Ralph Cooper Becomes First Black Honoree on Houston Baseball Media Wall of Honor

HOUSTON - Legendary broadcaster Ralph Cooper of KCOH has been voted as the 2026 inductee into the Houston Baseball Media Wall of Honor, the Houston Astros announced Friday. The Astros will honor Cooper in a pregame ceremony at Daikin Park during the 2027 regular season.

Cooper is the first Black media member honored on the wall. In August, he was also selected for induction to the Texas Boxing Hall of Fame.

"I feel great about it," Cooper said to HBCU Legends. "To be honored with the people who are on the wall, whom I knew all of them, and I respected the work that they did. In fact, several of them inspired me to do the work that I did."

Elected by Houston media

The Astros induct one current or former Houston media member each season. The honor recognizes significant and lasting contributions to Houston baseball through journalism or broadcasting. According to the Astros release, Houston media nominated and elected Cooper this year.

The team will present Cooper with a duplicate of his plaque at the ceremony. The original will hang on the wall in the Milo Hamilton Press Box at Daikin Park.

Cooper said Gene Dias of Astros Communications told him the ceremony will take place in 2027.

Cooper joins 18 previous inductees. Anita Martini was the first in 2007. Bill Worrell was the most recent in 2025. The list also includes Gene Elston, Milo Hamilton, Mark Berman, Bob Allen, Jamie Hildreth, Alan Ashby and Larry Dierker.

A career built in Black media

Cooper is a Houston native. He joined the Houston Forward Times in January 1969, starting on crime and courts assignments. His first sports assignment covered middle school sports and the Astros. Ryan Junior High, a feeder school for Yates, was his first sports beat.

He began covering the Astros in April 1969. KYOK Radio hired him in May to deliver short daily reports. That June, he attended his first Houston Oilers training camp in Kerrville, Texas. That same month, he covered Houston, Texas Southern, Prairie View and Rice for the first time.

He moved to KCOH 1230 AM in 1984 and has been there since. He still hosts his daily sports talk show, Sports Rap, on KCOH.

The Astros release notes that Cooper has covered all five of the franchise's World Series runs. He was inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame in 2020.

Cooper said the bulk of his work came through Black-owned outlets. He named the Forward Times, the Informer, the Houston Defender, the Voice of Hope newspaper, KYOK Radio and KCOH Radio. He also spent more than 20 years as a panelist on ABC13 in Houston.

"I did it working for Black-owned media outlets," Cooper said. "That's what's huge about it. It's bigger than Ralph Cooper."

He credited the Black sportswriters who came before him. He named Sam Lacy, Wendell Smith, Howie Evans, Brad Pye and Sam Skinner.

"Me going on that wall represents all of them," Cooper said. "I'm on that wall because of what they gave me also, although they were in other areas."

NBA Legend Calvin Murphy with Ralph Cooper | Kyle T. Mosley, HBCU Legends

The season credential

Covering the Astros meant interviewing their opponents too. Cooper said some were in awe to see a Black reporter working at his level. He did not shy away from asking any player, coach, or manager for an interview. Most agreed. Some said no.

Cooper's first Astros pass was good for one game at a time. He picked it up at will call at the Astrodome before every home game.

Cooper said Astros players noticed his work. They also noticed his pass was different from everyone else's. He named Jimmy Wynn, Joe Morgan, Bob Watson and Don Wilson.

One day, the envelope at will call felt heavier. Inside was a season credential.

"I cried privately for a moment looking at it," Cooper said.

He hung it around his neck and walked onto the field to watch batting practice from behind the cage. Wilson, Morgan, Wynn and Watson came over. They patted him on the back, shook his hand and told him they were proud of him.

Cooper said Wilson told him the players had asked Astros media director Wayne Chandler for a season pass.

"I cherish media passes," Cooper said, "because I will never forget the price I paid to get my first pro one."

Ralph Cooper and Charlie Neal | Kyle T. Mosley, HBCU Legends

'A PhD in broadcasting'

Cooper does not hold a college degree. He credits three HBCUs for his education in the business.

"There would be no Ralph Cooper if it wasn't for Texas Southern University, Prairie View or Grambling," Cooper said. "Those entities helped me get my PhD in broadcasting and journalism."

He said the rest came from the people he interviewed. His list includes Satchel Paige, Dizzy Dean, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente and Luis Tiant. The Astros release also cites his interview with Judge Roy Hofheinz, who built the Astrodome.

"I have a PhD in broadcasting," Cooper said, "because of the individuals that I interviewed."

Ralph Cooper interviewing Grambling State quarterback Doug Williams in the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. | Credit: Ralph Cooper

Aaron's lesson

Cooper said Hank Aaron shaped his view of the job. About 50 years ago, older colleagues pushed a young Cooper to attend a meeting where Aaron spoke. Aaron talked about integrating baseball off the field, meaning jobs for Black people in front offices and media.

Cooper said Aaron's message was to bring others along. "Don't just let it stop with you," Cooper said, recalling Aaron's words. "Bring other people in. Help other people coming behind you, and especially people who look like you."

Cooper, 78, said he still learns every day. He credited Isaiah Thornton, a two-time Texas Southern graduate, for teaching him social media. Thornton came to Cooper as an intern.

"Guess who became the intern?" Cooper said. "I did."

He also issued a challenge to the journalists coming behind him. "Outdo me," Cooper said. "I challenge all of you coming behind me to outdo me."

Interviewing Muhammad Ali at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. — Ralph Cooper in the middle of the scrum interviewing Muhammad Ali at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. | Ralph Cooper

Texas Boxing Hall of Fame

Texas Boxing Hall of Fame president Lester Bedford informed Cooper of his selection in an Aug. 10 letter. The letter credited Cooper's more than 50 years of boxing coverage with helping build the sport's industry in Texas. The induction ceremony date has not been announced.

Cooper covered the fight game in Houston, including the Muhammad Ali bouts at the Astrodome. He also covered Joe Frazier's title defense in Houston while Ali was in exile.

Cooper credited Houston's boxing promoters for helping his career. He named Earl Gilliams, who was involved in several Ali fights in Houston. He also named Bob Arum, Don King, and Judge Roy Hofheinz, who brought the Ali fights to the Astrodome.

Thomas Hearns and Emmanuel Steward training in Houston, Texas — Thomas Hearns (left) and trainer Emmanuel Steward (right) training in Houston, Texas | Ralph Cooper

In 1974, Cooper spent more than a month in Zaire covering the Rumble in the Jungle between Ali and George Foreman. He became close friends with Foreman, who grew up in Houston.

"Most people, when they think about boxing in Texas, they think about the champions," Cooper said. "But there were a host of boxers who never became world champions that came through Houston."

He said fans think first of champions such as Evander Holyfield and George Foreman. He named Houston rapper and talk show host Willie D as one boxer who never got his shot. Cooper said a teenage Willie D would have been a world champion and could have fought Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns.

Remembering Martini

Cooper said Martini's place as the wall's first inductee means a great deal to him. Martini broke barriers for women in sports broadcasting in Houston.

Cooper said Martini inspired him to raise his own work ethic. The two landed interviews many others could not. Martini took her work to a national level and kept working until illness took her life.

"She was respected by all," Cooper said. "To be going into a situation where she was the first means a whole lot to Ralph Cooper. My only regret is she's not around to greet me going in."

Cooper also pointed to Milo Hamilton and to Jamie Hildreth, who worked in sales at KCOH before moving to the Astros and later making the wall. He recalled meeting Mark Berman when Berman was starting, introduced by Barry Warner. Cooper said Warner deserves the honor as well.

"I thought no one could outwork me," Cooper said, "until Mark Berman came along."

Cooper said his only regret is that friends from his early years are not alive to see it. He named former Astros Jimmy Wynn, J.R. Richard, Bob Watson, Don Wilson, and Harry "The Hat" Walker, along with Dock Ellis and Hank Aaron.

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