William J. Cooper (February 19, 1915 – March 10, 1985), nicknamed "Flash", was an American

Negro league The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relativel ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

in the 1930s and 1940s. A native of

Sumter, South Carolina Sumter ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Sumter County, South Carolina, United States. The city makes up the Sumter, SC Metropolitan Statistical Area. Sumter County, along with Clarendon and Lee counties, form the core of Sumter–Lee ...

, Cooper attended

Morris Brown College Morris Brown College (MBC) is a Private university, private African Methodist Episcopal Church, Methodist Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlan ...

. He made his Negro leagues debut in 1937 with the

Atlanta Black Crackers The Atlanta Black Crackers (originally known as the Atlanta Cubs and later briefly the Indianapolis ABCs) were a professional Negro league baseball team which played during the early to mid-20th century. They were primarily a minor Negro league ...

. He went on to play for the Philadelphia Stars, served in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and finished his career in 1946 with the

New York Black Yankees The New York Black Yankees were a professional Negro league baseball team based in New York City; Paterson, New Jersey; and Rochester, New York. Beginning as the independent Harlem Stars, the team was renamed the New York Black Yankees in 1932 an ...

. Cooper died in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in 1985 at age 70. Cooper married Imogene McAtty and had 1 daughter, Sheila Cooper. He has 3 grandchildren Zenda Clinton, William Clinton and Isaac Clinton. He also has 6 great-grandchildren (as of July 2024).

References

External links

an
Baseball-Reference Black Baseball stats
an
Seamheads
1915 births 1985 deaths Atlanta Black Crackers players New York Black Yankees players Philadelphia Stars players Indianapolis ABCs players African Americans in World War II United States Army personnel of World War II Baseball catchers African-American United States Army personnel Baseball players from Sumter, South Carolina {{Negro-league-baseball-catcher-stub