James Cooper (born February 12, 1982) is an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

coach and former

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 catch ...

. He played

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, ...

for the

Grambling State Tigers The Grambling State Tigers and Lady Tigers represent Grambling State University in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA intercollegiate athletics. Grambling's sports teams participate in Division I (I-FCS for College football, football ...

from 2001 to 2004 before playing professionally from 2004 to 2006. He then served as head coach of the Grambling State Tigers (

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

–2021).

Playing career

Cooper was an outfielder for Grambling, where he earned All-Conference honors and played under longtime head coach Wilbert Ellis. He was drafted in the 33rd round of the 2004 MLB Draft by the Houston Astros. He played two seasons in the Astros system, reaching Class A, and one season of independent baseball in the CanAm League for the Sussex Skyhawks before ending his playing career.

Coaching career

Grambling State

Cooper returned to Grambling as an assistant to new head coach

Barret Rey Barret L. Rey is an American college baseball coach. Rey previously served as head coach of the Grambling State Tigers baseball team from 2007 through 2009 and the Alcorn State Braves baseball team from 2010 through 2015. Southern Rey was a fou ...

. He helped rebuild the Tigers program, qualifying for a pair of

Southwestern Athletic Conference baseball tournament The Southwestern Athletic Conference baseball tournament decides the conference baseball championship of the NCAA Division I Southwestern Athletic Conference. The top four finishers in each conference division participate in a two-bracket, doub ...

appearances in three years. With Rey's departure for SWAC rival

Alcorn State Alcorn State University (Alcorn State, ASU or Alcorn) is a public historically black land-grant university adjacent to Lorman, Mississippi. It was founded in 1871 and was the first black land grant college established in the United States. T ...

, Cooper was elevated to head coach. In his first season, Cooper led the Tigers to a SWAC Tournament championship and an appearance in the NCAA Regional. Cooper earned SWAC Coach of the Year honors for his efforts. During the 2019 season, Cooper obtained his 200th victory with a 19–2 win over University of Arkansas Pine Bluff on April 20, 2019. On November 9, 2021, Cooper resigned from his position with Grambling State to pursue a job with the

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 ...

New York Yankees

On November 10, 2021, Cooper accepted an outfield and baserunning position in the New York Yankees organization. On January 26, 2024, Cooper was named manager of the Yankees'

Single-A Single-A, formerly known as Class A and sometimes as Low-A, is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A, Double-A (baseball), Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams cl ...

affiliate

Tampa Tarpons The Tampa Tarpons are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They are located in Tampa, Florida. The Tarpons play their home games at George M. Steinbrenner Field, which is a ...

, replacing Rachel Balkovec. Cooper was named manager of the

Hudson Valley Renegades The Hudson Valley Renegades are a Minor League Baseball team based in Fishkill, New York. The High-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, the Renegades play in the South Atlantic League. The Renegades play their home games at Heritage Financial Pa ...

, the Yankees

High-A High-A, officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing, is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A and D ...

affiliate on January 24, 2025.

Head coaching record

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, James Living people 1982 births Baseball outfielders Grambling State Tigers baseball coaches Grambling State Tigers baseball players Baseball players from Shreveport, Louisiana Sussex Skyhawks players Tri-City ValleyCats players Baseball coaches from Louisiana