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Show Speaking Released by Western Newspaper Union. A COURAGEOUS young man received re-ceived the honor due him recently re-cently when the National league's most valuable player award for 1942 went to Morton Cecil Cooper, the big righthanded pitching ace of the amazing St. Louis Cardinals. The award signalized a remarkable remark-able recovery by Cooper from an operation performed last summer on his elbow. The operation opera-tion was a desperateand desper-ateand successful effort to prolong his pitching career. The 28-year-old hurler from Mis- I souri, who won 22 games to lead the .. .. ... , . . Southworth Redbirds into the World Series and eventual world's championship, was named by a committee com-mittee of the Baseball Writers Association Asso-ciation of America. He received 13 of the committee's 24 first place votes and 263 out of a possible 336 points in the balloting. He was the only player whose name appeared on every ballot. The rating was determined solely on the basis of the regular season. His rather unhappy experience in the series when he was twice lambasted lam-basted by the Yankees did not enter en-ter into the balloting. Nor did the fact that he was knocked out of the box in the first inning of the AU-Star AU-Star game influence the voting. Behind him in second place with 200 points was Enos ("Country") Slaughter, Cards' slugging right fielder, who barely nosed out Mel Ott, manager of the New York Giants. These three and Martin Marion, Cardinal shortstop, were the only players to receive first place votes. All Around Value The award is based on the all-around all-around value of a player to his club, as well as his individual performance. perform-ance. Ott, Slaughter and Marion deserved consideration they were strong candidates for the top honor. MORT COOPER Cooper pitched the entire game in every contest that he won, and led the majors in shutouts with 10. The last mark is the greatest number of shutouts a National league hurler has achieved since 1933. Manager Billy Southworth gave him the toughest, most important pitching assignments, so his 22 victories vic-tories came the hard way. It was largely through his success that the Cards were sparked to success in the stretch battle with the Dodgers. Uphill Battle Cooper's selection climaxed an uphill up-hill battle. The arm ailment about the middle of the 1941 season apparently ap-parently cut short his career as a major leaguer after three years of no more than mediocre success with the Cards. Last year he won 13 games and lost nine, even though out of action during a large part of the campaign. This was the most victories he had won in three years with the Cards. He gambled on an operation. The outcome is evidenced by the manner in which he mowed his way through the National league this past season. It is interesting to note that bis 13-9 record brought him one vole for third place good for eight points in the 1941 balloting that gave Dolph Camilli of the Dodgers the valuable player award. Slaughter was ranked somewhere in the first 10 selections by 21 of the baseball writers, and Ott by 22. Mickey Owen, aggressive catcher catch-er for Brooklyn, came in fourth with 103 points. Incidentally, Cooper is sure that the 13 votes he received for first place must have some special significance. During the Cardinals' summer campaign cam-paign he couldn't get past his 13th victory while the No. 13 was on his uniform. He discarded the number and started a winning streak. SPORT SHORTS CEd Walsh of the Chicago White Sox pitched in 66 games in 1908. C. Notre Dame gridders select a player of the day after each game and he is given a scroll and $25 war bond upon graduation, ft Tackle Mike Kasap, 237 pounds, is the heaviest man on the Illinois football squad. His running mate, Jim Craig, 218, is next, ft Angelo Giuliani, former big league catcher, was responsible for only three errors in catching !" primes with Minneapolis this so;..-...-.. |