Don Cooper (Coop) was a hometown hero in Woodside, Queens, growing up in the 1960s and 70s. His lifelong baseball journey took root with St. Mary’s Winfield CYO baseball teams, who played their games at the old dusty Tymon Field, the sandlot running along the railroad tracks off Maurice Avenue. He attended Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School and later played both basketball and baseball for New York Institute of Technology.
A talented relief pitcher, he reached the major leagues, playing for the Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays, and New York Yankees during the 1980s. His lasting legacy came when he transitioned to coaching, which he did for the Chicago White Sox for 33 years, including 18 seasons as the pitching coach of the Sox during some of their best years – pitching is what anchored the team’s 2005 World Series championship run. A fierce and beloved mentor, that year he led the historic rotation to an incredible 2.55 postseason ERA, highlighted by an unmatched four consecutive complete games.
Originally drafted by the Yankees in 1978, Cooper was traded and then went back to the Bombers in 1985, where he pitched 7 games. He had recounted the thrill of pitching at Yankee Stadium a few years later at a gathering of his Woodside friends.
“Taking that mound there was crazy,” he said. “But seeing his picture on the back page of the Daily News the morning after he notched a Yankee ‘save,’ was a different kind of fun.”
An outpouring of condolences came this week to his family from his former teammates and Sox pitchers, a number of whom credited him with changing their lives. Nick Melito, a lifetime friend of Coop, who played with him at St. Mary’s, McClancy and NY Tech is now the president of McClancy High School in Elast Elmhurst spoke to us this week about Cooper.
“Coop never forgot where he came from. He was a positive influence in so many lives. God Bless Don Cooper,” said Melito.
