Donald James Cooper (born January 15, 1956) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB)

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who spent parts of four seasons with the Minnesota Twins (

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

– 1982),

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

(

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

) and

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

(

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

). He was the pitching coach for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

from July 22, 2002, until the end of the 2020 season. Under his tutelage, both

Mark Buehrle Mark Alan Buehrle (; born March 23, 1979) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played the majority of his Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Chicago White Sox, playing twelve seasons for the team and winning the World S ...

and

Philip Humber Philip Gregory Humber (; born December 21, 1982) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched for the New York Mets, Minnesota Twins, Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox, and Houston Astros in seven seasons in Major League ...

pitched

perfect games Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New York ...

(with the former also getting a no-hitter),

Lucas Giolito Lucas Frost Giolito (born July 14, 1994) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He attended Harvard-Westlake School in Studio City, California, and was selected by the Washington N ...

pitched a no-hitter, and the White Sox won the 2005 World Series. On October 12, 2020, Cooper and the White Sox parted ways after 32 seasons with the organization at various levels.

Early life

Cooper attended Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School (class of 1974) and the New York Institute of Technology on a

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

scholarship.

Playing career

Cooper was drafted by the

in the 17th round (442nd overall) of the

1978 Major League Baseball Draft In 1978, four American baseball players were promoted from amateur baseball to the major leagues, including Arizona State University third baseman Bob Horner, who was selected number one overall by the Atlanta Braves. Oakland High School pitc ...

. After the 1980 season, he was selected by the Minnesota Twins from the Yankees in the Rule 5 draft. Cooper played for the Twins in 1981 and 1982, before being traded to the

for Dave Baker on December 10, 1982. On March 13, 1984, Cooper was traded to the Yankees for outfielder Derwin McNealy. Cooper signed with the Oakland Athletics for the 1986 season, appearing only in the minor leagues. In 44 MLB games (three starts) spread over four seasons, Cooper compiled a 1–6 record with a 5.27 ERA.

Coaching career

Cooper had worked in the White Sox organization since 1988, when he served as a minor league pitching coach for the Single-A

South Bend Silver Hawks South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

. He also served as pitching coach for the Single-A Advanced Sarasota White Sox from 1989 through 1991 and the Double-A Birmingham Barons in 1992. He became the White Sox minor league pitching coordinator from 1993 through 2002, aside from serving as pitching coach for the Triple-A Nashville Sounds in 1995 and 1996. Cooper became the White Sox pitching coach in July 2002, replacing

Nardi Contreras Arnaldo Juan Contreras (born September 19, 1951) is an American former professional baseball pitcher and coach. His brief time in Major League Baseball, as well as the majority of his time as a coach, came with the Chicago White Sox. He currently ...

. With the departure of

Ozzie Guillén Oswaldo José Guillén Barrios (; born January 20, 1964) is a former professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a shortstop for 16 seasons, primarily with the Chicago White Sox, from 1985 to 2000. During tha ...

on September 26, 2011, and Joey Cora on September 27, 2011, Cooper became the 38th manager of the White Sox, filling the role for the final two games of the 2011 season before yielding the position to

Robin Ventura Robin Mark Ventura (born July 14, 1967) is an American former professional baseball third baseman and manager. Ventura played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox, New York Mets, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Do ...

. Cooper was one of the longest tenured pitching coaches in MLB. He told the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...

'' in 2018, "I love being part of young people’s lives helping them achieve the dreams they’re dreaming about. That’s what I’m into.’’ Cooper, along with White Sox manager

Rick Renteria Richard Avina Renteria (born December 25, 1961) is a Mexican-American former professional baseball infielder and former manager of the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). Renteria played in parts of five seasons bet ...

, were fired on October 12, 2020, after an early playoff exit in the American League Wild Card Series against the Oakland Athletics. Cooper and his wife have a son and two daughters. They make their home in Brentwood, Tennessee.

Managerial record

References

External links

:
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Don 1956 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball coaches from New York (state) Chicago White Sox coaches Chicago White Sox managers Columbus Clippers players Fort Lauderdale Yankees players Fort Myers Sun Sox players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball pitching coaches New York Institute of Technology alumni Minnesota Twins players Minor league baseball coaches Nashville Sounds players New York Yankees players NYIT Bears baseball players Oneonta Yankees players Rochester Red Wings players St. Lucie Legends players Syracuse Chiefs players Toledo Mud Hens players Toronto Blue Jays players West Haven Yankees players Baseball players from New York City NYIT Bears men's basketball players