Collett was one of the founders of baseball's annual Hutch Award (named after former Reds manager Fred Hutchinson) recognizing a major league player who has overcome serious adversity, with an accompanying scholarship awarded for cancer research.
He also headed the selection committee for Phi Delta Theta fraternity's annual award in honor of Lou Gehrig.
The author of five books, Collett was a member of the Baseball Writers' Association of America from 1947 until his death on Sept. 26, 2001.
He covered every World Series from 1946 to 1990.