Harold Cooper

Harold McKinley Cooper (February 14, 1923 – October 4, 2010) was an American politician and Minor League Baseball executive who served as president of the International League from 1978 to 1990. He is recognized as the father of modern baseball in Columbus, Ohio, for twice helping return the game to the park that would subsequently be named Cooper Stadium in his honor.

Early life and the Red Birds

Cooper grew up in the Columbus neighborhood of Franklinton, just a few blocks from the site where the St. Louis Cardinals built a home for their American Association franchise in 1932. He visited Red Bird Stadium while it was still under construction, bringing lunch to grandfather who was serving as a foreman. Later, he would sneak into games frequently, occasionally getting caught. After one such apprehension, Red Birds president George Trautman gave him an unpaid job cleaning mold off hot dogs. After the war, he took a position in Columbus with the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues (later known as Minor League Baseball) before heading to Hutchinson, Kansas, where he would be named The Sporting News Minor League Executive of the Year in 1950 while running the Western Association affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. with the county taking the unique step of buying the affiliate itself from the Pittsburgh Pirates for $25,000. and the team made a profit for the county of $1.33 million in 2015.

While still serving as a County Commissioner, Cooper became president of the International League in 1978, a post he held for 12 years. In 1984, the old ballpark he watched being built as a child was renamed Cooper Stadium in recognition of his contributions to baseball in Columbus. When the Clippers outgrew Cooper Stadium in 2009, they erected a statue of Cooper, entitled The Father of Columbus Baseball, at the main entrance of their new home, Huntington Park.