Don Cooper, the longtime Chicago White Sox pitching coach who helped end an 88-year World Series drought, died Tuesday at his home in Brentwood, Tennessee. He was 70.
The White Sox confirmed the news Wednesday. Cooper spent 33 seasons in the organization from 1988 through 2020, including 18 as the major league pitching coach.
His most lasting mark came in 2005. That staff posted a 2.55 ERA in the postseason and held opponents to a .202 batting average during an 11-1 run to the franchise’s first title since 1917.
In the American League Championship Series, after dropping Game 1 to the Los Angeles Angels, Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland, Freddy Garcia and Jose Contreras each threw complete games in Games 2 through 5. No team had recorded four straight complete games in a single postseason since the 1928 Yankees.
A week later the White Sox swept the Houston Astros. The rotation’s work remains one of the defining stretches in club history.
Cooper joined the White Sox minor-league staff in 1988 after a brief playing career. He worked his way up through the system as a pitching coach and coordinator before being named the big-league pitching coach on July 22, 2002.
He held the job under four managers: Jerry Manuel, Ozzie Guillen, Robin Ventura and Rick Renteria. From 2003 through 2020 the White Sox pitching staff ranked fourth in baseball in FanGraphs WAR despite frequent turnover among starters.
Under Cooper, Mark Buehrle threw a no-hitter in 2007 and a perfect game in 2009. Philip Humber added another perfect game in 2012. Lucas Giolito threw a no-hitter in 2020, Cooper’s final season with the club.
Esteban Loaiza won 21 games in 2003. Chris Sale developed into one of the American League’s top left-handers. Eleven different White Sox pitchers made All-Star teams during Cooper’s tenure.
Cooper briefly served as interim manager for the final two games of the 2011 season after Guillen’s departure. He went 1-1.
Born Jan. 15, 1956, in New York City, Cooper was drafted by the Yankees in the 17th round in 1978 out of the New York Institute of Technology. The Twins selected him in the 1980 Rule 5 draft.
He debuted with Minnesota in 1981 and appeared in 44 major league games over parts of four seasons with the Twins, Blue Jays and Yankees. He finished 1-6 with a 5.27 ERA and 47 strikeouts. His only big-league win came Sept. 2, 1982, against the Yankees.
After two final minor-league seasons he retired as a player and began coaching.
The White Sox issued a statement calling Cooper a fixture who spent more than three decades developing arms in the organization. Family members said he died peacefully and that funeral arrangements would be announced later.
Cooper’s direct, no-nonsense style became part of White Sox clubhouse culture. Players and executives remembered a coach who could both demand and encourage.
The 2005 championship staff remains the centerpiece of his record. That group’s four consecutive complete games and overall postseason dominance still stand out two decades later.
Cooper left the organization after the 2020 season along with Renteria. At the time he was among the longest-tenured pitching coaches in the majors.
White Sox fans and former players have recalled his role in turning mid-rotation arms into reliable starters and helping established pitchers find another gear. The numbers from his 18 seasons on the major league staff reflect steady production even in years when the offense lagged.
His playing numbers were modest. His coaching numbers were not. The 2005 World Series title and the rare postseason pitching feats that accompanied it form the core of how the White Sox will remember him.
