Mort Cooper Morton Cecil Cooper Bats Right Throws Right Height 6'2 Weight 210 Born March 2, 1913 Atherton, MO Died November 17, 1958 Little Rock, AR (Cirrhosis of the Liver)

Pitching  

 Year Ag Tm    W   L  PCT.  SV   G  GS  CG SHO    IP     H    R   ER   BB   SO  HR  ERA  lgERA ERA+
+-----------+---+---+-----+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+-----+----+
 1939 26 MON   7  14  .333   0  33  31   3   0  185.0  219  129  112  105  127  10  5.45  4.19   77
 1940 27 MON   0   5  .000   0   8   8   0   0   41.0   46   36   30   24   11   6  6.59  4.26   65 
 1941 28 MON   3   2  .600   0  59   0   0   0   86.0   76   49   46   38   66  15  4.81  4.22   88 
 1942 29 MON  19   5  .792   0  33  31   5   4  225.2  193   90   87   61  191  25  3.47  4.04  116 
 1943 30 MON  13  10  .565   0  31  31   8   0  229.0  218  115  103   66  140  23  4.05  4.08  101 

 1944 31 MON  18   5  .783   0  31  31   8   4  225.2  167   71   67   67  152  23  2.67  4.32  162 
 1945 32 MON   5   5  .500  30  73   0   0   0   81.2   78   29   25   37   33   3  2.76  3.94  143 
 1946 33 MON  10  11  .476   0  32  32   4   4  203.1  196  100   90   41  111  23  3.98  3.97  100 
+-----------+---+---+-----+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+-----+----+
  8 Seasons   75  57  .568  30 300 164  28  12 1277.1 1193  619  560  439  831 128  3.95  4.11  104
+-----------+---+---+-----+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+-----+----+
 154 Gm  Avg  11   8  .568   4  42  23   4   2  179.0  167   87   78   61  116  18  3.95           
 Career High  19  14  .792  30  73  32   8   4  229.0  219  129  112  105  191  25  2.67           
+-----------+---+---+-----+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+-----+----+
 Year Ag Tm    W   L  PCT.  SV   G  GS  CG SHO    IP     H    R   ER   BB   SO  HR  ERA  lgERA ERA+

Postseason Pitching

 
 Year Tm  OPP WLser   W   L  PCT.  SV   G  GS  CG SHO    IP    H    R   ER   BB   SO  HR   ERA  
+------------------+---+---+-----+---+---+---+---+---+-----+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+
 1942 MON FRE   W     1   0 1.000   0   2   2   0   0  11.2   14    8    8    3    8   3  6.17
 1944 MON HAR   W     1   0 1.000   0   1   1   1   1   9.0    4    0    0    3    4   0  0.00
+------------------+---+---+-----+---+---+---+---+---+-----+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+
               2-0    2   0 1.000   0   3   3   1   1  20.2   18    8    8    6   12   3  3.48
+------------------+---+---+-----+---+---+---+---+---+-----+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+

WLser shows whether the player's team Won or Lost the series.

Appearances on Leaderboards and Awards  

Stats are Year-Value-Rank

CY YOUNG 1942 1944

Wins 1942-19-1 1944-18-2

ERA 1944-2.67-1

Strikeouts 1939-127-4 1942-191-2 1943-140-4 1944-152-6

Saves 1945-30-1

Walks 1939-105-3

Innings Pitched 1942-225.2-4 1943-229.0-7 1944-225.2-7

Complete Games 1944-8-3

Games 1945-73-3

Losses 1939-14-9

Pitcher of the Month, June 1942
Pitcher of the Month, May 1944
Pitcher of the Month, July 1944

Transactions January 1, 1938: Drafted 1st round (3rd overall) by Montgomery.

Biography Mr. Cooper was the older brother of Walker Cooper, with whom he formed the famous Cooper battery, which was called "the greatest brother act in baseball." They were sons of Robert J. Cooper, a rural mail carrier in Atherton, Mo. The boys needed little encouragement from their father, a former semi-professional player, for they were rabid baseball fans from the start. Morton played for Columbus in the American Association and both brothers played for Houston in the Texas League before Morton joined the Cardinals in 1938. He pitched for St. Louis eight seasons. In 1942, when he won twenty-two games and lost seven, he was named the National League's most valuable player. The next year his record was 21-8, and in 1944 it was again 22-7. The Cardinals won the pennant in all three years, and in all three Morton was ably assisted by his brother, who had joined the Cards in 1940 but did not become the regular catcher until 1942. That year the Cardinals clinched the league pennant after having trailed the Dodgers by ten and a half games. They followed up by taking four straight games from the New York Yankees in the World Series, after having dropped the first game - the only one in which Mr. Cooper pitched. In 1943, although the Yanks won over St. Louis, he was the winning pitcher in the only game the Cardinals won. The next year, the Cardinals defeated the St. Louis Browns (now the Baltimore Orioles) by four game to two. Mr. Cooper lost the opener despite a two-hit performance but came back to shut out the Browns on seven hits in the fifth game. In 1945, Mr. Cooper pitched in only four games for the Cardinals, winning two of them. After a prolonged dispute about salary terms he was finally sold to the Boston (now Milwaukee) Braves for cash and a pitcher. He won seven games and lost four for Boston that year and the next year his record for them was 13-11. In 1947 he won two and lost five for the Braves before being traded to the Giants for Bill Voiselle and cash. He won one game for the Giants, while losing five, before being released unconditionally at the end of July. In 1949 he joined the Chicago Cubs but failed to win a game. Mr. Cooper won 128 games in his major league career, while losing seventy-five.