Question about Cecil Cooper.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

I was on a different site and somebody brought up Cecil Cooper and how he was benched in 1987. As far as I know he wasn't injured and the Brewers apparently were trying to trade him but they never did. Back then teams only had a 24 man roster and the Brewers had a pretty good team so it really makes no sense why they wouldn't either play him in favorable matchups or try and trade or release him to maybe add a player who could have helped them. The Brewers had a very good team winning 91 games and had a legit chance of winning the AL East that year.

Was there a riff between Cooper and management? It is kinda strange why they did this.

[bluesky5]

I was on a different site and somebody brought up Cecil Cooper and how he was benched in 1987. As far as I know he wasn't injured and the Brewers apparently were trying to trade him but they never did. Back then teams only had a 24 man roster and the Brewers had a pretty good team so it really makes no sense why they wouldn't either play him in favorable matchups or try and trade or release him to maybe add a player who could have helped them. The Brewers had a very good team winning 91 games and had a legit chance of winning the AL East that year.

Was there a riff between Cooper and management? It is kinda strange why they did this.

Maybe he really pissed someone off. Same reason why Frank Thomas was absent from the White Sox 2005 playoff roster.

Did you ever find out why he was benched?

[chicagowhitesox1173]

This is what I found out from a different site. When Paul Molitor returned from the DL, Trebelhorn inserted him at DH and thats when Molitor started his 39 game hitting streak. Molitor was more comfortable at DH and the Brewers went with the hot hand. Part of it was a riff betwen Cooper and management. I guess Cooper rufused to be put in a game which probably sealed his fate for the year.

Greg Brock was at first that year and he had a pretty good year so the Brewers probably figured they didn't need Cooper. It probably helped that relief pitchers and starters pitched more innings back then as for a reason the Brewers kept him on the team without trading or releasing him. I think his contract was up in 1988.

[janduscframe]

I believe White Sox to be correct. He didn't want to play..

[The Commissioner]

There's an article about the situation in the Milwaukee Journal from August 29, 1987:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19870829&id=uGMaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BisEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5056,4200145

[brewcrew82]

The "sitting streak" box at the bottom is a novel touch.

[Baseball fan in Milwaukee]

Remembering the circumstances, I don't know if, although I doubt, Cooper refused to go in when asked, or there was a rift between him and management. After that season, Cooper did stay with the Brewers for years in an office capacity before he went into managing. Cooper is likely most famous for his series game-winning RBI in the 1982 AL Championship. That hit was typical of what Cooper had done for the Brewers, starting in 1977. From memory, he hit a game-winning grand slam vs. Seattle on June 26, 1977; he had a three home run game, with his third homer that night being a walk off, against the Boston Red Sox in 1979...not only putting up great numbers, but also hitting clutch home runs. He was deserving of the name Super Duper Cecil Cooper.

Having seen him around Milwaukee a few times, he was always receptive, and I pulled for him when he became a manager for Houston. I was also hoping that the Brewers would've hired him or Don Money as their new manager either in 2009 or 2011 (although I think Roenicke is a good choice). Regardless of what happened in 1987, I'll always remember Cecil Cooper's positive impact on those very good Brewer teams in the late 70s through the 80s.