Though they debuted more than a century ago, Wilbur Cooper and Babe Adams remain among the greatest pitchers in Pirates history. Teammates from 1912-1924, the duo combined for 396 wins in Pittsburgh.
Adams threw right-handed and batted from the left side. Cooper was a southpaw yet batted righty. Together they provided a potent left-right tandim.
A quick glance at the franchise leaderboard shows the men prominently represented. Each pitcher remains in Pittsburgh’s top 6 in games, innings, starts, wins, shutouts, complete games, shutouts, and pitchers’ WAR.
Adams is the winningest right-hander in Pirates history and second overall to the southpaw Cooper. The top two spots in pitchers’ WAR go to Adams (50.5) and Cooper (48.1) as well. It’s the lety Cooper who leads the franchise in complete games (263) while Adams tops the list in shutouts (44).
The two men had fine careers. Cooper is the first National League lefty to win 200 games. He remains the only southpaw outside of Cooperstown to log 3,000 innings with a sub-3.00 ERA.
Adams is one of baseball’s greatest control-artists. He led the league in walks per 9 innings pitched four straight seasons. To illustrate his stinginess in giving up free passes, one must look to Greg Maddux. The 355-game winner would have to pitch 217 more 9-inning games without a walk to lower his BB/9 rate to the same level as Adams.
Despite their greatness, Cooper and Adams are mostly forgotten today, even in Pittsburgh.
In the collection is this government postcard signed by Cooper with a post mark from 1953, 26 years after the conclusion of his playing career. For more on Cooper, click here.
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Babe Adams doesn’t get enough love, even in Pittsburgh!