Beloved Former White Sox Pitching Coach Don Cooper Passes Away at 70
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Former Chicago White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper has passed away at the age of 70, according to a family announcement on Facebook. The White Sox proceeded to confirm the news on X.
"His fierce passion for baseball, and the coaches and players around him, brought him a life filled with great pride, stories, and accomplishments," his family shared on Facebook (via CBS News). "This passion was superseded only by his unbreakable love for his family and friends. He cared immensely for his loved ones."
The White Sox send our condolences to the family, friends and fans of Don Cooper, who has passed away at 70.
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) September 23, 2026
Don Cooper spent 33 seasons as a coach in the White Sox organization from 1988-2020, including 18 full seasons as the major-league pitching coach. Cooper served as the… pic.twitter.com/vrPw4CyWWz
Remembering the White Sox' Don Cooper
Don Cooper was drafted as a right-handed pitcher in the 17th round of the 1978 MLB Draft out of the New York Institute of Technology. He would debut with the Minnesota Twins in 1981, pitching in parts of four seasons before beginning his storied coaching career with the White Sox' Single-A affiliate in 1988.
He was a huge part of the White Sox player development system before he was recognized for his talents and was promoted to major league pitching coach in July, 2002, replacing Nardi Contreras. He would become one of the most well-known and productive coaches in White Sox history.
He will be forever associated with the dominant run of the 2005 World Series starting rotation. Mark Buehrle, Jose Contreras, John Garland, and Freddy Garcia closed out the 2005 ALCS with four consecutive complete games, the first time an MLB team had accomplished that in a postseason run since the 1928 New York Yankees. None have done it since. Cooper was incredibly well-respected over his almost two decades as White Sox pitching coach.
Cooper oversaw Esteban Loaiza finishing second in AL Cy Young voting in 2003, Chris Sale's dominant run of five consecutive All-Star appearances, and the best years of Buehrle's legendary career. This included Buehrle's 2007 no-hitter and 2009 perfect game, as well as Philip Humber's perfect game in 2012 and Lucas Giolito's no-hitter in 2020.
According to FanGraphs, from 2003 to 2020, White Sox pitchers were fourth in MLB in fWAR. Cooper was the White Sox pitching coach until he was fired, along with manager Rick Renteria, after the 2020 COVID-shortened season.
Cooper's legacy will be that of one of the greatest pitching coaches in MLB history before the rise of analytics. Cooper's greatest strength was the ability to instill confidence in his pitchers, creating stars out of some previous no-names and co-authoring some of the best performances in both regular-season and playoff history. He will be sorely missed by the White Sox and those who played under him.
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Matthew Singer is a contributor for White Sox on SI. Before joining SI in 2026, he worked for Heavy as an MLB contributor and Cubs on SI. Singer has a master's degree in sports journalism from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. He loves sports more than anything in the world.