Cardinal Contributors: Strolling Through History-Vol. 1
Mort and Walker Cooper
The 1943 World Series matched the defending champion St. Louis Cardinals against the New York Yankees, in a rematch of the 1942 Series. The Yankees won the Series in five games for their 10th championship in 21 seasons. It was Yankees’ manager Joe McCarthy’s final Series win. In Game 2, October 6, 1943, the father of Mort and Walker Cooper died suddenly but the brothers honored their father and formed the battery for the game and Mort was the winning pitcher 4-3 for the Cardinals.
The brothers formed a battery for the St Louis Cardinals in the 1940’s. Mort Cooper was a right-handed pitcher that became the National League MVP in 1942 with an ERA of 1.78 and a 22-7 record. He contributed with 10 shutouts during the season. In his three year career Mort Cooper was 65-22 for the Cardinals. After a contract holdout, he was traded at the start of the 1945 season to the Braves. He retired with a record of 128-75, a 2.97 ERA, 913 strikeouts, and 33 shutouts in 1840⅔ innings. He was selected to the NL All-Star team four times (1942, 1943, 1945, 1946).
Walker Cooper was a catcher for the Cardinals and in 1943 he hit .318 for the team and followed that with a .317 average in 1944. Walker was traded in 1945 after he and his brother had a contract holdout. He played for 18 seasons and 1473 games and accumulated 1341 hits and a career .285 batting average. He led National League catchers in several categories during his playing time. He also batted .300 over three World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals from 1942-44 as the team won two championships. After his playing career, he managed the Indianapolis Indians (1958–59) and Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers (1961) of the Triple-A American Association and was a coach for the 1960 Kansas City Athletics, before leaving the game.
