MVP Profile: Mort Cooper, 1942

Pitcher, St. Louis Cardinals

Age:  29

4^th season with Cardinals

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’2”    Weight: 210

Prior to 1942:

A Missouri native from a rural community 25 miles east of Kansas City, Cooper played American Legion baseball and then pitched for a local club in 1932 and was signed by the Kansas City Blues of the American Association in 1933. Optioned to the Des Moines Demons of the Class A Western League, he was released after suffering a broken leg and moved on to the Springfield Cardinals of the same league and, for the year, he compiled a 7-5 record in 26 pitching appearances. St. Louis signed Cooper for $75 and he started the 1934 season with the Columbus Red Birds of the American Association. Struggling with his control, he was sent down to Elmira of the Class A New York-Pennsylvania League where he went 10-12 with a 4.43 ERA and 128 walks in 185 innings pitched. Coping with the effects of injuries from an off-season auto accident, Cooper was just 6-7 for Columbus in 1935 with a 3.65 ERA in 101 innings pitched. He started the 1936 season with Asheville of the Class B Piedmont League before returning to Columbus, where both his control and his fastball improved as he posted a 5-7 record with a 4.76 ERA while pitching just 85 innings as he continued to regain his strength and stamina. With Columbus again in 1937, the burly Cooper struggled with a sore elbow and finished at 13-13 with a 4.10 ERA. Demoted to the Houston Buffaloes of the Class A Texas League in 1938, he learned to throw a screwball and compiled a 13-10 record with a 2.72 ERA and league-leading 201 strikeouts. The Cardinals called him up in September and he was 2-1 in four appearances, with a 3.04 ERA. Cooper struggled during his first full season with the Cards in 1939 while utilized as a reliever and spot starter. Once moved into the rotation, he put together a 12-6 record with a 3.25 ERA and 130 strikeouts over 210.2 innings pitched. With the Cardinals finishing third in 1940, Cooper was 11-12 with a 3.63 ERA and 95 strikeouts while pitching 230.2 innings. Furthermore, his younger brother Walker Cooper joined the club and developed into an outstanding catcher over his tenure in St. Louis. In 1941 Cooper had surgery to remove bone spurs and produced a 13-9 record with a 3.91 ERA and 118 strikeouts for the second place Redbirds.  With a good fastball augmented by a screwball, curve, and forkball, Cooper was poised to become the ace of a talented pitching staff for the Cardinals.

1942 Season Summary

Appeared in 45 games

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Pitching

Games – 37 [18, tied with Bob Klinger, Ray Starr & Jim Tobin]

Games Started – 35 [2]

Complete Games – 22 [3]

Wins – 22 [1]

Losses – 7

PCT - .759 [2]

Saves – 0

Shutouts – 10 [1]

Innings Pitched – 278.2 [2]

Hits – 207 [10]

Runs – 73

Earned Runs – 55

Home Runs – 9 [19, tied with six others]

Bases on Balls – 68 [18]

Strikeouts – 152 [2]

ERA – 1.78 [1]

Hit Batters – 5 [5, tied with four others]

Balks – 0

Wild Pitches – 5 [4, tied with four others]

League-leading wins were +1 ahead of runner-up Johnny Beazley

League-leading shutouts were +5 ahead of runners-up Curt Davis, Rip Sewell & Al Javery

League-leading ERA was -0.35 lower than runner-up Johnny Beazley

Midseason Snapshot: 11-4, ERA - 1.52, SO - 79 in 142 IP

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Most strikeouts, game – 9 (in 9 IP) at Chi. Cubs 9/20

10+ strikeout games – 0

Fewest hits allowed, game (min. 7 IP) – 2 (in 9 IP) at Brooklyn 5/20, (in 9 IP) at Boston Braves 6/25, (in 9 IP) vs. Cincinnati 8/14, (in 9 IP) vs. Cincinnati 9/24

Batting

PA – 113, AB – 103, R – 6, H – 19, 2B – 1, 3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 7, BB – 3, SO – 21, SB – 0, CS – 0, AVG - .184, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 7, SF – N/A

Fielding

Chances - 52

Put Outs – 6

Assists – 44

Errors – 2

DP – 3

Pct. - .962

Postseason Pitching: (World Series vs. NY Yankees)

G – 2 GS – 2, CG – 0, Record – 0-1, PCT – .000, SV – 0, ShO – 0, IP – 13, H – 17, R – 10, ER – 8, HR – 1, BB – 4, SO – 9, ERA – 5.54, HB – 0, BLK – 0, WP – 0

Awards & Honors:

NL MVP: BBWAA

All-Star (Starting P for NL)

Top 5 in NL MVP Voting:

Mort Cooper, StLC.: 263 pts. – 13 of 24 first place votes, 78% share

Enos Slaughter, StLC.: 200 pts. – 6 first place votes, 60% share

Mel Ott, NYG: 190 pts. – 4 first place votes, 57% share

Mickey Owen, Brook.: 103 pts. – 31% share

Johnny Mize, NYG: 97 pts. – 29% share

(1 first place vote for Marty Marion, St.LC., who ranked seventh)

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Cardinals went 106-48 to win the NL pennant by two games over the Brooklyn Dodgers. The pitching staff led the league in ERA (2.55), shutouts (18), strikeouts (651), fewest hits allowed (1192), and fewest runs allowed (480). The Cards won 43 of their last 51 games to surpass the Brooklyn Dodgers and secure the pennant. Won World Series over the New York Yankees, 4 games to 1.

Aftermath of ‘42:

Cooper followed up with another outstanding season in 1943, producing a 21-8 record with a 2.30 ERA, 24 complete games that included two consecutive one-hitters, and 141 strikeouts, while chewing on aspirin as he pitched to deal with chronic arm pain. The Cardinals repeated as NL champions and again faced the Yankees in the World Series. Scheduled to start Game 2, he learned that his father had died that morning. He and his brother Walker decided to play and Cooper came through with a six-hit 4-3 win, which proved to be the only victory in the Series for the Cards.  St. Louis made it three straight pennants in 1944 and Cooper, who was exempted from the World War II military draft due to an old knee injury, was excellent once again with a 22-7 record, 2.46 ERA, league-leading 7 shutouts, and 97 strikeouts. In the all-St. Louis World Series triumph over the Browns, he was 1-1 with a 1.13 ERA. He and his brother Walker held out for higher salaries in 1945 and both were traded early in the season as a result. Mort was sent to the Boston Braves for RHP Red Barrett and $60,000. The sore elbow limited him to a 7-4 record with the Braves and a 3.35 ERA. He had surgery to remove bone spurs again and, despite lingering effects from the surgery, Cooper produced a 13-11 record in 1946 with a 3.12 ERA. Significantly overweight in 1947 and with his arm damaged from surgery, he had a 2-5 tally when the Braves dealt him to the New York Giants for RHP Bill Voiselle. Cooper went 1-5 with a 7.12 ERA the rest of the way. Having had further surgery on his elbow, he retired during spring training in 1948. An abortive comeback attempt with the Cubs in 1949 lasted for just one game before he was released. Cooper finished his career with a 128-75 record, a 2.97 ERA, and 913 strikeouts over 1840.2 innings pitched. He compiled 128 complete games that included 33 shutouts. With the Cardinals he went 105-50 with a 2.77 ERA and 758 strikeouts over 1480.1 innings. A three-time All-Star, he finished among the top ten in NL MVP voting three times, including the one win. In six World Series starts he produced a 2-3 record with a 3.00 ERA. The hard-working and hard-living Cooper died from the effects of cirrhosis of the liver, pneumonia, and diabetes in 1958 at the age of 45. The ace pitcher for a team that won three consecutive NL pennants was inducted into the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2019.

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MVP Profiles feature players in the National or American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award (1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present) as Most Valuable Player.