Cooper had reached double-digit victories in each of the previous six seasons, leading the Cardinals’ pitching staff as St. Louis won consecutive National League pennants in 1942, 1943, and 1944, winning the World Series in both 1942 and 1944.

In 1942, the right-hander won the National League MVP Award while leading baseball with 22 wins, including 10 shutouts. Cooper’s 1.78 ERA over 278 2/3 innings led the National League

The following season, Cooper nearly matched his MVP performance, going 21-8 with a 2.30 ERA to place fifth in the MVP voting. He was equally consistent in 1944, posting a 22-7 record with a 2.46 ERA. His seven shutouts led all of baseball.

As the 1945 season got underway, however, Cooper and the Cardinals were at odds. That spring, Cooper agreed to a $12,000 contract, the maximum the team could offer under the wartime Wage Stabilization Board regulations at the time. Subsequently, however, Breadon signed star shortstop Marty Marion to a $13,000 contract, subject to approval from the Wage Stabilization Board.

In a bid to satisfy Cooper and his brother, catcher Walker Cooper, Breadon offered them both conditional contracts for $13,500. The brothers, however, demanded $15,000 and threatened to sit out the beginning of the season before consulting with an attorney and choosing to play.

As it turned out, Walker appeared in just four games before he was called upon to serve in the Navy. After Walker reported for duty, Mort Cooper missed a road trip to Cincinnati. “It developed later, however, that he merely had wanted a day off after telling his brother good-bye,” the St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported.[1]

After Mort Cooper started the season 2-0 through four starts, he left the team again, citing dissatisfaction with his salary. He was slapped with a $500 fine in addition to the salary he lost in his absence.[2] Cooper took the fine in relatively good spirits.

“It would not have been fair to the rest of the players not to have been fined,” he said, telling reporters that if the Cardinals rescinded the fine and suspension money, he would instead donate that amount to army and navy camps.[3]

Through his lawyer, Lee J. Havener, Cooper filed an appeal with the commissioner’s office and arranged for a May 23 meeting with Breadon to discuss the situation. The day prior to the meeting, Havener expressed optimism to the Globe-Democrat that the dispute would be resolved the next day. He and Cooper hoped Breadon would agree a three-year contract that would eliminate the need for annual contract negotiations prior to the 1946 and 1947 seasons.[4]

At 1:25 p.m. the next day, Cooper and Havener arrived at the Cardinals’ offices and – with reporters huddled outside – met with Breadon and manager Billy Southworth. The men spoke for 20 minutes before Breadon invited Braves president Louis R. Perini and general manager John J. Quinn to join them from an adjacent office.[5]

An hour later, Cooper signed a new contract to play for the Braves and Breadon announced to the assembled reporters that he had traded Cooper to Boston for pitcher Red Barrett and an undisclosed amount of cash (the St. Louis Star and Times reported that it was $50,000[6] and the Boston Globe reported that it may have been as much as $100,000,[7] though the Globe’s Jerry Nason later estimated that it was probably closer to $75,000 than $100,000.[8]

Regarding the amount of cash involved, Breadon would only say that it was “a substantial sum.”[9] He also refused to say whether the Cardinals had spoken to any other teams about trading Cooper.[10]

“President Perini called me on the long-distance telephone last Thursday as soon as the news had been published that Morton had been suspended for leaving our club during its stay in Boston,” Breadon said. “Perini made a bid for Cooper at that time, but I advised him to come to St. Louis and talk things over. The Boston club officials arrived here yesterday.”[11]

Perini and fellow Braves owners Joe Maney and Guido Rugo had purchased the team earlier that season and promised their fans to purchase the best players available.

“Fans of Boston will be pleased to get this news – I’m positive of that,” Perini said. “I believe Mort Cooper is the greatest pitcher in baseball today.”[12]

“Gosh-a-mighty, that’s getting one of the greatest players in the game,” Braves manager Bob Coleman. “Now we’ve really got a pitcher who can stop them.”[13]

For his part, Cooper was pleased as well, as the Boston Globe reported that the Braves gave him the $15,000 contract he had been seeking.[14]

“It was simply up to the Boston club to satisfy Cooper,” Perini said. “We were confident we’d be able to get together with him, despite his grievances with the St. Louis club.”[15]

“This is all a big surprise to me, but I will say that while I’m sorry to leave the St. Louis club, I’m glad to join the Boston team,” Cooper said.[16]

The trade immediately drew attention around the league. The St. Louis Star and Times called it “the most important baseball deal of 1945.”[17] In Pittsburgh, where the Braves were playing a three-game series against the Pirates, former Cardinals manager Frankie Frisch approved of Boston’s side of the trade.

“Cooper will help your club,” said Frisch, who now served as the Pirates skipper. “He’d help any club. We tried to get him.”[18]

“It’ll cost the Cards the pennant,” said Pittsburgh outfielder Jim Russell, before teammate Al López suggested that the Cardinals may not have won it anyway given the absences of Stan Musial, Danny Litwhiler, and Walker Cooper due to military service.[19]

In Barrett, the Cardinals obtained a 30-year-old journeyman who had gone 12-18 with a 3.18 ERA for the Braves in 1943, then went 9-16 with a 4.06 ERA in 1944. At the time of the trade, he was 2-3 with a 4.74 ERA.

“Barrett is not a star, but he’s an earnest, conscientious pitcher who will strive always for the best interests of his club,” Breadon said. “He will fit into the Cardinal club.”[20]

Incredibly, the trade seemed to give Barrett a jolt, as he enjoyed a career year with the Cardinals, going 21-9 with a 2.74 ERA the rest of the way to lead St. Louis in wins that season. Despite Barrett’s strong showing, the Cardinals’ 95 wins finished second to the Cubs for the NL pennant.

In 1946, Barrett served as a swingman. He started just nine of his 23 appearances, going 3-2 with a 4.03 ERA before the Braves purchased him back that December.

In Boston, Cooper went 7-4 with a 3.35 ERA the rest of the season as the Braves finished sixth in the National League. The following year, despite severe elbow pain, he made the fourth and final all-star game of his career as he went 13-11.

Ultimately, repeated elbow surgeries forced his career to end prematurely. In June 1947, the Braves traded him to the Giants for Bill Voiselle and cash. Cooper pitched just eight games for the Giants before announcing his retirement. He made a single appearance for the Cubs in 1949; it proved to be his final major-league game.

Cooper finished his career with a 128-75 record, including a 105-50 mark in eight seasons with the Cardinals. In 2019, he was inducted posthumously into the Cardinals Hall of Fame.

Enjoy this post? Find similar stories listed by decade or by player.

[1] Martin J. Haley, “Cards Open Home Stand Against Bums Tonight,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, May 23, 1945.
[2] Ray Nelson, “Morton Cooper Traded By Cardinals To Boston Braves,” St. Louis Star and Times, May 23, 1945.
[3] Martin J. Haley, “Cards Open Home Stand Against Bums Tonight,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, May 23, 1945.
[4] Martin J. Haley, “Cards Open Home Stand Against Bums Tonight,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, May 23, 1945.
[5] Ray Nelson, “Morton Cooper Traded By Cardinals To Boston Braves,” St. Louis Star and Times, May 23, 1945.
[6] Ray Nelson, “Morton Cooper Traded By Cardinals To Boston Braves,” St. Louis Star and Times, May 23, 1945.
[7] Harold Kaese, “Braves Buy Mort Cooper, $100,000 Probable Price,” Boston Globe, May 24, 1945.
[8] Jerry Nason, “Some Fans Must Be Shown If Cooper Is Still Good as Ever,” Boston Globe, May 25, 1945.
[9] J. Roy Stockton, “M. Cooper Traded To Boston For Barrett And Cash,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 23, 1945.
[10] Ray Nelson, “Morton Cooper Traded By Cardinals To Boston Braves,” St. Louis Star and Times, May 23, 1945.
[11] Ray Nelson, “Morton Cooper Traded By Cardinals To Boston Braves,” St. Louis Star and Times, May 23, 1945.
[12] Ray Nelson, “Morton Cooper Traded By Cardinals To Boston Braves,” St. Louis Star and Times, May 23, 1945.
[13] Harold Kaese, “Braves Buy Mort Cooper, $100,000 Probable Price,” Boston Globe, May 24, 1945.
[14] Harold Kaese, “Braves Buy Mort Cooper, $100,000 Probable Price,” Boston Globe, May 24, 1945.
[15] Ray Nelson, “Morton Cooper Traded By Cardinals To Boston Braves,” St. Louis Star and Times, May 23, 1945.
[16] Ray Nelson, “Morton Cooper Traded By Cardinals To Boston Braves,” St. Louis Star and Times, May 23, 1945.
[17] Ray Nelson, “Morton Cooper Traded By Cardinals To Boston Braves,” St. Louis Star and Times, May 23, 1945.
[18] Harold Kaese, “Braves Buy Mort Cooper, $100,000 Probable Price,” Boston Globe, May 24, 1945.
[19] Harold Kaese, “Braves Buy Mort Cooper, $100,000 Probable Price,” Boston Globe, May 24, 1945.
[20] Martin J. Haley, “Cards Open Home Stand Against Bums Tonight,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, May 23, 1945.

The post Why the Cardinals traded former MVP Mort Cooper first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

On a Cardinals team that won the World Series with contributions from most of its roster, Cooper was the unquestioned ace of St. Louis’s pitching staff. As the Cardinals battled the Dodgers for National League supremacy, skipper Billy Southworth repeatedly handed the ball to Cooper, and Cooper rewarded him with wins. In fact, Cooper beat the Dodgers five times during the regular season, victories that proved key as St. Louis edged Brooklyn by just two games in the pennant race.

“No spots, except the tough ones, were picked for Cooper,” wrote the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s J. Roy Stockton. “He was the spearhead of the team’s offensive. When there was a key game – and there were many of them – Mort Cooper drew the pitching assignment. And invariably, he drew the best the enemy had available as his mound opponent. When the Cardinals played the Dodgers and Mort Cooper pitched, Leo Durocher usually countered with Whit Wyatt. And because Cooper was able to beat Wyatt consistently, the Cardinals were able to whittle down the Brooklyn lead.”[1]

Cooper was rewarded with 13 of 24 first-place MVP votes, helping him finish with 263 of a possible 336 points. He was the only player whose name appeared on all 24 ballots, and with the honor, he joined Carl Hubbell (1934 and 1936), Dizzy Dean (1934), and Bucky Walters (1939) as the only pitchers to win the NL MVP.

National League MVP Mort Cooper

Cooper’s historic achievement came on the heels of a season that saw him post a 1.78 ERA over 278 2/3 innings. Despite undergoing surgery the previous year, Cooper went 22-7 in 1942 and threw a complete game in all 22 of those wins.

Though he ended the month of May with just a 4-3 record, Cooper was dominant in June, winning all seven of his starts and lowering his ERA to 1.24. In July, however, he won just one game, and though he earned his 13^th win on August 2, by August 14, he was looking for anything to change his luck. To do so, he replaced his No. 13 jersey with No. 14.

It turned out, he looked pretty good in the 14 jersey, throwing a two-hit shutout to earn his career-high 14^th win of the season. From that point forward, Cooper’s number matched the win he was seeking. He won nine of his final 10 decisions, throwing nine complete games and four shutouts. Cooper’s 10 shutouts that season were the most by any National League pitcher since 1933.

The MVP voting took place before the World Series began, and that likely was a good thing for the right-hander, who went 0-1 with a 5.54 ERA in 13 innings during the fall classic.

1942 Cardinals Dominate MVP Voting

Teammate Enos Slaughter finished second in the MVP balloting with 200 points, including six first-place votes. The New York Giants’ Mel Ott placed third with 190 points, including four first-place votes. The only other player in the league to receive a first-place vote was Cardinals shortstop Marty Marion, who received one. He finished seventh in the balloting with 81 points.

The Cardinals had several other players appear on the voters’ ballots. Mort’s brother, Walker Cooper, received 28 points, rookie Stan Musial had 26, Johnny Beazley and Jimmy Brown had 24, Terry Moore had 15, and Whitey Kurowski had six.

St. Louis had so many viable candidates that when Dick Farrington of The Sporting News told Cooper that he had been named MVP, Cooper said, “Who, me? Say, there were other boys just as valuable as myself, and maybe some of the fellows had more to do with winning the pennant. I can name you Enos Slaughter, Johnny Beazley, Jimmy Brown, Terry Moore, Marty Marion, my brother, Walker, and, why – well, I guess every fellow on our club.”[2]

At an event a few days later in New York, Southworth pointed to the team’s depth of talent as the reason the Cardinals were able to win 106 regular-season games and then beat the Yankees in a five-game World Series.

“We had a great bunch of youngsters with strong arms and strong legs and fast legs,” Southworth said. “They worked together. We didn’t have a recognized star on our ball club, not to the boys themselves. I know that Mort Cooper was voted the most valuable player in the National League, but more than half a dozen other fellows on the club also received votes and you might just as well say Walker Cooper, our fine catcher and Mort’s brother, deserved the honor.”[3]

In the Post-Dispatch, Stockton pointed to Marion’s defense, Slaughter’s hitting down the stretch, Moore’s play late in the season, and Walker Cooper’s play behind the plate among the factors that made it difficult to point to a single Cardinals player as an MVP.[4]

“In the case of a ballclub like the Cardinals, with every player so important, it is difficult to pick out one and say that he was the most valuable,” Stockton wrote. “But there should be little argument over the fairness of the baseball writers’ votes, which gave Morton Cooper an honor that had to go to an individual.”[5]

Mort Cooper: Cardinals Hall of Famer

Cooper continued to play a key role for the Cardinals as they won the National League pennant each of the next two years. In 1943, Cooper placed fifth in the MVP vote after a 21-8 season that included a 2.30 ERA. The following year, he placed ninth in the balloting with similar numbers, going 22-7 with a 2.46 ERA and a league-high seven shutouts.

In May 1945, Cooper briefly left the team amid a contract dispute. He and his brother Walker wanted $15,000, but Cardinals president Sam Breadon refused to exceed $13,500). In response, the Cardinals traded him to the Braves for Red Barrett and a reported $50,000.[6]

In his eight seasons with the Cardinals, Cooper went 105-50 with a 2.77 ERA. He was posthumously inducted into the Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2019.

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[1] J. Roy Stockton, “Extra Innings,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 3, 1942.

[2] Sid Keener, “Sid Keener’s Column,” St. Louis Star and Times, October 29, 1942.

[3] Judson Bailey (Associated Press), “Saints and Sinners Club ‘Roasts’ Billy Southworth,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 30, 1942.

[4] J. Roy Stockton, “Extra Innings,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 3, 1942.

[5] J. Roy Stockton, “Extra Innings,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 3, 1942.

[6] Sid C. Keener, “Three Insubordination Acts Prompted Trade of Cooper,” St. Louis Star and Times, May 24, 1945.

The post How Mort Cooper won the 1942 NL MVP Award first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.