1917
JIMMY COONEY   2B

Jimmy Cooney Jr was born on August 24, 1894, in Cranston, Rhode Island. At age 15, he was already working as a wool sorter in a woolen mill in Cranston. 

He’d played semipro ball in Cranston as early as 1910, and played for the Revere semipro team in the Manufacturers League of Providence since he was 15, usually playing on Saturdays, and for the Newport Trojans on Sundays. Jimmy first broke into the pros with Worcester in 1913 when he was 18, and was sold to the Boston Red Sox in August.

He signed with the Red Sox and trained at Hot Springs with Bill Carrigan’s team in the spring of 1914. He stuck with the team during its first home stand, though seeing no action. When the Red Sox went on the road after the first eight games, Carrigan cut loose four players. Jimmy was seen as too young and needing more experience, and was released to Worcester. 

Jimmy played for Worcester in 1916, too, hitting .274. The Providence Grays wanted him in 1917, but hadn’t drafted him in the fall of 1916, so had to dicker with Worcester in April 1917. Jimmy advanced from Class B to Double A, playing for Providence in the International League. 

The Red Sox had won back-to-back world championships in 1915 and 1916, but by September 1917, they were 10 ½ games out of first. Jimmy played second base for them in 11 games, with a .222 average.

He enlisted in the U. S. Army to service at Fort Devens immediately after the season, and was called to active duty on January 1918. He rose to the ranks of lieutenant with I Company of the 73rd Infantry, stationed at Ft Devens. He went overseas, returning in April 1919.

Jimmy played with Providence again in 1919 and had his best season to date, hitting for a .305 average. In August 1919, the Grays sold his contract to the New York Giants. He appeared in five late-season games for the Giants and hit .214.

In March 1920, he was released to the Milwaukee Brewers (American Association) where he played the next four years. Then in 1924, after 17 early-season games with the Brewers, the St. Louis Cardinals traded three players for him, and he returned to the majors for a third time. He arrived in time to play in 110 games and he enjoyed the best season of his career, hitting .295.

On December 1925, the Cardinals traded Jimmy to the Chicago Cubs. Jimmy had to fight for the shortstop spot in 1926, but he won the job in spring training. He played in 141 games, hitting .251. Jimmy played for the Cubs again in 1927, but only appeared in 33 games for the Cubs, hitting .242. Jimmy Cooney was traded to the Phillies in June and he played in 76 games, hitting an improved .270. 

Jimmy was traded again in 1927, part of a five-player trade which sent him back to the Cardinals in December. He didn’t play with St. Louis in 1928, however. He was again the subject of two transactions in 1928. He was selected off waivers by the Boston Braves in February, and joined the team for spring training at St. Petersburg. 

His brother, Johnny Cooney, had begun his career pitching for the Boston Braves which he did from 1921 through 1930, save for 1927. The two became teammates for a year on the 1928 Braves. Jimmy played in 18 early-season games, his last one being in June against the Cubs. His average in 1928 was .137, and he’d driven in three runs. 

They traded him to the Buffalo Bisons and he hit .359 in 65 games. Cooney played three more years for Buffalo, playing in 155 games in 1929 and hitting .292. He hit .345 in 1930, in 79 games, during a year in which he was also the manager of the Bisons. He managed again in 1931, putting himself in the lineup in just 13 games. He then played second base for the New Haven Bulldogs and managed the team in 1932.

After his time in baseball, he found other work, making his way to the Cranston Print Works, where he worked for 25 years before retiring in 1960. 

Jimmy Cooney lived a very long life, ultimately dying of natural causes in a Warwick, Rhode Island, nursing home on August 7, 1991 at the age of 96.