Don Cooper, former White Sox pitching coach, dies at 70

Don Cooper, who built the pitching staff that ended the Chicago White Sox's 88-year championship drought, died Tuesday, Sept. 22 in Brentwood, Tennessee, the team confirmed. He was 70.

In the 2005 American League Championship Series, Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland, Freddy Garcia and Jose Contreras threw four straight complete games to beat the Angels. No team had done that since the 1928 Yankees. A week later, the White Sox swept the Houston Astros and won their first World Series since 1917.

His family announced his death on social media on Wednesday, Sept. 23 and did not give a cause.

Cooper, a New York City native, pitched parts of four seasons in the majors after debuting with the Minnesota Twins in 1981. His longer career came in coaching. He joined the White Sox as a minor-league pitching coach in 1988 and spent 14 years working with the organization's young arms before he was named the big-league pitching coach in July 2002.

He kept the job for 18 years under four managers: Jerry Manuel, Ozzie Guillen, Robin Ventura and Rick Renteria. In that time he coached Buehrle through a no-hitter and a perfect game, got 21 wins out of Esteban Loaiza and…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/sports/