Wilbur Cooper

Position: Pitcher
Bats: Right • Throws: Left
5-11, 175lb (180cm, 79kg)
Born: February 24, 1892 in Bearsville, WV us
Died: August 7, 1973 in Encino, CA
Buried: Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills Cemetery, Los Angeles, CA
Debut: August 29, 1912 (3,775th in major league history)
vs. CIN 1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 SO, 1 BB, 0 ER
Last Game: July 21, 1926
vs. WSH 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 SO, 1 BB, 0 ER
Full Name: Arley Wilbur Cooper
View Player Info from the B-R Bullpen
View Player Bio from the SABR BioProject

Nine Players Who Debuted in 1912

Rabbit Maranville
Cy Williams
Del Pratt
Bobby Veach
Ray Schalk
Casey Stengel
Buck Weaver
Ray Chapman
Herb Pennock

All-Time Teammate Team

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Notable Events and Chronology

October 27, 1924

The Chicago Cubs trade pitcher Vic Aldridge and first basemen George Grantham and Al Niehaus to the Pittsburgh Pirates for 1B Charlie Grimm, SS Rabbit Maranville and P Wilbur Cooper.

Biography

Wilbur Cooper won more games (202) than any other Pirate lefthander, at least 17 games a year from 1917 through 1924 with a career-high 24 in 1920 and a league-best 22 in 1921. The sinkerballer twice led the NL with 27 complete games, and led in two other seasons with 38 starts.

Cooper’s fielding skills were exceptional, particularly his knack for picking runners off third base — seven in 1924 alone. His partner, Pie Traynor, would dive toward the bag as Cooper whipped a sidearm throw to third. Walter Schmidt caught him for most of his career with Pittsburgh and they knew each other so well that the battery wasted little time on signals. Cooper got a reputation as a fast worker.

A .239 lifetime batter, Cooper hit four homers in 1922, and hit .346 in 104 at-bats in 1924.

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