Terry Collins

Born in Midland, Terry Collins distinguished himself in baseball, basketball and football at Midland High School. Then it was on to Eastern Michigan University from 1968-1971, the star shortstop for Ron Oestrike’s Hurons, leading the team in stolen bases each season.

The 1969 Hurons went on a spectacular run to close their season, winning 17 of 18 games before the year came to an end against Taylor in the regionals. The 1970 campaign was different: Eastern beat Oregon, Michigan, and Michigan State early in the season, went on a 12-game winning streak in late April and early May, and earned a ticket to the NAIA World Series. Victories over Emporia State, New Haven, and Northeast Louisiana sent the Hurons into the championship round without a defeat. But Northeast Louisiana responded with a 7-6 victory, setting up a winner-take-all final. The Hurons prevailed in the bottom of the ninth, 1-0, to capture the national championship, and shortstop Collins was named the Outstanding Defensive Player of the Tournament.

In 1971, the Pittsburgh Pirates drafted Collins in the 19th round. He went on to play in the minors through 1978, rising up to Triple-A Albuquerque before rejoining the Dukes in 1979 as a coach. Returning to Midland, the 30-year-old Collins took the reins as player-manager of the McArdle Pontiac-Cadillac fast pitch softball team and steered them to the National Fastpitch Softball Championship. He managed the next season in Class A ball for the Dodgers, moving up the ladder from the California League to the Florida State League to the Texas League, and then back to Albuquerque in the Pacific Coast League in June of 1983.

Terry Collins spent the full decade-plus as an MiLB skipper, winning 662 games in Triple-A, 66 in Double-A and 153 in Single-A. But entering the 1992 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates came calling again, offering Collins his first MLB staff role. He served as the Pirates’ bullpen coach from 1992-1993, and then went on to manage 13 seasons in the Major Leagues: helming the Houston Astros from 1994-96, Anaheim Angels from 1997-99, and New York Mets from 2011-17, where he won the 2015 National League pennant. In all, Collins won 989 games across 13 years as a Major League manager.