Don Cooper, longtime White Sox pitching coach, dies at 70

Don Cooper, the longtime Chicago White Sox pitching coach who helped shape the staff behind the franchise’s 2005 World Series championship, has died at 70, his family and the team confirmed Wednesday.

The family said Cooper died Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026, at his home in Brentwood, Tennessee, according to a family statement reported by CBS Chicago. No cause of death was released in the family statement or the White Sox’s initial announcement, though early reports said he died peacefully. Funeral arrangements had not been announced.

Cooper was one of the most enduring figures in modern White Sox history, spending 33 seasons in the organization from 1988 through 2020. He joined the club as a minor league coach in 1988, then was promoted to major league pitching coach on July 22, 2002. He held that role through the end of the 2020 season, overseeing 18 full seasons in the majors and becoming closely identified with the team’s pitching philosophy and pitcher development.

His place in White Sox history was secured by the 2005 championship season, one of the most important in franchise history. Cooper was the pitching coach for a team that went 11-1 in the postseason and swept the Houston Astros in the World Series. During that run, White Sox pitchers delivered four consecutive complete games in Games 2 through 5 of the American League Championship Series, a rare postseason feat that remains one of the clearest symbols of the club’s dominant staff.

Over nearly two decades as pitching coach, Cooper was widely credited with helping develop or guide several of the best-known pitchers of the era, including Mark Buehrle, José Contreras, Jon Garland, Freddy Garcia, Chris Sale and Esteban Loaiza. His influence extended well beyond one title team, helping define the White Sox’s identity on the mound across multiple competitive cycles.

In a social media post quoted by MLB.com, the team said: “The White Sox send our condolences to the family, friends and fans of Don Cooper, who has passed away at 70.”

The family, in a statement reproduced by CBS Chicago, remembered both his baseball life and his life away from the game: “His fierce passion for baseball, and the coaches and players around him, brought him a life filled with great pride, stories, and accomplishments. This passion was superseded only by his unbreakable love for his family and friends. He cared immensely for his loved ones.”

Former White Sox general manager Ken Williams, who helped build the 2005 club, praised Cooper’s standing in the game. “I will always believe him to be one of the best pitching coaches the game has seen,” Williams told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Former White Sox pitcher José Contreras, a key part of that championship staff, recalled the personal side of Cooper’s impact. “On the day I met him, he gave me a hug like he knew me for a long time,” Contreras told MLB.com.

Born Donald James Cooper on Jan. 15, 1956, Cooper was a right-handed pitcher before becoming a coach. He appeared in the major leagues across parts of four seasons in the early 1980s with the Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees. His White Sox tenure ended after the 2020 season, when he and manager Rick Rentería were let go, closing a run that made him one of the longest-serving coaches in club history.