Terry Collins, Former Manager, New York Mets

Date of Birth: 5/27/1949
Birthplace: Midland, Michigan
College: Eastern Michigan University

Terry Collins, former manager of the New York Mets, never played baseball in the major leagues. After playing baseball in college, in 1971, he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates and sent to the minor leagues, where he played for 10 years for both the Pirates and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In 1981, while still a player in the minors, Collins got his first minor league managerial position. For the next 11 years, he continued to manage for minor league teams for the Dodgers and Pirates. He finally moved up to the majors in 1992 when he became a coach for the Pirates.

Collins coached for the Pirates for two years before becoming the manager of the Houston Astros. In three years managing the Astros, Collins led them to three winning seasons of second place finishes, with records of 66-49 in 1994, 76-68 in 1995, and 82-80 in 1996.

After a relatively successful time with the Astros, Collins moved to the Los Angeles Angels, where he managed from 1997 until he resigned in 1999 after a dismal 51-82 record after 133 games. His first two years as manager of the Angels were much better with records of 84-78 in 1997 and 85-77 in 1998.

After spending a short time out of major league baseball, Collins returned as a coach in 2001 for the Tampa Bay Rays. His next opportunity to manage didn't come until 2007, but it was in the minor leagues. He took that position and stayed in the minors until 2011 when he became the manager of the Mets.

Collins was not successful as manager of the Mets from 2011 through 2013, leading them to fourth place finishes in the National League East division in both 2011 and 2012 and a third place finish in 2013. He led the team to a tie with the Atlanta Braves for a second place finish in 2014.

In 2015, Collins finally had success with the Mets, leading them all the way to the World Series for the first time since 2000. The team finished in first place in the NL East division with 90 wins to 72 losses. They went on to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers three games to two in the NL Division Series. They swept the Chicago Cubs four games to none in the NL Championship Series but the Kansas City Royals were too strong a team for them to beat in the World Series. The Mets lost the series four games to one, putting up a good fight in the last game but losing it in the twelfth inning.

Collins again led the Mets to a playoff position in 2016. They won the first NL Wild Card position with an 87-75 record. They lost the Wild Card game in the ninth inning to the San Francisco Giants.

Collins and the Mets had a terrible season in 2017, partly due to injuries, especially to their starting pitchers. They finished in fourth place in the NL East division with 70 wins and 92 losses.

After the 2017 regular season ended, Collins resigned his managerial position. He was hired for a front office position in 2018.

In his seven years as the Mets' manager, Collins has a 551-583 record. His overall managerial record for 13 years is 995 wins to 1,017 losses.

Sources for Information
Wikipedia - Terry Collins
Baseball Reference - Terry Collins