RetroSimba

(Updated April 26, 2020)

Scott Cooper enjoyed a storybook start to his Cardinals career.

Cooper, a St. Louis native and lifelong resident, got a walkoff RBI in his Cardinals debut.

On April 26, 1995, two weeks after he was dealt to St. Louis by the Red Sox, Cooper lifted the Cardinals to a 7-6 Opening Day victory over the Phillies at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. The season began later than usual because of the players’ strike that carried over from the 1994 season.

Playing third base and batting fourth, Cooper was 3-for-5 with four RBI.

In his first plate appearance for the Cardinals, Cooper struck out against Curt Schilling. “My first at-bat I was more nervous than any at-bat in my life,” Cooper said to the Springfield (Ill.) State Journal-Register. “I have played in front of 50 million fans in the All-Star Game, but in that first at-bat I had problems getting down to the basics.”

In the ninth inning, with the Phillies ahead, 6-5, the Cardinals loaded the bases with none out against Norm Charlton, who was making his first regular-season appearance since undergoing ligament transplant surgery in his left elbow in 1993. Bernard Gilkey sparked the rally with a single. Ozzie Smith and Ray Lankford each followed with a four-pitch walk.

Cooper, acquired along with reliever Cory Bailey in a April 9, 1995, trade for pitcher Rheal Cormier and outfielder Mark Whiten, stepped to the plate with the chance to be a hometown hero. He had supplied 40 tickets to the game for friends and family, including his mother, father, sister and two brothers.

The first two pitches Charlton delivered to Cooper nearly hit him. He fouled off a pitch, then grounded the next past diving first baseman Dave Hollins for a single into right field, scoring Gilkey and Smith. Boxscore and Video

Cardinals fans chanted “Coop” in tribute.

“I’ve probably dreamed up 50,000 different scenarios for how this game would go,” Cooper said to the Associated Press, “but I probably couldn’t have written it any better.”

Said Cardinals manager Joe Torre: “He knows he’s up there to knock in runs. He was up there swinging. That’s very aggressive and I like that.”

Charlton told the Philadelphia Daily News, “We played a great game and I screwed it up.”

After a fast start to his Cardinals career _ he was batting .325 on May 17 _ Cooper tailed off. A .284 hitter in five years with the Red Sox, Cooper batted .230 in 118 games for the Cardinals. He had almost as many strikeouts (85) as hits (86).

Granted free agency after the season, Cooper played in Japan in 1996. He returned to the big leagues with the 1997 Royals in his final season as a player.