Calvin Asa Cooper (August 11, 1922 – July 4, 1994) was an American

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. Cooper appeared in one game for the Washington Senators. Prior to his major league debut and exit, he attended and played for

Newberry College Newberry College is a private Lutheran college in Newberry, South Carolina. As of 2023, it had 1,521 students. Academics Newberry College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) ...

. Cooper batted and threw right-handed.

Early life

Cooper was born in 1922 in

Great Falls, South Carolina Great Falls is a town in Chester County, South Carolina, United States and is located fourteen miles southwest of Lancaster, South Carolina. The population was 1,951 at the 2020 census. History The Great Falls Depot, Great Falls Downtown Histo ...

, a small town in the north central portion of the state. As a young man, Cooper served in the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during World War II. After military service, Cooper attended Newberry College, a small

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

college in

Newberry, South Carolina Newberry is a city in Newberry County, South Carolina, United States, in the Piedmont northwest of Columbia. The charter was adopted in 1894. The population was 10,277 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Newberry County; at one time ...

. At age 26, he was called up from the Triple-A organization of the Washington Senators to play in the majors.

Major League Baseball career

Cooper made his major league debut on September 14, 1948, with the Washington Senators. Cooper competed in one game in , wearing uniform number 16. His major league career thus consisted of pitching one inning, in which he surrendered five

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

, allowing five runs including a

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

, and walked a batter, before recording three outs. Being his only appearance, he ended his career with his lifetime

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) of 45.00.

After baseball

After his single afternoon in a major league

baseball uniform A baseball uniform is a type of uniform#Sports, uniform worn by baseball position player, players, Coach (baseball), coaches and manager (baseball), managers. Most baseball uniforms have the names and Uniform number (Major League Baseball), uni ...

, Cooper returned to South Carolina where he worked as a personnel director at Clinton Mills in the town of

Clinton Clinton is an English toponymic surname, indicating one's ancestors came from English places called Glympton or Glinton.Hanks, P. & Hodges, F. ''A Dictionary of Surnames''. Oxford University Press, 1988 Clinton has also been used as a given nam ...

. Cooper died on July 4, 1994, in

Clinton, South Carolina Clinton is a city in Laurens County, South Carolina, Laurens County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 8,490 as of the United States Census, 2010, 2010 census. It is part of the Greenville, South Carolina, Greenville–Mauldin ...

. For 28 years prior to his death in 1994, Cooper served as a member of the Laurens County School Board. He is buried at Pinelawn Memory Gardens in Clinton.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Cal Newberry Wolves baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Washington Senators (1901–1960) players 20th-century American sportsmen Baseball players from Laurens County, South Carolina 1922 births 1994 deaths Baseball players from Chester County, South Carolina People from Clinton, South Carolina United States Navy personnel of World War II