Johnny Cooney

Outfielder · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1921-1944)

Johnny Cooney was an outfielder who played in Major League Baseball from 1921 to 1944 for the Boston Braves, the Brooklyn Dodgers, and the New York Yankees, a span of 24 seasons. In 1,172 career games, he hit .286 with 965 hits, 2 home runs, and 219 RBI. He also pitched in 159 games, going 34-44 with a 3.72 ERA. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 149.2.

AVG (Batting Average):
Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
HR (Home Runs):
Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
RBI (Runs Batted In):
Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging):
On-base percentage plus slugging percentage, the quickest single summary of offensive value. .900 or better is star-level.

Data updated

AVG .286
HR 2
RBI 219
H 965
OPS .671
PIV -3,711
Position
Outfielder
Bats / Throws
R / L
Height / Weight
5'10" / 165 lb
Born
3/18/1901 in Cranston, RI, USA
Died
7/8/1986 in Sarasota, FL, USA
MLB Debut
1921-04-19
Last Game
1944-07-30

Full name: John Walter Cooney

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Career Batting Statistics

Johnny Cooney — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
1,172 3,372 409 965 130 26 2 219 30 208 107 .286 .329 .342 .671 -3,711

Career AVG .286 vs. league average .277 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .329 vs. league average .342 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .342 vs. league average .391 across their career seasons — 12.5% below league average.

Career OPS .671 vs. league average .733 across their career seasons — 8.5% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Johnny Cooney Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1921 BSN NL 8 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .200 — — — — 0.0
1922 BSN NL 4 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 — — — — 0.0
1923 BSN NL 42 66 7 25 1 0 0 3 0 4 2 .379 .282 (+34%) .344 (+20%) .390 (+1%) .734 (+10%) 135.3
1924 BSN NL 55 130 10 33 2 1 0 4 0 9 5 .254 .283 (-11%) .345 (-13%) .389 (-27%) .734 (-20%) -414.0
1925 BSN NL 54 103 17 33 7 0 0 13 1 3 6 .320 .288 (+11%) .349 (-1%) .407 (-5%) .756 (-3%) -56.4
1926 BSN NL 64 126 17 38 3 2 0 18 6 13 7 .302 .279 (+8%) .345 (+6%) .390 (-8%) .735 (-2%) -8.4
1927 BSN NL 10 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1928 BSN NL 33 41 2 7 0 0 0 2 0 4 3 .171 — — — — 0.0
1929 BSN NL 41 72 10 23 4 1 0 6 1 3 3 .319 .289 (+10%) .353 (avg) .415 (-3%) .769 (-1%) -21.8
1930 BSN NL 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1935 BRO NL 10 29 3 9 0 1 0 1 0 3 2 .310 — — — — 0.0
1936 BRO NL 130 507 71 143 17 5 0 30 3 24 15 .282 .283 (-1%) .349 (-10%) .404 (-17%) .753 (-14%) -1192.3
1937 BRO NL 120 430 61 126 18 5 0 37 5 22 10 .293 .276 (+6%) .342 (-4%) .398 (-10%) .740 (-7%) -554.0
1938 BSN NL 120 432 45 117 25 5 0 17 2 22 12 .271 .272 (-1%) .341 (-10%) .392 (-10%) .734 (-10%) -791.3
1939 BSN NL 118 368 39 101 8 1 2 27 2 21 8 .274 .274 (avg) .342 (-7%) .393 (-19%) .735 (-14%) -786.4
1940 BSN NL 108 365 40 116 14 3 0 21 4 25 9 .318 .267 (+19%) .335 (+8%) .387 (-4%) .722 (+2%) 160.8
1941 BSN NL 123 442 52 141 25 2 0 29 3 27 15 .319 .262 (+22%) .332 (+8%) .373 (+3%) .705 (+5%) 418.2
1942 BSN NL 74 198 23 41 6 0 0 7 2 23 5 .207 .253 (-18%) .323 (-10%) .349 (-32%) .672 (-22%) -600.7
1943 BRO NL 37 34 7 7 0 0 0 2 1 4 3 .206 — — — — 0.0
1944 BRO NL 7 4 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .750 — — — — 0.0
1944 NYA AL 10 8 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 .125 — — — — 0.0
Career · 21 seasons 1,172 3,372 409 965 130 26 2 219 30 208 107 .286 — — — — -3,711

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Pitching Statistics

Johnny Cooney — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
34 44 159 76 44 7 6 795.1 858 329 41 223 224 3.72 149.2

Career ERA 3.72 vs. league average 4.28 across their career seasons — 13.1% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Johnny Cooney Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1921 BSN NL 0 1 8 1 0 0 0 20.2 19 9 10 9 3.92 4.02 (+3%) -833.6
1922 BSN NL 1 2 4 3 1 0 0 25.0 19 6 6 7 2.16 4.18 (+48%) 442.6
1923 BSN NL 3 5 23 8 5 2 0 98.0 92 36 22 23 3.31 4.03 (+18%) 763.1
1924 BSN NL 8 9 34 19 12 2 2 181.0 176 64 50 67 3.18 4.13 (+23%) 2252.4
1925 BSN NL 14 14 31 29 20 2 0 245.2 267 95 50 65 3.48 4.55 (+24%) -742.1
1926 BSN NL 3 3 19 8 3 1 0 83.1 106 37 29 23 4.00 4.11 (+3%) 622.8
1928 BSN NL 3 7 24 6 2 0 1 89.2 106 43 31 18 4.32 4.13 (-4%) -1369.2
1929 BSN NL 2 3 14 2 1 0 3 45.0 57 25 22 11 5.00 4.60 (-9%) -986.9
1930 BSN NL 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 7.0 16 14 3 1 18.00 — 0.0
Career · 9 seasons 34 44 159 76 44 7 6 795.1 858 329 223 224 3.72 — 149

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1333 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Johnny Cooney — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home60816942194870112.287
Away56616771914782105.285

Pitching — Home / Away

Johnny Cooney — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home80432.24581741181233.62
Away79363.04001621061034.02

Last 10 Games — Batting

Johnny Cooney — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1944-07-30 NYYDETL 100000000
1944-07-25 NYYCLEL 000000000
1944-07-20 NYYSLAL 000000000
1944-07-14 NYYBOSW 000000000
1944-07-02 NYYCHWW 100000110
1944-07-01 NYYCHWL 000000000
1944-06-30 NYYSLAL 100000000
1944-06-21 NYYMINL 000000000
1944-06-21 NYYMINW 411000000
1944-06-18 NYYPHAL 100000000

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Johnny Cooney — Last 10 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1930-06-03 BSNCHC — 4.0111010212
1930-05-21 BSNBRO — 3.0544100
1929-09-19 BSNPIT SV 3.0410000
1929-09-18 BSNPIT — 1.0211010
1929-09-08 BSNCHC SV 3.0311110
1929-09-04 BSNNY1 W 4.1633102
1929-09-02 BSNBRO — 2.0100110
1929-07-11 BSNCIN — 2.2100100
1929-06-30 BSNBRO — 1.2322300
1929-06-25 BSNPHI L 2.0544100

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Johnny Cooney — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 93 0 681 45 4 60
OF 794 0 1791 56 22 12
P 159 0 62 190 9 16

Season-by-Season Fielding

Johnny Cooney — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1921 BSN P 8 0 2 5 0 0
1922 BSN P 4 0 1 6 0 1
1923 BSN 1B 1 0 2 0 0 0
1923 BSN OF 11 0 27 3 0 0
1923 BSN P 23 0 5 14 0 1
1924 BSN 1B 1 0 2 0 0 0
1924 BSN OF 16 0 50 1 3 0
1924 BSN P 34 0 18 32 2 3
1925 BSN 1B 3 0 18 1 1 4
1925 BSN OF 1 0 0 0 0 0
1925 BSN P 31 0 14 60 4 6
1926 BSN 1B 31 0 241 24 1 27
1926 BSN OF 1 0 3 0 0 0
1926 BSN P 19 0 7 21 2 1
1928 BSN 1B 3 0 16 0 1 2
1928 BSN OF 2 0 2 0 0 0
1928 BSN P 24 0 11 32 0 3
1929 BSN OF 16 0 45 0 0 0
1929 BSN P 14 0 4 16 1 1
1930 BSN P 2 0 0 4 0 0
1935 BRO OF 10 0 23 0 0 0
1936 BRO OF 130 0 336 11 2 3
1937 BRO 1B 2 0 2 0 0 0
1937 BRO OF 111 0 279 9 7 2
1938 BSN 1B 13 0 87 4 0 7
1938 BSN OF 110 0 209 6 4 2
1939 BSN 1B 2 0 5 0 0 0
1939 BSN OF 116 0 236 10 2 2
1940 BSN 1B 7 0 56 4 0 5
1940 BSN OF 99 0 238 5 2 0
1941 BSN 1B 4 0 41 2 0 4
1941 BSN OF 111 0 274 9 1 3
1942 BSN 1B 23 0 195 10 1 10
1942 BSN OF 54 0 59 2 1 0
1943 BRO 1B 3 0 16 0 0 1
1943 BRO OF 2 0 4 0 0 0
1944 BRO OF 2 0 3 0 0 0
1944 NYA OF 2 0 3 0 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Johnny Cooney Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 159
First Base 93
Left Field 47
Center Field 632
Right Field 130

Award Voting History

Johnny Cooney — Award Voting History
Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1941 Most Valuable Player NL 15th 20.0 336 0
1940 Most Valuable Player NL 11th 31.0 336 0
1937 Most Valuable Player NL 17th 4.0 80 0

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Johnny Cooney (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Frenchy Bordagaray
    .283 avg, 14 HR
  2. 96
    Gene Clines
    .277 avg, 5 HR
  3. 95
    Larry Biittner
    .273 avg, 29 HR
  4. 94
    Orator Shafer
    .282 avg, 11 HR
  5. 90
    Rebel Oakes
    .279 avg, 15 HR
  6. 89
    Skip Schumaker
    .278 avg, 28 HR

Johnny Cooney: the record in brief

April 19, 1921 and July 30, 1944 bracket Johnny Cooney's time in the majors: the debut and the last game on record. Club by club, the record runs the Boston Braves (1921 through 1942), the Brooklyn Dodgers (1935 to 1944), the Boston Bees (1938 through 1940), and the New York Yankees (1944). At 5-foot-10 and 165 pounds, Cooney is listed as an outfielder. The bio says Cooney hit right-handed while throwing left-handed. The recorded birth is March 18, 1901, in Cranston, RI, USA. The bio records the death on July 8, 1986, in Sarasota, FL, USA. The given name on file is John Walter Cooney.

In 1,172 games and 3,372 at bats, Cooney batted .286 with 965 hits, along with 2 home runs, 219 runs batted in, and 30 stolen bases. On-base and slugging figures of .329 and .342 give Cooney a career OPS of .671. Against a .277 league average for those years, Cooney's .286 average was near the norm.

Frequently Asked Questions about Johnny Cooney

What years did Johnny Cooney play?
Johnny Cooney played in Major League Baseball from 1921 to 1944.
Was Johnny Cooney a pitcher?
Both. Johnny Cooney pitched in 159 games, going 34-44 with a 3.72 ERA, but spent most of his career as an Outfielder.
How many home runs did Johnny Cooney hit?
Johnny Cooney hit 2 career home runs with 965 hits.
What teams did Johnny Cooney play for?
Johnny Cooney played for 3 teams: the Boston Braves (1921–1930, 1938–1942), the Brooklyn Dodgers (1935–1937, 1943–1944), and the New York Yankees (1944).
What were Johnny Cooney's career stats?
In 1,172 games, Johnny Cooney had 965 hits, 2 home runs, 219 RBI, 409 runs, and 30 stolen bases, with a .286 batting average. As a pitcher, in 159 games, he went 34-44 with a 3.72 ERA, 224 strikeouts, 795.1 innings pitched, and 6 saves.
What position did Johnny Cooney play?
Johnny Cooney played primarily as an outfielder, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Johnny Cooney and how much did he weigh?
Johnny Cooney was listed at 5 feet 10 inches and 165 pounds.
How many home runs did Johnny Cooney hit each season?
Johnny Cooney's home runs by season: 0 in 1921, 0 in 1922, 0 in 1923, 0 in 1924, 0 in 1925, 0 in 1926, 0 in 1927, 0 in 1928, 0 in 1929, 0 in 1930, 0 in 1935, 0 in 1936, 0 in 1937, 0 in 1938, 2 in 1939, 0 in 1940, 0 in 1941, 0 in 1942, 0 in 1943, and 0 in 1944. His most in one season was 2, in 1939.
What was Johnny Cooney's career batting average?
Johnny Cooney batted .286 over his career, with 965 hits in 3,372 at bats.
How many RBI did Johnny Cooney have?
Johnny Cooney drove in 219 runs in his career.
What was Johnny Cooney's career ERA?
Johnny Cooney finished with a 3.72 career ERA, going 34-44 with 224 strikeouts.
Is Johnny Cooney in the Hall of Fame?
No. Johnny Cooney has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.