WHY I THINK MORT COOPER SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN

WHY I THINK MORT COOPER SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN

By- Damien 

Mort Cooper was the dominant National League pitcher of his time. Cooper didn’t usually overpower his opponents. He simply outsmarted them. He was the NL MVP and ERA leader in 1942, led the NL in wins twice and finished second in 1944, pitched over 200 innings five times and 199 once, and put fear into the hearts of opposing batters with his blazing fastball and devastating breaking balls. At the end of his career Cooper also developed marvelous control.  Mort Cooper was teammates with his brother, Walker Cooper, and with other great players like Stan Musial, Enos Slaughter and Marty Marion. The great Cardinals team of the 1940s won four pennants and three World Series titles. Cooper was on three of those pennant winners and had a career World Series ERA of 3.00 (with a 1.13 mark in 1944) despite a 2-3 record. Cooper began his career with a 2-1 record, a 3.04 ERA and a save in four games in 1938. He was used as both a starter and a reliever in 1939 and had 12 wins (three of them shutouts) and five saves on a 3.25 ERA in 45 appearances (26 starts). Cooper was used primarily as a starter after that as he won 11 games in 29 starts in the next season. Cooper went 13-9 in 1941 and then he then established himself as a force to be reckoned with in 1942 as he went 22-7 with a league leading 1.78 ERA and 10 shutouts. He went 21-8 on a second place 2.30 ERA in 1943. In 1944, he copied his 1942 record of 22-7 and led in shutouts with seven, which helped him to an ERA of 2.46. After that year, Cooper had a slump that never went away. He did have a really good season in 1945 at 9-4 with a 2.92 ERA, but was shipped back to the bullpen. Cooper went 13-11 in 1946 but slipped badly to 3-10 in 1947. He came back for one game in 1949. It would be the last game he would ever pitch. Even with the rough finish Mort Cooper was the toughest pitcher of his day and deserving of a Hall of Fame selection, even if he pitched in a very hitter-friendly era.

LIFETIME STATISTICS

Games career: 295 season high: 45 in 1939

Starts career: 239 season high: 35 in 1942 

Complete Games career: 128 season high: 24 in 1943

Shutouts career: 33 season high: 10 in 1942 led NL: 10 in 1942, 7 in 1944

Games Finished career: 39 season high: 12 in 1939

Wins career: 128 season high: 22 in 1942 and 1944 led NL: 22 in 1942, 21 in 1943

Losses career: 75 season high: 12 in 1940

Winning Percentage career: .631 season high: .759 in 1942 and 1944

ERA career: 2.97 season low: 1.78 in 1942 led NL: 1.78 in 1942

WHIP career: 1.215 season low: 0.987 in 1942 led NL: 0.987 in 1942, 1.106 in 1946

Innings Pitched career: 1,840 ⅔ season high: 278 ⅔ in 1942

Strikeouts career: 913 season high: 152 in 1942

Strikeouts Per Nine Innings career: 4.5 season high: 5.7 in 1941 led NL: 5.6 in 1939

Walks career: 571 (0 intentional) season high: 97 in 1939

Strikeouts Per Walk career: 1.60 season high: 2.24 in 1942 led NL: 2.24 in 1942, 2.13 in 1946

Saves career: 15 season high: 5 in 1939

Fielding Percentage career: .952 season high: 1.000 in 1944 led NL: 1.000 in 1944

Double Plays career: 20 season high: 3 in 1939, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1945 and 1946

Putouts career: 50 season high: 7 in 1939 and 1943

Assists career: 270 season high: 46 in 1943

DID YOU KNOW?

-won his MLB debut (9 innings, 2 earned runs, 3 hits)

-was a four time all-star

-was one of the best hitting pitchers (batted .250 in 1945 and hit a pair of home runs in 1939)

-pitched 250 plus innings three times 

-pitched a shutout in the 1944 World Series 

-threw consecutive one-hitters in 1943 

-faced 1,000 or more batters three times and struck out 100 plus four times 

-was fifth in the 1943 NL MVP voting, ninth in 1944 and 24th in 1941 

-led the NL in fewest hits per nine innings in 1942, fewest homers in 1939, fewest walks in 1945 and most strikeouts per win in 1942 and 1946

-finished second in the NL in shutouts (six) in 1943 and had four in 1946

-drove in two runs and scored one in two games in the 1942 World Series

-was used as a pinch runner twice in 1939