WHY I THINK WILBUR COOPER SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN

WHY I THINK WILBUR COOPER SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN 

By- Damien 

Wilbur Cooper is almost universally unheard of nowadays, but he was the greatest pitcher in Pittsburgh Pirates history and one of the top ten lefthanded pitchers of all time. His lifetime record of 216-178 is not overwhelming, but Cooper was a hard luck pitcher who never played for a pennant winner and sometimes posted losing records despite convincing ERA’s. Nevertheless, Cooper had four 20 win seasons and two others with 19. Cooper also had many supplementary skills other than his pitching. He was a good fielder, was remarkably hard to steal on because had a great pickoff move, and was a very good hitter for a pitcher. He was also one of the first pitchers ever to appear in 100 games in relief, finishing off 83 of them, and even led the NL in saves in 1918. Wilbur Cooper started his career with the Pirates in 1912, tossing two shutouts in four starts and going 3-0. By 1914, he was a regular in the starting rotation, and went 16-15 with an ERA of 2.13. In 1916, Cooper made 23 starts and 19 relief appearances, winning 12 and saving two others, and finished with an ERA of 1.87 in 246 innings. He won 17 games in 1917 and won no fewer than that many in any season until 1925. Cooper led the NL with 22 wins in 1921 and paced the circuit in losses two years later, the consequence of the team’s poor hitting. As teammate Pie Traynor recalled, Cooper would often bat in the eighth slot in the batting order when he started, batting as high as .346 one season and .318 in another. At any rate, Cooper won 20 games again in 1924. After the season, he was traded to the Cubs and won a dozen games with them in 1925. Cooper played his final season in 1926, going 2-5 for two teams. Wilbur Cooper was a great pitcher, troublesome for both batters and baserunners, and a fine all around baseball player. He would be a good pick for the Hall of Fame. 

LIFETIME STATISTICS 

Games Pitched career: 517 season high: 44 in 1920 

Starts career: 406 season high: 38 in 1921 and 1923 led NL: 38 in 1921 and 1923 

Complete Games career: 279 season high: 29 in 1921 led NL: 27 in 1919 and 1922 

Shutouts career: 35 season high: 7 in 1917 led NL: 4 in 1924 

Games Finished career: 83 season high: 15 in 1913 

Wins career: 216 season high: 24 in 1920 led NL: 22 in 1921 

Losses career: 178 season high: 19 in 1923 led NL: 19 in 1923 

Winning Percentage career: .548 season high: .622 in 1922 

ERA career: 2.89 season low: 1.87 in 1916 

WHIP career: 1.226 season low: 1.039 in 1918 

Innings Pitched career: 3,480 season high: 327 in 1920 and 1921 led NL: 327 in 1921 

Strikeouts career: 1,252 season high: 134 in 1921 

Strikeouts Per Nine Innings career: 3.2 season high: 4.1 in 1916 

Walks career: 853 season high: 80 in 1921 

Strikeouts Per Walk career: 1.47 season high: 2.19 in 1920 

Saves career: 14 season high: 4 in 1915 led NL: 3 in 1918 

Fielding Percentage career: .955 season high: 1.000 in 1918 and 1922 led NL P: 1.000 in 1918 and 1922, .989 in 1920 

Double Plays career: 27 season high: 5 in 1922 

Putouts career: 102 season high: 15 in 1916 

Assists career: 785 season high: 75 in 1920 

Caught Stealing Percentage career: .494 season high: .611 in 1918 (Cooper’s caught stealing information from before 1916 is unavailable) 

Pickoffs career: 22 season high: 4 in 1920 (Cooper’s pickoff information from before 1916 is unavailable) 

DID YOU KNOW? 

-has the lowest career ERA of any lefthanded pitcher in NL history with at least 3,000 career innings 

-is the Pirates’ record holder for career wins (202) and complete games (263) 

-his 1.87 ERA in 1916 is the Pirates’ franchise record 

-led the NL in batters faced (1,377) in 1921 

-was the first, and so far only, pitcher ever to start two triple plays in one season (1920) 

-batted .269 with four home runs and only six strikeouts in 1922 

-also played two games in the outfield