After pitcher Jackie Collum made an impressive debut in the majors, the Cardinals literally couldn’t wait for the encore.
On Sept. 21, 1951, Collum pitched a two-hit shutout and got the win against the Cubs in his first game in the big leagues.
The next night, Collum pitched two innings in relief and got the loss against the Cubs.
A diminutive left-hander, Collum craved heavy duty, and the Cardinals obliged.
Big talent
An Iowa native, Collum was born in Victor and grew up in Newburg, near Grinnell.
The middle finger of his left hand became disfigured when he was a boy.
“I got that when I was 4 years old,” Collum told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “My hand was caught in a pulley while we were making hay on our farm.”
The damaged digit didn’t prevent him from succeeding in athletics, nor did his size. As Bob Husted of the Cincinnati Enquirer put it, “Jackie was born in Iowa where the corn grows tall, but he didn’t.”
Collum reached a height of “almost 5 feet 7,” the Rochester Democrat-Chronicle noted.
He served in the Army during World War II for two years, including 19 months in the Pacific. After his discharge, Collum got a tryout with the Cardinals, who gave him a contract and told him to report to their minor-league spring training camp at Albany, Ga., in 1947.
Bob Stanton, manager of the Cardinals’ Class C affiliate at St. Joseph, Mo., liked Collum and recruited him for his team.
Forming a battery with catcher Vern Rapp, a future Cardinals manager, Collum was 15-11 for St. Joseph in 1947. A left-handed batter, Collum played outfield on some days he didn’t pitch. He produced 47 hits and a .388 batting average.
Right stuff
Back with St. Joseph in 1948, Collum won his first 16 decisions and finished the regular season with a 24-2 record and 2.47 ERA. He also batted .280 with 40 hits.
His reward from the Cardinals was an invitation to pitch batting practice at their big-league spring training camp in St. Petersburg, Fla., in 1949 before reporting to the minor-league training site.
Collum accepted and became a protege of Cardinals pitcher Harry Brecheen, who taught him how to throw a screwball.
Before Collum departed the big-league camp, Cardinals manager Eddie Dyer gave him a chance to pitch in an exhibition game against the Yankees on March 13. Collum struck out Joe DiMaggio with the bases loaded, the Post-Dispatch reported.
Two years later, in 1951, Collum, in his fifth season in the minors, pitched for manager Johnny Keane at Class AAA Rochester and was 15-8 with a 2.80 ERA.
“I can think of 25 pitchers in the majors who aren’t as good as he is today,” Keane told the Rochester Democrat-Chronicle. “He’s one of the finest competitors among pitchers I’ve ever seen. He’s got it inside.”
On Sept. 17, 1951, the Cardinals called up Collum, 24, to the majors.
Overtime duty
Four days later, on Sept. 21, Cardinals manager Marty Marion made a last-minute decision to give Gerry Staley a rest and start Collum in that night’s game against the Cubs at St. Louis.
The only hits Collum surrendered were an infield single by Bob Ramazzotti in the third and a soft single to center by Eddie Miksis in the sixth.
Collum walked three in the first four innings and two in the ninth, but was aided by a defense that turned four double plays.
“I was in a bit of a daze,” Collum told the Post-Dispatch. “I usually have pretty good control.”
Collum also singled twice and scored twice against Cubs starter Frank Hiller. Boxscore
The following night, Sept. 22, the score was tied 5-5 when Marion brought in Collum to pitch the ninth. He retired the side in order, but the Cubs scored against him in the 10th, handing Collum the loss 24 hours after his shutout. Boxscore
Compared to today’s standards of pitch counts and cautious care, using Collum in relief the night after he pitched a shutout seems outrageous. It’s possible, though, Collum wanted the work.
Cardinals broadcaster and former catcher Gus Mancuso told Si Burick of the Dayton Daily News, “He looks like a high school pitcher, but he’s got twice as much heart as the average big man.”
Birdie Tebbetts, who later managed Collum with the 1954-55 Reds, said to the Cincinnati Enquirer, “I’ve never seen a ballplayer with more desire than Collum. He isn’t much larger than a short beer, but he’s got the guts of a burglar. Nothing scares him. He keeps himself in wonderful condition. He loves to pitch and would be in there every day if such a thing were possible.”
After his back-to-back appearances, Collum pitched in one other game for the 1951 Cardinals. On Sept. 29, he started against the Cubs at Chicago, pitched six innings and got the win. Boxscore
He pitched a career-high 239 innings in 1951 _ 222 for Rochester and 17 for the Cardinals.
Traveling man
After his busy 1951 season, Collum went directly to Cuba to play winter baseball. From Cuba, he reported to Cardinals spring training camp in 1952 and showed up “about 30 pounds underweight, tipping the scales at 136 pounds,” the St. Joseph News-Press reported.
Collum opened the regular season with the Cardinals, but was returned to the minors after two relief appearances.
The Cardinals brought back Collum to open the 1953 season, but traded him to the Reds in May for pitcher Eddie Erautt. When Collum arrived in the Reds’ clubhouse, they didn’t have a uniform that fit him, so he borrowed a bat boy’s baseball pants, The Sporting News reported.
On July 11, 1954, in a 6-5 Reds victory over the Braves, the shortest pitcher in the league, Collum, got the win, and the tallest pitcher in the league, 6-foot-8 Gene Conley, took the loss. Boxscore
In three seasons (1953-55) as a spot starter and reliever with the Reds, Collum was 23-22 with four saves.
In January 1956, Frank Lane made his first trade as Cardinals general manager, sending pitchers Brooks Lawrence and Sonny Senerchia to the Reds for Collum.
Lane described Collum to United Press as “a courageous little guy and all-around good performer.”
Collum was 6-2 with seven saves for the 1956 Cardinals. After the season, they traded him to the Cubs. He pitched briefly for the Cubs, Dodgers, Twins and Indians, but spent most of the remainder of his baseball career in the minors.
In nine seasons in the majors, Collum was 32-28 with 12 saves. He hit .246 with a home run, a three-run shot for the Reds at the Polo Grounds against the Giants’ Ruben Gomez. Boxscore
Against the Cardinals, Collum was 5-5 with a save and hit .250.
RetroSimba 
Here is a good trivia question. Name the pitcher who Roberto Clemente went 0 for 17 lifetime. Answer: Jackie Collum. Is it true that Collum once created a bit of controversy by picking off a runner at 2nd base throwing the ball right-handed? Thanks.
Thanks for the note on Roberto Clemente being 0-for-17 vs. left-hander Jackie Collum in his career. Clemente never even drew a walk against him. Amazing!
As for whether Collum threw right-handed to pick off a runner, I could not find a specific game or date to verify that tale.
In a July 8, 2015, retrospective on Collum, the Des Moines Register reported that Collum pitched in both games of a high school doubleheader, pitching left-handed in the first game and right-handed in the second. It offered no date nor any other details.
The Des Moines newspaper used the high school anecdote to set up a tale about Collum throwing right-handed to pick off a runner in the majors. According to the Register, Collum was pitching for the Reds. With runners on first and second , no outs, Collum supposedly stepped off the rubber, took off his glove, rubbed the ball and then threw right-handed to shortstop Roy McMillan, who put the tag on the runner at second. According to the Register, umpire Al Barlick said to Collum, “You can’t do that. You deceived the runner.” The umpire prevailed in ruling that the runner should stay at second, the Register reported.
The Des Moines newspaper did not report the date this supposedly happened, nor did it identify the runner or the team the Reds were playing. I did a quick search of Cincinnati Enquirer archives and found no mention of this.
On Aug. 11, 1956, Collum did pick off a runner at first (presumably with a left-handed throw) for the last out of the game, preserving a 3-1 Cardinals win over the Cubs. In the ninth, with the Cardinals ahead by two, the Cubs had runners on first and third, two outs, when Collum picked off Frank Kellert at first for the final out: https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1956/B08110CHN1956.htm