Donald James Cooper (born January 15, 1956) is an American former professional baseball

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, ...

who spent his career in

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 ...

(MLB) in parts of four seasons with the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

(

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

–

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

(

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

) and

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

(

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

). He was the pitching coach for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

from July 22, 2002, until the end of the 2020 season. Under his tutelage, both

Mark Buehrle Mark Alan Buehrle (; born March 23, 1979) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played the majority of his Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Chicago White Sox, playing twelve seasons for the team and winning the World ...

and

Philip Humber Philip Gregory Humber (; born December 21, 1982) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched for the New York Mets, Minnesota Twins, Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox, and Houston Astros in seven seasons in Major League ...

pitched perfect games (with the former also getting a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...

Lucas Giolito Lucas Frost Giolito (born July 14, 1994) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Washington Nationals, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Angels, and ...

pitched a

, and the White Sox won the

2005 World Series The 2005 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2005 season. The 101st edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Chicago White Sox and the National ...

. On October 12, 2020, Cooper and the White Sox parted ways after 32 seasons with the organization at various levels.

Early life

Cooper attended

Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School is a co-educational Catholic high school located in the East Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens, New York. Founded by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart in 1956, Msgr. McClancy Memorial High School serves the Ro ...

(class of 1974) and the

New York Institute of Technology The New York Institute of Technology (NYIT or New York Tech) is a Private university, private research university, research university founded in 1955. It has two main campuses in New York (state), New York—one in Old Westbury, on Long I ...

on a

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

scholarship.

Playing career

Cooper was drafted by the

in the 17th round (442nd overall) of the

1978 Major League Baseball Draft The 1978 Major League Baseball draft was held June 6–8, 1978, consisting of 48 rounds, during which a total of 779 players were selected by 26 Major League Baseball (MLB) organizations. The first overall selection was Bob Horner, drafted by t ...

. After the 1980 season, he was selected by the

from the Yankees in the

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

. Cooper played for the Twins in 1981 and 1982, before being traded to the

for Dave Baker on December 10, 1982. On March 13, 1984, Cooper was traded to the Yankees for outfielder Derwin McNealy. Cooper signed with the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

for the 1986 season, appearing only in the minor leagues. In 44 MLB games (three starts) spread over four seasons, Cooper compiled a 1–6 record with a 5.27 ERA.

Coaching career

Cooper had worked in the White Sox organization since 1988, when he served as a minor league pitching coach for the Single-A

South Bend Silver Hawks South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

. He also served as pitching coach for the Single-A Advanced

Sarasota White Sox Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers and Punta Gorda. Its official limits include Sarasota Ba ...

from 1989 through 1991 and the Double-A

Birmingham Barons The Birmingham Barons are a Minor League Baseball team based in Birmingham, Alabama. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox and plays at Regions Field in downtown Birmingham. The Baron ...

in 1992. He became the White Sox minor league pitching coordinator from 1993 through 2002, aside from serving as pitching coach for the Triple-A

Nashville Sounds The Nashville Sounds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, and are named for the ci ...

in 1995 and 1996. Cooper became the White Sox pitching coach in July 2002, replacing

Nardi Contreras Arnaldo Juan Contreras (born September 19, 1951) is an American former professional baseball pitcher and coach. His brief time in Major League Baseball, as well as the majority of his time as a coach, came with the Chicago White Sox. He currently ...

. With the departure of

Ozzie Guillén Oswaldo José Guillén Barrios (; born January 20, 1964) is a Venezuelan-American former professional baseball player who is the current manager (baseball), manager of Tiburones de La Guaira of the Venezuelan League. He played in Major League B ...

on September 26, 2011, and

Joey Cora José Manuel Cora Amaro (born May 14, 1965) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player who is currently the third base coach for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played professionally for the San Diego Padres of th ...

on September 27, 2011, Cooper became the 38th manager of the White Sox, filling the role for the final two games of the 2011 season before yielding the position to

Robin Ventura Robin Mark Ventura (born July 14, 1967) is an American former professional baseball third baseman and manager. Ventura played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox, New York Mets, New York Yankees and Los Angeles D ...

. Cooper was one of the longest tenured pitching coaches in MLB. He told the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' in 2018, "I love being part of young people’s lives helping them achieve the dreams they’re dreaming about. That’s what I’m into.’’ Cooper, along with White Sox manager Rick Renteria, were fired on October 12, 2020, after an early playoff exit in the American League Wild Card Series against the

. Cooper and his wife have a son and two daughters. They make their home in

Brentwood, Tennessee Brentwood is a city in Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 45,373 as of the 2020 United States census.1956 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball coaches from New York (state) Chicago White Sox coaches Chicago White Sox managers Columbus Clippers players Fort Lauderdale Yankees players Fort Myers Sun Sox players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball pitching coaches New York Institute of Technology alumni Minnesota Twins players Minor league baseball coaches Nashville Sounds players New York Yankees players NYIT Bears baseball players Oneonta Yankees players Rochester Red Wings players St. Lucie Legends players Syracuse Chiefs players Toledo Mud Hens players Toronto Blue Jays players West Haven Yankees players Baseball players from New York City NYIT Bears men's basketball players