Collins also played and managed in baseball's minor leagues from 1885 to 1890 and 1896 to 1900, including stints with the International League and Canadian League teams in Hamilton, Ontario (1885-1887, 1897-1900), Rochester, New York (1888-1889), and Galt, Ontario (1896). He stole 45 bases in 1886, 85 bases in 1888, and 81 bases in 1889. His 1898 Hamilton team won the league championship "with one of the strongest minor league aggregations ever seen In Hamilton." He also served as an umpire in the Western Association in 1891.