Professional Baseball Career - Signed a professional baseball contract with the Cleveland Indians' organization in July of 2002 after being selected in the third round of the 2002 MLB First-Year Player Draft ... Hit .255 with four homers and 17 RBI with the Columbus Red Stixx of the Single A South Atlantic League in the summer of 2002, helping lead Columbus to the league championship series ... Had previously been drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the second round of the 1999 MLB First-Year Player Draft.
Cardinal Career (2000-02) - Finished his three collegiate seasons with a .296 career batting average, 24 home runs, 103 RBI and four stolen bases ... Also added 31 doubles, three triples, 66 bases on balls and a .529 slugging percentage in 141 games and 130 starts ... Had a breakout season as a junior to earn First Team All-Pac-10 honors for the first time after struggling as a freshman and being hampered with a knee injury as a sophomore after a terrific start ... Hit five career homers versus USC ... Pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Anthropological Science.
As a Junior in 2002 - All-NCAA Regional, All-Pac-10, Second Team Academic All-American, Academic All-District VIII and Second Team Pac-10 All-Academic choice ... Also named the team's Most Improved Player and was a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Award (given annually to the nation's top collegiate baseball player by the NCBWA) ...Led the squad in RBI (57, #7 Pac-10), slugging percentage (.611, #7 Pac-10) and multiple-RBI games (16, co-leader with Carlos Quentin) ... Ranked second on the team in homers (13, #8T Pac-10) and multiple-hit games (23) ... Played in 61 games, all starts ... Hit .341 with a team-high six homers and 17 RBI while starting 22 of 24 Pac-10 games ... Had at least one RBI in each of his four College World Series games and finished his career with a seven-game hit streak (6/2 - 6/20), going 8-for-25 (.320) with two doubles, a homer and seven RBI ... Had his first CWS hit, a two-RBI single in the bottom of the first inning, to key Stanford's 4-3 win over Notre Dame in the CWS opener (6/15) ... Had a key two-run homer in Stanford's 8-4 win over Long Beach State in the championship game of the NCAA Regional (6/2) ... Was 3-for-5 with an RBI in the series opener versus Washington State (5/24) ... Broke out of a 1-for-17 (.059) slump by going 10-for-16 (.625) with two doubles, two homers and six RBI over a stretch of four consecutive multiple-hit games (5/17 - 5/24) ... Had been 6-for-13 (.462) with two doubles, a triple, four RBI, a stolen base and six walks in his previous five games (5/1 - 5/7) prior to the 1-for-17 stretch ... Was 3-for-5 with a homer and two RBI at UCLA (5/19) ... Had a pair of doubles at UCLA (5/18) ... Went deep with a two-run shot at UCLA (5/17) to snap a 16-game (17 Stanford games) homerless string and had three RBI ... Was 2-for-3 with a triple and three RBI at Santa Clara (5/7) ... Was 3-for-4 with his first two-double game of the season at Washington (4/20) ... Had a monster five-game stretch from April 7-14, hitting .450 (9-20) with five homers and 12 RBI to earn NCBWA National Hitter (4/16) and Pac-10 Player (4/15) of the Week honors ... Had his second two-homer game of the year and a season-high-tying four RBI in the middle game of a three-game series versus USC (4/13), before hitting a homer, driving in three runs and tying a career-high with three runs scored in the series finale versus the Trojans (4/14) ... Hit a three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning to tie the game versus San Jose State (4/9) in an eventual 5-4 Stanford win ... Was 3-for-5 with a double, homer off the scoreboard and two RBI at Arizona (4/7) ... Posted a torrid career-high 15-game hit streak (2/15 - 3/28), going 27-for-57 (.474) with five doubles, five homers and 20 RBI during the stretch that was the longest by a Stanford player in 2002 ... Was 4-for-9 with a double and three RBI in a doubleheader at USC (3/23) before hitting a tape measure homer in his first at bat of the series finale versus the Trojans (3/24) ... Had a monster game in the opener of a three-game series at California (3/8), going 5-for-5 (career-high for hits and one of only three five-hit games by a Cardinal player in 2002) with the first two-homer game of his career and a season-high-tying four RBI ... Added his third homer of the series in the series finale at California (3/10) ... Led off the Cal Poly series by going 3-for-4 with a double and three RBI (3/1) before hitting his first homer of the year and collecting three RBI in the middle game (3/2), and going 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI in the series finale (3/3) ... Had a three-hit game versus Santa Clara (2/24 - 3-4, 2B) ... Drove in the game-winning run with a ninth inning RBI-single versus Santa Clara (2/22) ... Was 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI at Florida State (2/10) ... Had four hits (4-4) and a season-high-tying four RBI in a 17-1 win over Cal State Fullerton (2/2) before he was pinch-hit for prior to the final two at bats in his spot in the lineup ... Had six consecutive singles in six official at bats (2/1 - 2/3) ... Named a 2002 First Team Preseason All-American (Baseball America).
As a Sophomore in 2001 - Had an excellent start to the season before finishing with a .272 batting average, nine homers (third on the team) and 37 RBI despite missing 21 games in the middle of the campaign due to a left knee strain ... Finished the regular season on fire by collecting the first two four-hit games of his career at Washington State, going 4-for-5 with a double and an RBI (5/19) and then 4-for-5 with a double, homer and a career-high five RBI (5/20) ... Struggled in the postseason, going 4-for-38 (.105) with two doubles and an RBI ... Hit a key three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning versus Arizona (5/11) to tie the game in an eventual 6-5 Stanford win ... Homered in his first start after returning from his knee injury at USC (4/22), going 2-for-5 with a pair of RBI ... Put together a five-game hit streak (4/28 - 5/8), going 6-for-20 (.300) with two doubles and four RBI ... Made starts at three different positions (left field, first base, designated hitter) ... One of his nine homers was an inside-the-park version versus Florida State (2/11) ... Posted five consecutive multiple-hit games (2/18 - 2/27) in his hottest stretch of the year, going 11-for-21 (.524) with three doubles, two homers and six RBI ... Was 3-for-5 with a homer, RBI and stolen base at Santa Clara (2/26) ... Had three RBI in games at Texas (2/16), versus Nevada (2/27) and versus Arizona (5/11) ... Significantly cut down his strikeout numbers, averaging only one strikeout every 4.8 at bats, compared to one every 2.3 at bats as a freshman ... Posted 10 multiple-RBI games ... Hit .318 with three homers and 14 RBI in Pac-10 action ... Earned honorable mention Pac-10 All-Academic honors ... Selected Second Team Preseason All-American by Baseball America.
As a Freshman in 2000 - Began the season as the team's starting designated hitter ... Played in 34 games with 25 starts, 20 as the designated hitter and five in left field ... Hit .189 but finished the season with seven hits in his last 19 at bats (.368) ... Eight of his 14 hits were for extra bases with five doubles, a triple and two home runs for a .365 slugging percentage ... Walked 20 times in only 74 official at bats ... Struggled with 32 strikeouts in just 74 at bats ... Had a big series at Washington State, contributing a three-run pinch-hit double in the eighth inning of a 14-3 win (4/7) and then going 2-for-2 with an RBI after coming off the bench in the seventh inning the following day (4/8) ... Had hits in all three games of a series versus Washington (4/14 - 4/16), adding a double and an RBI in the first game of the series ... Had a pair of doubles in a 2-for-4 performance at Santa Clara (3/4) ... Home runs came at Fresno State (1/29) and at Florida State (2/11) ... Spent the 1999 football season as a backup punter on Stanford's Rose Bowl team but did not see any game action.
High School - A 1999 graduate of Moses Lake High School ... Named Second Team All-American as a senior ... Preseason All-American by both Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball prior to his senior season ... Put up incredible numbers in his prep career, highlighted by a junior season in which he hit .609 with 12 home runs and 47 RBI to win triple crown honors for the state of Washington ... Also had an excellent senior campaign with a .500 batting average, seven homers and 35 RBI despite being pitched around and drawing an amazing 33 walks in 20 games ... Hit .430 with 10 homers and 35 RBI in his sophomore year ... A three-time All-State player ... High school teammate of current minor leaguers Brandon Garbe (Minnesota Twins, first round, fifth pick overall) and Ryan Doumit (Pittsburgh Pirates, second round), giving his prep team three players chosen in the first two rounds of the 1999 MLB First-Year Player Draft ... Doumit is a current member of the Pirates' 40-player roster ... Also played football and soccer as a prep ... A member of the National Honor Society ... Coached in baseball by Pete Doumit, father of Ryan.
Amateur Summer Baseball - Played during the summers of 2000 and 2001 with the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox of the Cape Cod League ... Hit .219 with two homers and 11 RBI in 2001 as the team earned a spot in the playoffs after hitting .229 with seven doubles, a pair of homers and 16 RBI in 2000 ... Showcased his power by winning the Cape Cod League's All-Star Game home run contest in both 2000 and 2001, the only player to have ever won the event for two consecutive summers ... Had impressive power numbers during his summer baseball days with the Columbia Basin River Dogs, blasting 56 home runs in his last three seasons and hitting .450 or better each year ... Won the 1998 Babe Ruth World Series with the River Dogs.
Personal - ... Son of Tim and Debra Cooper ... Father played baseball with the Cincinnati Reds' organization ... Earliest baseball memory was hitting whiffle balls right-handed with his dad in their backyard.
Year | Avg | GP-GS | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | TB | SLG% | BB | HBP | SO | GDP | OB% | SF | SH | SB-ATT | PO | A | E | FLD% |
2000.... | .189 | 34-25 | 74 | 7 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 27 | .365 | 20 | 2 | 32 | 0 | .375 | 0 | 0 | 1-2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
2001.... | .272 | 46-44 | 169 | 26 | 46 | 10 | 0 | 9 | 37 | 83 | .491 | 19 | 1 | 35 | 3 | .340 | 5 | 0 | 2-2 | 58 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
2002.... | .350 | 61-61 | 226 | 45 | 79 | 16 | 2 | 13 | 57 | 138 | .611 | 27 | 5 | 46 | 7 | .424 | 4 | 0 | 1-5 | 32 | 0 | 2 | .941 |
TOTAL... | .296 | 141-130 | 469 | 78 | 139 | 31 | 3 | 24 | 103 | 248 | .529 | 66 | 8 | 113 | 10 | .386 | 9 | 0 | 4-9 | 96 | 1 | 2 | .980 |