Gene Collins, threw Negro Leagues no-hitter, born 91 years ago today

Eugene Marvin Collins, a lefty who threw a 1949 no-hitter for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro American League, was born 91 years ago today.

On Sunday, May 22, 1949, Collins no-hit the Houston Eagles for a 14-0 victory that may have been called early due to the mercy rule. Collins, a Kansas City native, was later signed by the Chicago White Sox but didn’t make it out of the minors. He also played in the Mexican League.

Also today, we are debuting on the site a list of Negro Leagues no-hitters that will appear in Baseball’s No-Hit Wonders: More Than a Century of Pitching’s Greatest Feats when it’s released in March. The list, put together by the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) Negro League Committee and Noir Tech Research, is perhaps the best when the goal is to look at feats considered on par with those thrown in the preintegrated majors. It includes pre–Negro League games between legitimately top-level black teams irrespective of a league affiliation. It also includes a number of interleague games, postseason games, and exhibition games between teams comprising top-level Negro League players.