photo: Walker Cooper
In the fourth week of The Cardinal Nation’s Blast from the Past solo series, we move up a decade into the 1940’s and introduce you to an eight-time All-Star catcher who both started and ended his baseball career with the St. Louis Cardinals.
William Walker Cooper was born on January 8, 1915 in Atherton, Missouri to Robert J. Cooper and Verne Frasier Cooper. He was the third of six children. His older brother, Mort Cooper, pitched for St. Louis and served as his battery mate during most of his five seasons as a Cardinal.
Cooper’s professional baseball career began in the Cardinals farm system. Signed as an amateur free agent in 1935, Cooper bounced around on various minor league teams in both the Texas League and the Pacific Coast League from 1935 through much of the 1940 season. Cooper was finally called up to the big league club on September 25, 1940 at the age of 25. The story is that in his first big league at bat, Cooper complained to the umpire, Beans Reardon, about the first pitch he saw. He played in six games that season, hitting .316 in 19 at bats.
Cooper suffered a broken collarbone during the 1941 season and was only able to play in 68 games. He hit only .245 during that time, in 200 at bats.
In 1942, Cooper bounced back with an All-Star season, slashing .281/.327/.434 in 438 at bats. That August 30th, Cooper caught Lon Warneke’s no-hitter. He finished the season among the top ten in the National league in slugging, doubles, and triples while helping to lead the Cardinals to the National League pennant. Cooper hit .286 in the World Series, including driving in the winning run in Game 4 against the Yankees. The Cardinals defeated New York for their first World Series title in eight years.
Cooper was again an All-Star in 1943 and finished second in the Most Valuable Player vote to teammate Stan Musial. Cooper hit .318 that season, his career high, finished third in the National League in slugging and fifth in RBI. The Cardinals repeated as National League pennant winners but lost the World Series to the Yankees.
The Cardinals won another World Series title in 1944. Cooper finished the regular season with a line of .317/.354/.504 with 13 home runs and 72 RBI. He hit .318 in the World Series against cross town rivals the St. Louis Browns and scored the first run in the Game 6 clincher, which the Cardinals won, 3-1.
Cooper’s Cardinals career was interrupted by service in World War II in 1945. He played in only four games, from April 17-22 before leaving to serve in the Navy. Before he could return for the 1946 season, a salary dispute with the front office led to his contract being sold to the New York Giants in January 1946 for $175,000 (more than $2 million in today’s dollars). This was a cash only transaction; no other players were involved.
Cooper had his best offensive season with the Giants in 1947, hitting 35 home runs and driving in 122 runs. He was an All-Star in each of his first four seasons with New York, from 1946-1949. The Giants traded Cooper in June 1949 to the Cincinnati Reds. Three weeks later, on July 6, Cooper became the only catcher in major league history to record 10 RBI in a single game.
The Reds dealt Cooper to the Boston Braves in May 1950. On August 11, 1950, Cooper caught his second no-hitter, this one thrown by Vern Bickford. Cooper remained with the Braves through their move to Milwaukee in 1953.
Cooper signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1954 but was placed on waivers in May and claimed by the Chicago Cubs. He played as a backup catcher and pinch hitter for the Cubs through the 1955 season.
Cooper returned to the Cardinals in 1956 and played his final two major league seasons with St. Louis before ending his playing career in October 1957. Cooper’s daughter Sara married teammate Don Blasingame in 1960, leading Cooper to reportedly say, “You know you are getting too old when your daughter marries one of your teammates.”
Walker was considered one of the top catchers in baseball during the 1940’s and early 1950’s. He led all NL catchers in range factor three times, and twice in caught stealing percentage. At the time he retired, Cooper ranked 10th in the NL in games played (1,223) and putouts (5,166). He also set a record by hitting grand slams with five different teams (a record later tied by Dave Kingman and Dave Winfield).
After his playing days ended, Cooper became a manager in the minor leagues for the Indianapolis Indians (1958-59) and the Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers (1961) and coached with the Kansas City Athletics in 1960.
Cooper was on the Hall of Fame ballot for 10 years starting in 1968, but never received as much as 15 percent of the vote. He passed away on April 11, 1991 in Scottsdale, Arizona.
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