James Edward Cooney (August 24, 1894 – August 7, 1991), nicknamed "Scoops", was an American

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

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), ...

who played for six different teams between and . Listed at , 160 lb., Cooney batted and threw right-handed. His father Jimmy Sr. and younger brother

Johnny Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Varian ...

also played in the Major Leagues. A native of

Cranston, Rhode Island Cranston, once known as Pawtuxet, is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island. The official population of the city in the 2020 United States Census was 82,934, making it the second largest in the state. The center of population of Rhode Island i ...

, Cooney reached the Majors in 1917 with the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

, spending part of the season with them before playing with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

in . After that, he spent four years with the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

of the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

, setting a personal mark with 12 consecutive

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

in . Cooney came back to play once again in the Major Leagues with the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

(–),

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

(–),

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

() and

Boston Braves The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During it ...

(). His most productive season came in 1924 with St. Louis, when he hit a career-high .295 in 110 games including 20 doubles, eight triples, 57

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

and 12

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s, also career-numbers. In a seven-season career, Cooney was a .262 hitter (413-for-1575) with two

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 150 RBI in 448 games, including 64 doubles, 16 triples, and 30 stolen bases. Cooney died in

Warwick, Rhode Island Warwick ( or ) is a city in Kent County, Rhode Island, the third largest city in the state with a population of 82,823 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is located approximately south of downtown Providence, Rhode Island, sout ...

on August 7, 1991 at the age of 96.

Triple plays

While in Chicago, Cooney entered the record books as the sixth player in the modern era to turn an

unassisted triple play In baseball, an unassisted triple play occurs when a defensive player makes all three outs by himself in one continuous play, without his teammates making any assists. Neal Ball was the first to achieve this in Major League Baseball (MLB) under ...

. On May 30, 1927, in the fourth inning of a game against

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, Cooney caught a line drive hit by

Paul Waner Paul Glee Waner (April 16, 1903 – August 29, 1965), nicknamed "Big Poison", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for four teams between 1926 and 1945, most notably playing his first 15 se ...

, stepped on second base to retire

Lloyd Waner Lloyd James Waner (March 16, 1906 – July 22, 1982), nicknamed "Little Poison", was a Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. His small stature at and 132 lb (68 kg)

, and then tagged

Clyde Barnhart Clyde Lee Barnhart (December 29, 1895 – January 21, 1980) was a right-handed outfielder and third baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He attended Cumberland Valley State Normal School (now Shippensburg Unive ...

coming down from

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. One day after Cooney's fielding gem,

Johnny Neun John Henry Neun (October 28, 1900 – March 28, 1990) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a first baseman from 1925 to 1931 for the Detroit Tigers and the Boston Braves. Neun is ...

also turned an unassisted triple play. Despite their joint fame, Cooney and Neun never actually met, as they were playing in different leagues. (They did face each other in a minor league game in 1929, but didn't exchange words.) Finally, nearly six decades later, in 1986,

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

arranged a conference call between the tw

Cooney also had a hand in two more triple plays in his big-league career: first, he was credited with an (assisted) triple play (with

Jim Bottomley James Leroy Bottomley (April 23, 1900 – December 11, 1959) was an American professional baseball player, scout and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman from 1922 to 1937, most prominently as a member of the St. Loui ...

and

Rogers Hornsby Rogers Hornsby Sr. (April 27, 1896 – January 5, 1963), nicknamed "The Rajah", was an American baseball infielder, manager, and coach who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1915–1926, 1933 ...

) on July 30, 1924. Second, Cooney was called out when

Glenn Wright Forest Glenn Wright (February 6, 1901 – April 6, 1984) was an American professional baseball shortstop. He played in Major League Baseball from 1924 through 1935 for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Brooklyn Robins / Dodgers, and Chicago White Sox. C ...

pulled off an unassisted triple play on May 7, 1925. Oddly, it involved the same two men as the previous year's play: Cooney was on second while Hornsby was on first and Bottomley was battin

Sources

Jimmy Cooney 1920s shortstop
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooney, Jimmy 1894 births 1991 deaths Major League Baseball shortstops Baseball players from Rhode Island Boston Red Sox players New York Giants (NL) players St. Louis Cardinals players Chicago Cubs players Philadelphia Phillies players Boston Braves players Minor league baseball managers Buffalo Bisons (minor league) managers Sportspeople from Cranston, Rhode Island Worcester Busters players Providence Grays (minor league) players Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players

Triple plays

See also

Sources