Due to being shut down the last few days by a
bad cold, I failed to acknowledge the birthday of Negro League
left-handed pitcher Andy Cooper. Born April 24, 1898 in Waco, Texas;
Cooper is considered one of the best southpaw pitchers in Negro League
baseball history; Willie Foster the only one deemed better. At 6’2″,
220 pounds, he had the physical stature of a power pitcher. But Andy
Cooper did not overpower hitters. Nicknamed “Lefty”, he used a variety of
pitches at different speeds to keep hitters off-balance to get them out.
He pitched for the Detroit Stars (1920 – 1927) and the Kansas City Monarchs
(1928 – 1937). Also, with Cooper as manager, the Monarchs won the Negro
American League pennant in 1939 and 1940.
The following is
an exert from my book “Last Train to Cooperstown: The 2006 Baseball
Hall of Fame Inductees from the Negro League Baseball Era” in which I
profile Andy Cooper;
“In his prime,
Hall of Famer Satchel Paige’s fastball was described by batters as
being the size
of a half-dollar or a pea. By the nickname given other
pitchers, the
batters knew what to expect when facing them.
“Smokey” Joe
Williams, “Cannonball” Dick Redding, Wilber “Bullet”
Rogan, and
“Steel Arm” Johnny Taylor were just a few whose name
preceded their
pitches. Using radar technology to gauge the speed
of pitches was
not introduced into baseball until the 1970s.
However, if it
had been used to clock the pitches of the great Negro
League baseball
hurlers, it would have registered at ninety‐plus
miles per hour
many times.
But Andrew Lewis
Cooper was a different kind of pitcher. He
did not
overpower batters. “Lefty” as he was nicknamed, used a
variety of pitches
at different speeds to get batters out.
In order to hit
the ball solidly, a batter must have balanced
coordination and
timing between his legs, waist, shoulders, and
hands. If a
pitcher can disrupt that coordination and timing, getting
the hitter swinging
too early or too late; it usually leads to a fly out,
ground out or
strike out. Andy Cooper was a master of keeping
hitters
off-balance. Not having the blazing fastball like other great
Negro League
pitchers, he had the ability to get batters out by
disrupting their
coordination and timing. “Lefty” had a successful
career by
frustrating and fooling them with his arsenal of pitches.”
For more information on Andy Cooper and the Negro League baseball era Last Train To Cooperstown
