Books and articles about Mort Cooper

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Cooper, whose brother Walker was his catcher during the early 1940s, went 22-7 with 10 shutouts and a 1.77 ERA and was the NL MVP for the 1942 World Champion Cardinals. In 1943 he led the NL in victories (21) for the second straight year, and followed with a 22-win 1944 campaign. The fastballer, who occasionally chewed aspirin on the mound for relief from an aching arm, started and lost the 1942 and 1943 All-Star Games. St. Louis traded Cooper to the Braves in May 1945 after suspending him for leaving the club over a salary dispute. Mort and Walker teamed again in 1947, when the fading pitcher appeared in eight games with the Giants. (TJ)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » June 18, 1917: In a 4–0 win over the Cardinals, Pirate center fielder Max Carey triples in the 3rd inning and then steals home. Mort Cooper scatters six hits in the win for the last-place Pirates. » September 25, 1940: Walker Cooper, recently called up from Columbus (AA), and Mort Cooper, pitching in relief, make up a brother battery in the Cards, 4-3 win over the Reds. » September 13, 1941: The Dodgers Whit Wyatt beats the Cards Mort Cooper 1-0 in St. Louis. Dixie Walker's double in the 8th is the first Dodger hit. Walker then relays a stolen sign to Billy Herman, who singles him home. » May 20, 1942: Brooklyn's Whit Wyatt loses 1–0 to the Cards Mort Cooper, the first loss for Wyatt after eight straight wins. Cooper allows just two hits. The Cards score on Walker Cooper's triple and a fly ball in the 5th. » July 6, 1942: First-inning HRs by Lou Boudreau and Rudy York off Mort Cooper lead the AL to a 3-1 triumph over the NL in the All-Star Game at the Polo Grounds. Mickey Owen also homers for the third run. He does not hit a single HR during the regular schedule. » August 2, 1942: Carl Hubbell wins his 5th straight, topping the Cardinals 7–1. Mel Ott's two homers, one a grand slam eases the way for the vet. In the nightcap, Dick Bartell's 9th inning error paved the way for Billy Southworth's squeeze bunt, and the Cards win, 3–2. Mort Cooper allows four hits in winning his 13th. » August 25, 1942: The largest night crowd in St. Louis history, watch two aces deal, the Dodger Whit Wyatt and the Cardinals Mort Cooper, go scoreless for 12 innings. Both teams score in the 13th, and the Cards win it in the 14th, 2–1, on Walker Cooper's solo shot. The win by Mort Cooper cuts the Dodgers lead over St. Louis to five 1/2 games. » September 12, 1942: Mort Cooper wins his 20th game and 8th shutout, stopping Brooklyn 3-0. St. Louis finally catches the Dodgers when Max Lanier wins the second game 2-1. » November 3, 1942: Ted Williams is the ML Triple Crown winner, but the writers select 2B Joe Gordon by 21 votes as AL MVP. Gordon of the New York Yankees leads the AL with 95 strikeouts, the most ground balls hit into double plays (22), and the most errors at his position (28). P Mort Cooper gets the MVP honor in the NL. » May 31, 1943: Mort Cooper gives up a 7th inning hit to Billy Jurges in stopping the Dodgers on a one-hitter 7–0. Jurges' fly ball loops down the foul line. » June 4, 1943: Mort Cooper of the St. Louis Cardinals pitches back-to-back one-hitters, beating the Brooklyn Dodgers on May 31 and the Philadelphia Phillies on June 4. Hits by Billy Herman on May 31 and by Jimmy Wasdell of the Phils deprive him of no-hitters. Cooper has six wins and three shutouts on the way to his second 20-win year. » July 13, 1943: The AL edges the NL 5-3 at Shibe Park in the first All-Star Game played under the lights. Bobby Doerr of the Red Sox is the hitting hero with a 3-run HR off Mort Cooper in the second inning. Vince DiMaggio of the Pirates has a single, triple and HR in three trips. Doerr also handled six fielding chances. At the All-Star break he had handled 307 errorless chances, dating back to May 20th. His AL streak will end at 349 chances, a record he will break in 1948. » September 18, 1943: The Cardinals clinch the NL pennant. Howie Pollet, Max Lanier, and Mort Cooper will rank 1-2-3 in NL ERA, and Al Brazle at 1.53 and Harry Brecheen at 2.27 are near the same level. For hitting, Redbirds prime with George Kurowski, Walker Cooper, and Stan Musial, who in his 2nd season hits .357 and has 220 hits, 347 total bases, 48 doubles, 20 triples. » October 6, 1943: Robert Cooper, father of P Mort Cooper and C Walker Cooper, dies at his home in Independence, MO, but both players decide to play in the WS. Mort goes on to beat the New York Yankees 4-3, resurrecting memories of 1942 when the Yankees lost 4 straight after winning the opener. Marty Marion and Ray Sanders homer. » October 11, 1943: Bill Dickey's 2-run HR off Mort Cooper in the 6th gives the Yanks the championship. Spud Chandler gives up 10 hits but strands 11 in the 2-0 victory. Chandler won 2 games and compiled an 0.50 ERA. A full share is worth $6,139 to the New York players; the Cards get $4,321 each. The Series grosses $1.1 million at the gate, receives $100,000 for broadcast rights, and donates $308,000 to War Funds. » April 18, 1944: All 16 ML teams see action on Opening Day. But Bobby Doerr, Tex Hughson, and Mort Cooper are the only established stars still on the wartime rosters. A potential star among the new crop of rookies is George Kell, now Connie Mack's 3B, who last year with Lancaster (Inter-State League) led all minor league hitters with a .396 average. » May 10, 1944: Cardinal ace Mort Cooper picks up his first win of the season as the Cards beat the Dodgers 4–2. » June 24, 1944: The Cardinals beat the Pirates 16-0 as Cards hurler Mort Cooper tosses a 3-hitter while his teammates pound out 22 hits. » October 8, 1944: Mort Cooper strikes out 12; Denny Galehouse, 10. But the Cards get the runs to win 3-0. » April 27, 1945: Behind Ed Heusser's 4-hit pitching, the Reds edge the visiting Cards, 2–1. In St. Louis, Mort Cooper announces he is willing to pitch tomorrow against the Reds, even though he and his brother Walker are in a pay dispute with the Cards. Walker is awaiting induction into the armed services. The Coopers quit the team two weeks ago after learning that SS Marty Marion had received a new contract for $13,500. The brothers want $15,000 each. » May 16, 1945: Mort Cooper goes AWOL from the Cardinals, returning to St. Louis. A 20-game winner for three previous seasons, Cooper, along with his brother, has had his salary frozen at $12,000 for three years, and is in a salary dispute with owner Sam Breadon. Without Cooper, the Cards drop a pair to the Braves, losing 5–4 in 14 innings, and 4–1. » May 23, 1945: Mort Cooper is traded by the Cardinals to the Braves. The three-time 20-game winner has twice jumped the club in a salary hassle. Threatening to run out again unless his contract is increased from $12,000 to $15,000, Cooper is swapped by owner Sam Breadon to the newly affluent Braves for Red Barrett and $60,000 cash. Cooper will develop arm trouble while Barrett, 9–16 in 1944, will win 21 games for the Cards this season. » May 20, 1946: Claude Passeau of the Chicago Cubs makes his first error since September 21, 1941, ending his streak with an all-time pitcher's fielding record of 273 consecutive errorless chances. Passeau set the mark using the small glove in the National League. He received permission from the commissioner to use a modified glove because the fingers on his left hand were affected by a gunshot wound incurred as a youngster. He wins the game, however, beating Boston's Mort Cooper, 6–4. » May 18, 1947: Ewell Blackwell outpitches Mort Cooper to give the Reds a 2–1 win over the Braves. Red Barrett then outpitches Johnny Vander Meer, 3–1, to give the Braves a split for the day. Only a game and a half separate the first-place Braves from the 5th-place Pirates.