Duff Cooley
From BR Bullpen
Duff Gordon Cooley (Sir Richard or Dick)
- Bats Left, Throws Right
- Height 5' 11", Weight 158 lb.
- Debut July 27, 1893
- Final Game August 25, 1905
- Born March 29, 1873 in Leavenworth, KS USA
- Died August 9, 1937 in Dallas, TX USA
[edit] Biographical Information
"President Dreyfuss, of Louisville, came to town last Wednesday and made a dead set to get Cooley and cash in exchange for Magee. Messrs. Reach and Rogers, however, wisely refused to listen to any suggestion involving the transfer of so valuable a player as Cooley." - from Sporting Life of July 8, 1899
Duff Cooley played thirteen years in the majors. His last year was with the 1905 Tigers, in the year that an 18-year-old Ty Cobb came up. Cobb took his place in the outfield the following year.
According to similarity scores, the most similar player to Duff Cooley is Lance Johnson, which is not as bad a comp as it might seem at first: Duff had an Adjusted OPS+ of 103 for his career, while Lance had a 95. Duff hit over .300 five times during a lively ball era, while Lance hit over .300 six times during a similar time of big hitting. Duff had 224 stolen bases while Lance had 327. Duff split his time between left and center, while Lance played mostly center.
Cooley was only the second player from Kansas to break into the majors, and still one of the few Kansans with over 5,000 major league at-bats.
He was usually called "Dick Cooley" in Sporting Life.
In the minors, Cooley played three separate times for Topeka, and also managed three different times for Topeka. His minor league career ran from 1893-1909, although years later while manager he put himself in at age 49 for some games.
[edit] Notable Achievements
- NL At Bats Leader (1897)
- 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 3 (1895 & 1897-1898)
