Mays Copeland
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Mays Copeland (August 31, 1913 – November 29, 1982) was 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 ...
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, ...
. Born in 1913 in
Mountain View, Arkansas Mountain View is the largest city in and the county seat of Stone County, Arkansas, United States, located in the Ozarks. The city's economy is largely based on tourism related to its title as the "Folk Music Capital of the World". The city is a ...
, he played professional baseball in the
St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...
organization from 1933 to 1936. He appeared in 68 professional games, compiling a 46–44
win–loss record Win–loss may refer to: * Win–loss analytics, analysis of the reasons why a visitor to a website was or wasn't persuaded to engage in a desired action * Win–loss record, also winning percentage * Win–loss record (pitching), the number of ...
. During the 1933 season, he appeared in 41 games for the Springfield (MO) Cardinals and compiled a 17–12 record. In April 1934, Springfield sold Copeland to the Houston club in the Texas League. He compiled a 16–10 record for Houston with a 3.65
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). After two successful seasons in the minor leagues, he was sold to the Cardinals in December 1934. He injured his arm in spring training camp, and appeared in only one game with the Cardinals on April 27, 1935, giving up two hits and allowing one earned run. In May 1935, the Cardinals released Copeland to the Columbus Red Birds. He was reportedly sent to Columbus "to work out a 'sore arm'."
Branch Rickey Wesley Branch Rickey (December 20, 1881 – December 9, 1965) was an American baseball player and sports executive. Rickey was instrumental in breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier by signing black player Jackie Robinson. He also creat ...
rated Copeland as his "No. 1 recruit," and his failure to deliver due to arm trouble was cited by Rickey as the No. 1 reason why the 1935 Cardinals failed to live up to expectations. He spent the rest of the 1935 season with Springfield and Houston. He concluded his professional baseball career in 1936 with Springfield and the Houston Buffs. He was placed on the suspended list with a sore arm in 1937 and unsuccessfully attempted a comeback in 1938. His twin brother, Hays Copeland, also played baseball and tried out with the Cardinals. Copeland served in the U.S. Army 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 ...
. He was wounded in action in Belgium in December 1944. Copeland died in 1982 in
Indio, California Indio (Spanish language, Spanish for "Indian") is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. Indio is approximately east of Los Angeles, east of Palm Springs, ...
, at age 69.


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{{DEFAULTSORT:Copeland, Mays 1913 births 1982 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers St. Louis Cardinals players Baseball players from Arkansas People from Mountain View, Arkansas 20th-century American sportsmen Cleveland A's players Columbus Red Birds players Houston Buffaloes players Springfield Cardinals players