Andy Cooper

CTL-E-6964 · Person · other · 1897–1941

VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)

Combined Graph record U-07836 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-6964.

Andrew Lewis "Lefty" Cooper was an American left-handed pitcher and manager in the Negro leagues. His birth data split across the sources: SABR's biography, following Mark Eberle's research, gives April 24, 1897, in Washington County, Texas, while the Hall of Fame's text says he was born in Waco in 1897 and other listings give 1898 — Waco History notes his draft certificate reads 1897 and his birth certificate 1898. A durable, control pitcher, Cooper anchored the Detroit Stars' rotation from 1920 to 1927, was traded to the Kansas City Monarchs in 1928, and won twice as many games as he lost for both clubs, per the Hall of Fame; he helped Kansas City to the 1929 Negro National League pennant and pitched 17 innings in a 1937 playoff game. As the Monarchs' manager he led them to three pennants between 1937 and 1940. He died in Waco on June 3, 1941, and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.

The record

• Also known as: Andrew Lewis Cooper, Lefty Cooper

Notes

Sports Encyclopedia roster CTL-SPE-0265. Firsts disposition: NO 'first' is asserted. The Negro leagues career saves record attributed to Cooper in secondary accounts (29 per BR Bullpen; a lower 'official' figure of 24 appears in other listings) is NOT stated in the description because the figures split and saves were not an official statistic of his era; it is recorded here as a split, unattributed-in-description claim. BIRTH SPLIT SHOWN: year 1897 (SABR/Eberle; Hall text; draft certificate) vs. 1898 (birth certificate per Waco History; Wikipedia); birthplace Washington County (SABR/Eberle) vs. Waco (Hall text and older accounts); era follows 1897. NOTE: Cooper's played_for edge to the Kansas City Monarchs (CTL-E-5773) is verified in these sources but was NOT wired — this lane's authorization limited Monarchs wiring to Rogan and Brown; the edge is listed as blocked in the packet report. Curator's Judgment (DRAFT): Cooper is the control artist of this packet — a left-hander who out-thought lineups for two decades and then managed the Monarchs to three pennants. Dick Clark's verdict, preserved by the Hall, that he was the greatest Black pitcher ever to pitch for Detroit, Stars or Tigers, is the reputation the numbers only partly keep. Photo: CLEARED — Cooper Andy 1920.jpg, Public domain; the Commons file description names Hall of Fame Negro league baseball player Andy Cooper.

Relationships

• Kansas City Monarchs — played for
  Cooper pitched for the Kansas City Monarchs over a two-decade career in the 1920s and 1930s (National Baseball Hall of Fame). Edge emitted by the head at assembly on the record's own evidence; Lane D flagged it as verified but outside its authorized wiring scope.

Sources

• National Baseball Hall of Fame. "Cooper, Andy." Accessed 2026-11-03. (primary source · build store)
• Society for American Baseball Research. "Andy Cooper" (Thomas Kern, SABR BioProject). Accessed 2026-11-03. (primary source · build store)
• Dalton Strouse and Amanda Sawyer. "Andrew Lewis Cooper." Waco History. Accessed 2026-11-03. (build store)

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Record CTL-E-6964 · Combined Graph record U-07836 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 3 sources · 1 mapped relationship.
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Researched and maintained by the CultureTechLens research program · CultureTechLens Combined Graph, Release 2026-11-04. Corrections are public: the corrections log.

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