Gary Clifton Cooper (born August 13, 1964) is a former
third baseman
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...
who played with the
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...
of
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
(MLB).
Early life
Cooper was born in
Lynwood, California
Lynwood is a city in Los Angeles County, California. At the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 69,772, down from 69,845 at the 2000 census. Lynwood is located near South Gate and Compton in the central portion of the Los Angeles ...
. He was named after the actor
Gary Cooper
Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, a ...
.
College career
Cooper attended
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...
, where he is a member of their Hall of Fame. He was a starter on their nationally ranked #1 in 1983 and he started nearly every of his 292 games as a Cougar, helping fashion records of 54-11 in 1983, 42-17 in 1984, 44-29 in 1985 and 34-18-2 in 1986. Included in those records were NCAA Post-season Tournament appearances in Tempe, Ariz., in 1983 and Fresno, Calif., in 1985, Western Athletic Conference crowns both those seasons, and WAC division titles in 1983, 1984 and 1985. The product of Mountain View High in Orem set a BYU record of five stolen bases in one game in 1984.
He was named All-America first-team in 1986 and 1985. As a senior, he was named WAC Player of the Year. He was a three-time All-WAC division selection. Cooper finished second in NCAA career runs scored (320), fourth in NCAA career hits (349), sixth in NCAA career total bases (612) and set WAC and BYU career records for runs, hits, RBI, stolen bases and walks.
Batting a collegiate career .409, he was drafted in the seventh round by the Houston Astros in 1986. Coop led the Anchorage (Alaska) Glacier Pilots to a third-place finish in the National Baseball Congress All-American Tournament in Wichita, Kansas in the summer of 1985.
Professional career
Cooper was 27 years old when he broke into the big leagues on September 15, 1991, with the
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...
. The majority of his playing time was on the triple A level with teams like the Tucson Toros. He also played in the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates organizations. He played in several AAA all-star games during his 10-year pro career and was named MVP of one of those games as well as being voted Outstanding Player of the Year in the Pacific Coast League. Gary has over 1,000 hits during his professional career.
After baseball
Gary currently lives in Utah with his wife April and their 4 children, Taylor, Nikki, Camden and Shea. Camden and Shea are named for MLB ballparks,
Camden Yards
The Oriole Park at Camden Yards is a baseball stadium located in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the home field of Major League Baseball's Baltimore Orioles, and the first of the "retro" major league ballparks constructed during the 1990s and early ...