Andrew Lewis Cooper (April 24, 1898 – June 3, 1941), nicknamed "Lefty", was an American left-handed

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 ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006. An alumnus of

Paul Quinn College Paul Quinn College (PQC) is a private historically black Methodist college in Dallas, Texas. The college is affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME). It is the oldest historically black college west of the Mississippi River a ...

, Cooper played nine seasons for the

Detroit Stars The Detroit Stars were an American baseball team in the Negro leagues and played at historic Mack Park. The Stars had winning seasons every year but two, but were never able to secure any championships. Among their best players was Baseball Hall of ...

and ten seasons for the

Kansas City Monarchs The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri, and owned by J. L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 19 ...

, and briefly played for the

Chicago American Giants The Chicago American Giants were a Chicago-based Negro league baseball team. From 1910 until the mid-1930s, the American Giants were the most dominant team in black baseball. Owned and managed from 1911 to 1926 by player-manager Andrew "Rube" F ...

. The Texan was tall and weighed . In defiance of a threatened five-year Negro league ban for contract jumping, Cooper joined a 1927

barnstorming Barnstorming was a form of entertainment in which stunt pilots performed tricks individually or in groups that were called flying circuses. Devised to "impress people with the skill of pilots and the sturdiness of planes," it became popular in ...

team that toured Hawaii and Japan. He spent most of his later career with the Monarchs. Cooper is the Negro league record holder for career saves. In a 1937 playoff game, he pitched 17 innings. Cooper served as manager or player-manager for the Monarchs from 1937 to 1940, leading the team to the pennant three times during those four seasons.

Early life

Cooper was born in

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...

, where he attended A. J. Moore High School. He continued his education in Waco at

(the school moved to Dallas in 1990).

Career

Early career

Cooper pitched for the Detroit Stars from 1920 to 1927. The Stars played in

Mack Park Mack Park was the original home field of Detroit's Negro National League baseball franchise, the Detroit Stars. It was constructed in 1914 by Joe Roesink, sponsor of a local semi-professional team, a Dutchman of Jewish descent born in Grand Rapids ...

, which was noted for its short fences. Despite the hitter-friendly dimensions of the park, Cooper excelled as a pitcher in Detroit. The short fences often allowed Detroit's powerful hitters to provide good run support for Cooper. In ''The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract'', James characterized Cooper as the best Negro league pitcher of 1923. Cooper was traded to the Kansas City Monarchs for five players in 1928. He became known for his durability as a pitcher. To open the 1928 season, the left-hander pitched a two-hit shutout against the Cleveland Tigers, which he followed with a 4-3 win over the Tigers the next day.

Later career

Cooper returned to the Stars for another season in 1930. In nine years with the Stars, he earned a 92-47 record. He rejoined the Monarchs in 1931. One of his best years was 1936, when he went 27–8 against all levels of competition. He made his only All-Star appearance that season, as Negro league All-Star games had not been played until three years earlier. Cooper became player-manager of the Monarchs in 1937. The Monarchs joined the newly formed Negro American League (NAL) that year. As manager for the Monarchs, he won three pennants, the most for any manager in the era of the league. Nearing the end of his career, Cooper pitched 17 innings in a playoff game that year versus the

. Cooper gave up two runs in the first inning of the game, but he pitched 16 subsequent scoreless innings. In ''Black Baseball in Kansas City'', Cooper was described as having "more junk than Fred Sanford", but he walked only one batter. The game was declared a tie after the 17th inning, but the Monarchs won the playoff series four games to one with the one tie. Cooper became known for his ability to alter the speed of his pitches. He threw a

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. " Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have thr ...

, a curveball and a

screwball A screwball is a baseball and fastpitch softball pitch that is thrown so as to break in the opposite direction of a slider or curveball. Depending on the pitcher's arm angle, the ball may also have a sinking action. The pitch is sometimes known ...

. He also had a well-known pickoff move. He posted a 116–57 career record and went 72–30 over a six-year span. He often pitched three games in a five-game series, starting two and relieving another. He holds the Negro league career record for saves (29). Negro league historian Dick Clark called Cooper the greatest pitcher to play for Detroit, either for the Stars or the Tigers. By 1940, Cooper had managed the team to three pennants. Cooper_Andy_1920

Negro league star Buck O'Neil said that Cooper and Kansas City owner J. L. Wilkinson were responsible for O'Neil joining the NAL and ultimately becoming a member of the Monarchs. In 1937, Cooper and Wilkinson were impressed by O'Neil but the team had a first baseman who was returning from an injury. They encouraged O'Neil to sign with the Memphis Red Sox. The Monarchs traded their first baseman the next year and purchased O'Neil's contract from Memphis.

Winter leagues and barnstorming teams

Cooper also played several seasons of winter baseball. He played in Cuba during the winters of 1923-24, 1924–25 and 1928–29; he compiled a 15-17 record there. By 1927, player pay had been cut and morale was low in the NNL and the

Eastern Colored League The Mutual Association of Eastern Colored Clubs, more commonly known as the Eastern Colored League (ECL), was one of the several Negro leagues, which operated during the time organized baseball was segregated. League history Founding The ECL ...

(ECL). To limit the options of the players, the leagues announced a five-year ban on any contract-jumping players. Cooper and three other Negro league players -

Biz Mackey James Raleigh "Biz" Mackey (July 27, 1897 – September 22, 1965) was an American catcher and manager in Negro league baseball. He played for the Indianapolis ABCs (1920–1922), New York Lincoln Giants (1920), Hilldale Daisies (1923–1931), P ...

, Rap Dixon and Frank Duncan - decided to test the ban. They joined a traveling all-star team, the Philadelphia Royal Giants, in a four-month

tour of Japan. The team traveled by ocean liner and it took 20 days to arrive in Japan. On their return, they played some games in Honolulu. The team won all 23 games they played on the tour. Upon his return, Cooper received a 30-day suspension and a $200 fine. Cooper went barnstorming in the Pacific with the Royal Giants in 1932-33. The team earned a 47-2-1 record as they visited the Philippines, China, Korea and Japan. Cooper recorded a .342 batting average on the trip. The next year, he accompanied the Royal Giants to Japan, China, the Philippines and Hawaii for a four-month, 35-game trip.

Personal

Cooper had one son, Andy Cooper Jr.

Illness and death

According to reports in the ''

Chicago Defender ''The Chicago Defender'' is a Chicago-based online African-American newspaper. It was founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott and was once considered the "most important" newspaper of its kind. Abbott's newspaper reported and campaigned against Jim ...

'', Cooper reportedly suffered a stroke early in the 1941 pre-season. He left for his home in Waco to rest and recover, leaving Newt Allen as interim manager, but suffered a fatal

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

on June 3, having never returned to the Monarchs. He was buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Waco.

Legacy

Cooper was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006. His Hall of Fame class included 17 black players and executives from the Negro league or pre-Negro league eras. A special committee had been formed that year to select the group, and it narrowed down a pool of 39 candidates to arrive at the final selections. The

109th United States Congress The 109th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, from January 3, 2005 to January 3, 2007, dur ...

issued a resolution that year honoring the 2006 Negro league and pre-Negro league inductees. As of 2014, Cooper is one of eleven inductees whose plaques do not depict them wearing a cap with a team logo. In 2014, Cooper made the final ballot for election to the

Texas Sports Hall of Fame The Texas Sports Hall of Fame recognizes athletes, coaches, and administrators who have made "lasting fame and honor to Texas sports". It was established in 1951 by the Texas Sports Writers Association. Once it made its first induction (baseball ...

References

External links

an
Baseball-Reference Black Baseball stats
an
Seamheads
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Find a Grave Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Andy 1898 births 1941 deaths National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Negro league baseball managers Chicago American Giants players Detroit Stars players Kansas City Monarchs players Baseball players from Texas Paul Quinn Tigers baseball players Sportspeople from Waco, Texas Baseball pitchers 20th-century African-American sportspeople