Although Don Collins could not have attended any of the Baltimore Oriole
Games during this era, he did have the honor of joining his father for the
first Baltimore Oriole home game of the modern era. In 1954 major
league baseball came back to Baltimore. The Orioles played their first
home game at Memorial Stadium to a sell out crowd of 46,354. Don
Collins sat in Section 38, Row 9, Seat 6 and still has his ticket stub to
prove it.
As a 15 year old in Baltimore, Don played baseball
for various city league teams. His father, Frank W. Collins, was a key
figure and "tireless youth worker" in reorganizing the Kenwood Athletic Club
and keeping youth baseball alive in that part of Baltimore in 1949.
Don Collins played for Kenwood in 1949 and Patterson Park in 1950.
During this era many local youth baseball player's played
with a local hero
In
1951 and 1952, Don had the honor of playing for Gordon's Stores 14-16 year
old team alongside of Hall of Famer, Al Kaline. Don Collins played
first base and Al Kaline played center field. The team won the Central
Junior League Championship and the Cardinal Gibbons Championship. Ed
Houseknecht .led the team with a .446 batting average. Al Kaline was
second with a .411 average. Don Collins, who was a year younger batted
.258 and recorded 133 put outs at first base. Al Kaline led the team
with 7 home runs and 15 stolen bases. He even pitched 10 innings.
In 1952 Gordon'sStores (a.k.a. Gordon's Quality Dry Cleaning
and Laundry) finished the season with a 31-5 record and won the Central
Junior League Championship and the Cardinal Gibbons Championship for the
second year in a row.
Also
in 1951 and 1952 Don Collins also played American Legion ball as he joined
the Waverly Post No. 164. The team was undefeated until playing
against Al Kaline's Westport Post No. 33 team during the middle of the
season. On the final regular season Waverly Post (12-1) faced Westport
Post (11-2) again for the regular season title. The game ended in a 7
to 7 tie. The teams met again in the playoffs with Waverly Post
winning the Legion Title 3 to 2. Don preferred to play with Al Kaline
rather than against him. In 1952 Don played for Patterson Park High
School, while Al Kaline played for Southern High School.
In
1953, the Detroit Tigers signed Al Kaline right out of high school.
Don Collins being a year younger had another successful season at Patterson
Park High School and also played for the Red Nelson Seafood team. In
1954 played for the Little Tavern Shops team in the Baltimore Unlimited
League. He continued to play for the Baltimore Unlimited League in
1955 with the St. Elizabeth's Brotherhood.