts. His nickname Shano (pronounced and sometimes spelled "Shauno") came about as a clubhouse corruption of Sean, the Gaelic equivalent of John.

Major league career Collins made his major league debut on April 21, 1910. That season he played first base behind Chick Gandil, but he was quickly moved to right field, where he developed a reputation for having one of the strongest throwing arms in baseball. In 1911, Gandil's contract was sold and Collins became the starting first baseman. He batted .262 and hit a career-high four home runs, good for eighth in the league. In 1912, Collins played 153 games, batting .290 with 2 home runs and 86 RBI. In 1914, Collins placed third in the American League with 34 doubles. The following season he finished fourth in RBIs with 85. Collins still holds the MLB career record of eight triples with the bases loaded. During the notorious 1919 World Series, tainted by the Black Sox Scandal, Collins went 4-for-16 at the plate for the White Sox. He was not among those implicated in the scandal. In the indictments of the key figures in the Black Sox scandal, Collins is named as the wronged party. The indictment claims that by throwing the World Series the alleged conspirators defrauded him of $1,784.

In 1921, Collins and Nemo Leibold were traded to the Red Sox for Harry Hooper.

Managing Collins managed the Des Moines Demons in 1926 and 1927 before returning to Pittsfield in 1928. In 1930, Collins became manager of Nashua Millionaires. However, the league folded in June, which led to Collins' return to Des Moines. After taking over the club, the Demons improved last place to third place by the end of the season. The Red Sox improved to 62–90 in their first season under Collins. However, in 1932 Boston started the season 11–44 and Collins was replaced by Marty McManus. Following his departure from the Red Sox, Collins scouted for the Detroit Tigers. In 1942, Collins briefly returned to baseball as manager of the Hillies. Collins and his wife, Elizabeth, had three daughters and two sons. Collins' grandson, Bob Gallagher, played first base for the Red Sox, Astros and Mets from 1972 to 1975.