FABL PLAYER BIO OF THE DAY
JOHN COOK
Home run king Max Morris owns a slew of records as he winds down his amazing career. With Morris' Cleveland Foresters winning the 1934 World Championship Series the legendary slugger moved into a first place tie for another pair of records - most World Championship Series games played and runs scored. I imagine very few would be able to name the man who shares that mark with Morris, and still holds several other post-season career records. That player is a second baseman by the of John Cook.
Born in Troy, Michigan in 1881 Cook's big league debut at the age of 20 timed perfectly with the rise of the Boston Minutemen dynasty to begin the 20th century. Cook's first five years in the big leagues each saw him join his Minutmen teammates in the World Championship Series and he would play in a sixth series for Boston in 1912. Along the way he played in a record 31 Series games, more than any other player in history and scored more runs (22) until Morris equalled him on both counts this year. Cook's 130 Series at bats are still a record, 19 more than Bob Sykes (1894-1907) and 20 more than Morris. Cook is also tied with Calvin Kidd and Powell Slocum for the most singles in World Championship Series history with 30.
Code:
CAREER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES PLAYED LEADERS
NAME GAMES YEARS
1 John Cook 31 1902-1919
1 Max Morris# 31 1914-1934
3 Bill Barnes 28 1902-1918
4 Bob Sykes 27 1894-1907
5 Charlie Coller 26 1899-1912
5 Danny James 26 1908-1926
5 Bill McCaskey 26 1907-1922
5 Sam Sanderson 26 1912-1926
5 Charlie Venema 26 1907-1919
10 Powell Slocum 25 1905-1925
10 Tom Taylor# 25 1928-1934
#active players
Cook was never the best player in the league, in fact he was never the best player on his own team but he had a knack for being a steady conistent hitter and a possessed above average defensive skills, which earned him the nickame "Scoops". A gifted athlete, he was convinved by towering Minutemen teammate James Fisher to play basketball in the off-season despite just taking up the sport a few years earlier. Cook spent some time with the Boston and Rochester entries in the old semi-pro Atlantic Basketball League, excelling as a guard. His stay in that league was short-lived as he preferred to focus on baseball where he made much more of a mark. Cook hit .300 in his 31 Series games and was a fixture at second base for the Minutemen for over a decade before finishing out his career with 5 seasons in Brooklyn. His 2,505 career hits presently puts him with the 19th most of all-time and only 13 players have appeared in more than the 2,325 FABL regular season games Cook played in.