Andy “Lefty” Cooper played baseball at A.J. Moore High School and eventually went to play at Paul Quinn College in Waco, Texas. The Negro League All-Star pitcher and manager played primarily for the Detroit Stars (1920-1927) and the Kansas City Monarchs (1928-29, & 1932-39). In 1923 he had a record of 16-7 and an ERA of 3.64 with nearly 200 innings pitched. In 1928, the crafty left-hander was traded from the Detroit Stars to the Kansas City Monarchs for three players. Toward the end of his pitching career, Cooper became a late-inning reliever and set the Negro League career record for saves. As the manager for the Kansas City Monarchs (1936-1940), Cooper guided the team to four consecutive first-place finishes in the Negro American League from 1937 to 1940. Legendary Kansas City Monarch, Buck O’Neil described Cooper like this – “He was the best manager I ever played for, and I played for some good ones. He was also a father figure and a teacher, and he helped me a great deal, as he did other players who were still developing.” Tragically, while still managing the Monarchs, Cooper passed away from a heart ailment. In 1941 the Chicago Defender newspaper reported, “With his health in decline, Cooper’s mother Emma brought him to her home in Waco, where he passed away on June 3 at the age of 45. Cooper was buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Waco.” Andy Cooper was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2024.
