White Sox Missing Cooper's Instruction
By Bruce Levine-
(CBS) After taking a shellacking two out of the last three games, White Sox pitchers and personnel were lamenting the loss of pitching coach Don Cooper, who has been battling a case of vertigo over the past two weeks. The veteran coach made it back to the ballpark for a couple of games last week, but he was rendered house-bound again on Monday.
Chicago has hit a wall in allowing 35 runs in the past three games, including 16 runs on Sunday and Tuesday.
"Coop is officially off the flight today," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said of the team's trip to Seattle to start a series against the Mariners on Thursday. "I talked to him the morning, and I would say he is out for the Seattle series. He is just not feeling any better, and it would not do him any good to get on a plane. The doctors told him to basically not fly. That would probably be the worst thing that he could do right now. He needs to stay here get some treatment and see what is going on."
Ventura agreed that some of the pitchers have missed the expert handling of Cooper during this deluge of runs allowed.
"They team has done well under his coaching," Ventura said. "If he is not here, you have to move on and try to win a game. He is not feeling well, so I feel bad that I forced him in here the way he has been feeling. We just hope he gets better soon. We are all better off when he is here."
Catcher Tyler Flowers admitted the pitchers and catchers face a challenge without their coach.
"He is a great resource for all of us," Flowers said. "That means for us catchers as well. He brings another element to our games with his ideas and vast knowledge of the game. We aren't the most veteran battery, so we do get great assistance from Coop and the other coaches."
Cooper has been the White Sox pitching coach since 2002. He was rewarded with a four-year contract in the late summer of 2011.
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.
