Allen Lindsey "Dusty" Cooke (June 23, 1907 – November 21, 1987), was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

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, and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

, in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB), who played for three different big league teams, between and . During his playing days, Cooke stood tall, weighing . He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. He was born in Swepsonville, North Carolina.

Playing career

Cooke's professional playing career lasted for 16 seasons (1927–1942). Known mainly for his defensive abilities, he was a competent fourth outfielder who was able to handle all three outfield positions. In , Cooke reached the major leagues with the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

. He spent three seasons there before moving on to the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

(–) and Cincinnati Reds (). Cooke's most productive season came in 1933 with Boston, when he batted .293 and posted career-best numbers in games played (119), runs (86), doubles (35), triples (10), and

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

(RBI) (54). In , he hit a career-high .306, in 100 games, while compiling a .400 on-base percentage (tenth in the

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). In his eight-season

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

career, Cooke was a .280 lifetime hitter (

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-for- 1,745), with 24 home runs and 229 RBI in 608 games played, including 324 runs, 109 doubles, 28 triples, 32 stolen bases, .384 on-base percentage, .416 slugging percentage and a solid

walk-to-strikeout ratio In baseball statistics, walk-to-strikeout ratio (BB/K) is a measure of a hitter's plate discipline and knowledge of the strike zone. Generally, a hitter with a good walk-to-strikeout ratio must exhibit enough patience at the plate to refrain from ...

of 1.06 (290-to-276).

Military service

Cooke enlisted in the Navy's Aviation Cadet Training Program located on the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

campus in 1943. Cooke was stunned that one of the first recruits he met upon his arrival in the dormitory was

Ted Williams Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 1 ...

, the

batting champion. Cooke did not complete aviation training and instead spent the war as a Navy pharmacist's mate, 3rd class. During the

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, Cooke participated in the Iwo Jima where his ship was attacked for more than three hours by

Kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending t ...

, and then several months later in the Battle of Okinawa. via

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Athletic trainer, coach and manager

Leveraging the fitness conditioning training he received in the Navy, after the war Cooke became the athletic trainer for the Philadelphia Phillies in . Two years later, in , he joined the Phillies'

coaching staff The coaching staff is a group of non-athletes tied to a sports team. A coaching staff can be existent at all levels of athletics. It is led by a head coach (known as a manager or senior coach in some sports) and consists of one or more assistant c ...

. Cooke was a coach through June 30, 1952, including service on the 1950 "Whiz Kids" team, that won the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

pennant. He also was the Phillies'

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, from July 16–25, 1948, after the firing of Ben Chapman. Cooke posted a 6–6 record (.500), before handing over the reins to the team's permanent skipper, Eddie Sawyer. Cooke died in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southe ...

, November 21, 1987, at age 80.

References

External links

Dusty Cooke
at SABR (Baseball BioProject) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, Dusty 1907 births 1987 deaths United States Navy personnel of World War II Asheville Tourists players Baseball players from North Carolina Boston Red Sox players Cincinnati Reds players Durham Bulls players Jersey City Giants players Major League Baseball outfielders Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Newark Bears (IL) players New York Yankees players People from Swepsonville, North Carolina Philadelphia Phillies coaches Philadelphia Phillies managers Rochester Red Wings players St. Paul Saints (AA) players United States Navy sailors