On December 8, 1914 Afraid of losing his unsigned second baseman to the upstart Federal League, Connie Mack sells Eddie Collins to the White Sox for the hefty sum of $50,000.A .300 hitter for six consecutive seasons, Collins will bat .332 for the Sox in 1915.
The A’s have already lost Eddie Plank and Chief Bender to the new league. The deal breaks up the A’s “$100,000 infield” and raises conjecture that Mack, too, will leave to manage the Yankees. Ban Johnson reportedly had a hand in the negotiations, sending the A’s star to counter the box office effect of the Chiefs signing Walter Johnson.
