MLB: Iowa State alum MLB umpire Eric Cooper dies at age 52

[I-Statefanin IACity78]

Saw this in the news. Commissioner Manfred posted this along with the Des Moines Register. He had a blood clot and it seemed he was doing better but then took a turn for the worse.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles...r-dies-at-52-had-worked-yankees-vs-twins-alds

He just did the ALDS yankees twins series.

 

[cygrads]

Wow, way too young. To bad I think he had a local radio show for a while. This is really sad.

 

[NorthCyd]

I remember listening to him and Tim McClelland on Umps Eye View back in the day on KXNO. Really interesting show and he seemed like a really nice guy. Sad.

 

[dmdom]

This hits home pretty hard. I knew Eric very well in college. Eric worked under Garry Greenlee in the intramural area. I umpired and refereed a ton of games with him. He always knew he wanted to be a major league umpire and enjoyed 21 years in the Bigs. In the off seasons he could be found at Wellmans Pub every now and then. Eric was a great dude. A buddy of mine, Dave collects Sports Illustrated and has gotten many of them signed by the cover person. Dave and I meet up with Eric one day and he signed the "Kill the Umps!" issue. While Dave is handing him the magazine and sharpie, he manages to make a big black slash across Eric's shirt. Eric was cool about it and even personalized his signature. RIP COOP

 

[ShortBus]

I was Coop’s RA and friend when we both lived In Wilson Hall back in the day. He was a great guy with an infectious personality that was liked by all. RIP.

 

[GT25Ump]

Coop was one of my instructors at the Brinkman-Froemming Professional Umpire School, back in 1994 (and when I went back in 1997). We umpired together down in Florida, back in the day as well. It'd been 2-3 years since I last saw/talked to him, at an umpire clinic, but his personality never changed. A good guy, always carried himself professionally and was always willing to work to increase/raise fellow umpire's skill levels.

 

[jsb]

I always enjoyed the radio show he did with the other ump.

 

[isufbcurt]

This is the 2nd person in Des Moines that I know of passing from a blood clot after a knee surgery.

 

[I-Statefanin IACity78]

He umpired in the 2014 WS was home plate in game 2. Did 2005 all star game.

He was home plate umpire for 3 no hitters hideo nomo 2001. Mark buehrle 2007 and mark buehrle perfect game 2009. I actually watched that game. I am a white sox fan yes there are a few of us. @burn587

He was well respected by players and umpires. Was not bad like Angel Hernandez and didnt have a huge ego like Joe West.