Andy Cooper

Andy Cooper
Andy Cooper
	Pitcher / Player-manager
	Born: April 24, 1898; Waco, Texas, U.S.
	Died: June 3, 1941 (aged 43); Waco, Texas, U.S.
	Batted: Right Threw: Left
Negro leagues debut
	1920, for the Detroit Stars
Last Negro leagues appearance
	1939, for the Kansas City Monarchs
Negro leagues statistics
Win–loss record	118–64
Earned run average	3.58
Strikeouts	719
Managerial record	173–89–4
Winning %	.660
	Stats at Baseball Reference
	Managerial record at Baseball Reference
Teams
	As player Detroit Stars (1920–1927); Habana (1923); Kansas City Monarchs (1928–1929); Detroit Stars (1930); Kansas City Monarchs (1933–1936); Chicago American Giants (1937); Kansas City Monarchs (1937–1939); As manager Kansas City Monarchs (1937–1940);
Career highlights and awards
	East–West All-Star Game (1933, 1936); Negro National League pennant (1929); 3× Negro American League pennant (1937, 1939, 1940);
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction	2006
Election method	Committee on African-American Baseball

Andrew Lewis Cooper (April 24, 1898 – June 3, 1941), nicknamed "Lefty", was an American professional baseball pitcher and player-manager in the Negro leagues. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006. An alumnus of Paul Quinn College, Cooper played nine seasons for the Detroit Stars and ten seasons for the Kansas City Monarchs, and briefly played for the Chicago American Giants. The Texan was 6 feet 2 inches (188 cm) tall and weighed 220 pounds (100 kg; 16 st).

In defiance of a threatened five-year Negro league ban for contract jumping, Cooper joined a 1927 barnstorming team that toured Hawaii and Japan. He spent most of his later career with the Monarchs. Cooper is the Negro league record holder for career saves. In a 1937 playoff game, he pitched 17 innings. Cooper served as manager or player-manager for the Monarchs from 1937 to 1940, leading the team to the pennant three times during those four seasons.

Due to the incomplete nature of Negro league baseball statistics, and the fact that Major League Baseball did not officially recognize the save statistic until the 1969 season, many Negro league pitchers are likely undercredited for the number of saves they actually recorded. That being said, Cooper is recognized as the "official" Negro league all-time leader in saves with 24. He also is tied for the most saves in a season by a Negro league player, with 6 in 1923; the other Negro league players to record 6 saves in a season were Tom Williams (1924), Army Cooper (1929), and Booker McDaniel (1945).