Mort Cooper was a talented Cardinals pitcher with a troubled soul whose life was shortened by too much booze.
On Nov. 17, 1958, Cooper died at 45 in an Arkansas hospital. Death was caused by cirrhosis of the liver and a staph infection, according to published reports.
In the 1940s, Cooper was a Cardinals ace, a three-time 20-game winner and recipient of the 1942 National League Most Valuable Player Award. The right-hander pitched for pennant-winning Cardinals clubs in 1942, 1943 and 1944. His records those seasons were 22-7 in 1942, 21-8 in 1943 and 22-7 in 1944.
Off the field, Cooper drank to excess, wasted his earnings and resorted to petty crime.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bob Broeg described Cooper as “a great pitcher and pathetic figure, a simple fun-loving man for whom life became all too complicated and all too short.”
Climbing up
Mort Cooper was born in 1913 in Atherton, Mo. He and his younger brother, catcher Walker Cooper, played amateur baseball in the Ban Johnson League in Kansas City.
In 1933, Mort turn pro, played in the minors at the Class A level Western League and caught the attention of Cardinals scout and minor-league manager Joe Schultz Sr., who recommended him to club executive Branch Rickey. Mort signed with the Cardinals, who followed his suggestion and signed Walker, too.
Mort made his major-league debut with the Cardinals on Sept. 14, 1938, and two years later Walker joined him.
In June 1941, Mort had surgery to remove bone chips in his right elbow, but he recovered and became the Cardinals’ premier pitcher.
Cooper led the National League in wins (22), ERA (1.78) and shutouts (10) in 1942. He also was the league leader in wins (21) in 1943 when he pitched consecutive one-hitters and in shutouts (seven) in 1944. “Except for Dizzy Dean, probably no pitcher ever had three more successful consecutive seasons in a Cardinals uniform than Mort Cooper,” the Post-Dispatch reported.
Among Cooper’s highlights were two World Series wins.
On the morning of Oct. 6, 1943, Mort and his brother were informed of the death of their father, but both decided to play that afternoon in Game 2 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium. Mort pitched a six-hitter and the Cardinals won, 4-3. Boxscore
The next year, Mort pitched a shutout with 12 strikeouts in Game 5 of the 1944 World Series versus the Browns. Boxscore
Even with his success, Cooper’s right elbow continued to bother him and he “chewed aspirin like peppermint to dull the physical distress during key games,” according to the Post-Dispatch.
Trials and tribulations
Meanwhile, Cooper experienced a series of personal troubles.
In 1936, his wife Mary was killed in a car accident, according to a report by the Society for American Baseball Research. Soon after, on Oct. 14, 1936, Cooper married Bernadine, 19, but his drinking strained the relationship.
As Bob Broeg slyly noted in the Post-Dispatch, Cooper’s career was a tribute to “his own private brand of courage. Usually, any brand was just fine with Mort.”
Cooper spent money freely and frivolously. “In many ways, Cooper never grew up,” the Associated Press surmised. “He used to spend a lot of money each month in gadget shops, buying odd things like water guns. He laughed fate in the face.”
On May 23, 1945, amid a contract dispute, the Cardinals traded Cooper to the Braves for pitcher Red Barrett and $60,000. Three months later, Cooper had a second operation on his right elbow.
Cooper’s elbow “had more chips than a gambling casino and sounded at times like dice thrown on a marble floor,” the Post-Dispatch reported.
On Nov. 6, 1945, Cooper’s second wife filed for divorce, claiming he had a violent temper and drank too much.
Hard road
Cooper married his third wife, Viola, in 1946 and had his last good season in the big leagues, posting a 13-11 record for the Braves.
In June 1947, the Braves traded Cooper to the Giants and he was 1-5 with a 7.12 ERA for them. Severely overweight, he announced his retirement during spring training in 1948.
A few months later, in October 1948, Cooper was arrested in St. Louis for passing bogus checks. Former Cardinals owner Sam Breadon came to his rescue, posting $2,000 in bonds for Cooper’s release. Soon after, charges against Cooper were dismissed by a St. Louis judge on the recommendation of the prosecuting attorney when Breadon made restitution on the $270 worth of bad checks, the St. Louis Star-Times reported.
“Mort is such a good-hearted fellow,” Breadon told The Sporting News. “When he was pitching for the Cards, he was probably the smartest pitcher in the business, but when it came to outside interests involving money he was just like a little child. He never did have any sense of business or of handling money.”
Breadon revealed Cooper “doesn’t have a cent of his baseball earnings left. He’s been a free spender.”
“I know he’s not a criminal,” Breadon said. “He wouldn’t harm anyone. On the contrary, he’d give you the shirt off his back.”
On Breadon’s recommendation, the Cubs gave Cooper a chance to make a comeback in 1949, but he pitched in one regular-season game for them, gave up a three-run home run to Duke Snider without retiring a batter and was released.
In his 11 seasons in the major leagues, Cooper posted a record of 128-75, including 105-50 with the Cardinals.
Life after baseball
Cooper eventually settled in Houston, worked as a security guard for a steel company and operated a small bar called “The Dugout.”
In August 1958, Bert West, a correspondent for the Victoria Advocate, visited Cooper at the bar and reported, “His various escapades on the personal life side apparently left him a lonely, but not bitter, man. He said that I was the first newspaperman he had seen in a long time and he had no contact with former players, except his brother, in several years.”
Two months after that, Cooper was traveling in Arkansas, where he reportedly intended to relocate, when he was admitted to a hospital on Oct. 31, 1958. He died there three weeks later. Cooper was survived by his wife, son, mother and several siblings, including his brother Walker.
About 150 people, including former Cardinals teammate Johnny Hopp, attended the funeral in Independence, Mo., according to United Press International.
In a column for the Chicago Tribune, David Condon concluded, “Mort never was one of fortune’s favorite children.”
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Krenchicki played eight years in the major leagues as an infielder for the Orioles (1979-81), Reds (1982-83 and 1984-85), Tigers (1983) and Expos (1986).
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