| Walker Cooper | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Catcher | |
| Born:(1915-01-08)January 8, 1915 Atherton, Missouri, U.S. | |
| Died: April 11, 1991(1991-04-11) (aged 76) Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 25, 1940, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 20, 1957, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .285 |
| Home runs | 173 |
| Runs batted in | 812 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
William Walker Cooper (January 8, 1915 – April 11, 1991) was an American professionalbaseballcatcher andmanager.[1] He played inMajor League Baseball as acatcher from 1940 to 1957, most notably as a member of theSt. Louis Cardinals with whom he won two World Series championships. An eight-timeAll-Star, Cooper was known as one of the top catchers in baseball during the 1940s and early 1950s.[2] His elder brotherMort Cooper, also played in Major League Baseball as apitcher.
A native ofAtherton, Missouri, Cooper was a solid defensive catcher as well as a strong hitter, making the National League All-Star team every year from 1942 to 1950.[1] After being stuck in the Cardinals' talent-rich farm system in the late 1930s, he finally broke in with the team in late1940 at age 25 (and reportedly complained to umpireBeans Reardon about the first pitch he saw);[2] but a broken collarbone limited his play to 68 games in1941. On August 30 of that year, Cooper caughtLon Warneke'sno-hitter.[3] In1942 he batted .281, finishing among the National League's top ten players in slugging,doubles andtriples as St. Louis won the pennant by two games;[4] brother Mort won theMost Valuable Player Award.[5] Batting fifth, he hit .286 in theWorld Series against the defending championNew York Yankees, driving in the winningrun in Game 4 and scoring the winning run onWhitey Kurowski's home run in the ninth inning of the final Game 5; he thenpickedJoe Gordon off second base with no outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, as the team earned its first title in eight years.[6][7]
In1943, Cooper raised his average to a career-high .318, and was third in the National League in batting and slugging and fifth in RBI,[8] as the Cardinals repeated as league champions; he was runner-up in the Most Valuable Player Award vote to teammateStan Musial.[9] In the1943 World Series he batted .294 as theclean-up hitter, but St. Louis lost the rematch with theYankees. In1944, Cooper's average dipped only slightly to .317 as the Cardinals won their third straightpennant, facing the crosstownSt. Louis Browns in theWorld Series; again batting cleanup, he hit .318 in the Series and scored the team's first run in the final Game 6, and the Cardinals won another title.[10]World War II service in theNavy led him to appear in only four games in1945, and before his return, theNew York Giants purchased his contract following a salary dispute in January1946;[11] the sale by the Cardinals for $175,000 ($2,821,800 today) was the highest cash-only deal ever to that time; the transactions ofJoe Cronin in1934 andDizzy Dean in1938 were larger deals, but also involved other players.
Cooper enjoyed his most productive season at the plate in1947, when he hit .305 and compiled career highs in home runs (35), RBI (122),runs (79),hits (157) triples (8) and games (140);[1] the Giants set a new major league record with 221 home runs. In that season, Cooper homered in six consecutive games to tie a record set byGeorge Kelly in1924.[2] AfterLeo Durocher became Giants manager in1948, he began revamping the team to emphasize speed, and Cooper was traded to theCincinnati Reds on June 13,1949 for fellow catcherRay Mueller after starting the year hitting .211.[11] Three weeks later, on July 6, Cooper became the only catcher in major league history, and one of only eleven players, to have hit 10 or more RBI in a single game; he was 6-for-7, including three home runs and five runs.[2] That year, he also led National League catchers inassists for the only time in his career.
In May1950 he was traded to theBoston Braves, where he caughtVern Bickford'sno-hitter on August 11 of that year.[11][12] He remained with the Braves through their1953 move to Milwaukee, batting over .300 in his first two seasons with the club.[1] Cooper holds the distinction of being the last man to come to bat at Boston's Braves Field, flying out to Brooklyn'sAndy Pafko.
Cooper signed with thePittsburgh Pirates before the1954 season, but was let go in May after hitting only .200; he was picked up by theChicago Cubs, and hit well as a backup catcher andpinch-hitter through1955.[11] He then returned to St. Louis to spend his last two seasons as a Cardinal, ending his career in October1957. After his daughter, Sara (Miss Missouri 1957), married Cardinals second basemanDon Blasingame, he noted, "You know you are getting too old when your daughter marries one of your teammates."[13]
In an eighteen-year major league career, Cooper played in 1,473games, accumulating 1,341hits in 4,702at bats for a .285 career batting average along with 173 home runs, 812 runs batted in, and a .464slugging percentage.[1] He led National League catchers three times inrange factor, twice incaught stealing percentage, and once in assists, finishing with a .977 careerfielding percentage.[1] One of the sport's strongest players in his prime,[2][14] at the end of his career he ranked among the top five National League catchers in careerbatting average (.285),slugging average (.464),home runs (173) andruns batted in (812). He also batted .300 over threeWorld Series with theSt. Louis Cardinals from 1942 to 1944 as the team won two championships,[15] and ranked tenth in National League history in both games (1,223) andputouts (5,166) behind the plate when he retired. During his career, he set a record by hittinggrand slams with five different teams (a mark subsequently tied byDave Kingman andDave Winfield). His .464 slugging average then placed him behind onlyRoy Campanella (.500) andGabby Hartnett (.489) among players with 1,000 National League games as a catcher, and his 173 HRs and 812 RBI put him behind only Campanella (242, 856), Hartnett (236, 1,179), andErnie Lombardi (190, 990). His elder brother,Mort Cooper, was a National Leaguepitcher and his teammate for the first few years of his career, while his son-in-law,Don Blasingame, also was a major leaguer.
After his playing career, hemanaged theIndianapolis Indians (1958–59) andDallas-Fort Worth Rangers (1961) of the Triple-AAmerican Association and was acoach for the1960Kansas City Athletics, before leaving the game.[16]
Walker Cooper died inScottsdale, Arizona at age 76.