Cooper made it to the Cardinals roster in 1938 at age 25, after years of battling injuries. The hurler was a middle-of-the-road player from 1939 to 1941, but in 1942 he was phenomenal with a league-leading 22 Wins against only 7 Losses, and Cooper was also first in the National League in ERA (1.78), Shutouts (10), ERA+ (192) and WHIP (0.987). Cooper was finally an All-Star, and he won the MVP. The season was capped off with a World Series win (although Cooper had a poor performance).
In the following two years, Cooper remained a 20 Game winner, was in the top ten in MVP voting and helped the Cardinals win the Pennant. The Cardinals won the World Series again in 1944, but this time Cooper was excellent with a 1.13 ERA. Injuries piled up again, and he was traded to the Boston Braves, where he had a comeback of sorts in 1946. He was an All-Star again, and his 13-11 record hid a league-leading WHIP (1.106) and SO/BB (2.13).
That was the end of Cooper's good years, who managed a few more seasons before retiring. He left the game with a record of 128-75.
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