Cotton Pippen

Henry Harold Pippen

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 180 lb.
• School Texas A&M University
• Debut August 28, 1936
• Final Game May 21, 1940
• Born April 2, 1911 in Cisco, TX USA
• Died February 15, 1981 in Williams, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Cotton Pippen was up in the majors for 3 seasons, appearing mainly in 1939. In the minors, he won nearly 200 games.

Pippen was born in Cisco, TX. He pitched for years in the minors before getting a cup of coffee in the majors in August 1936. Thereafter he went back to the minors until he got another shot in 1939.

Cotton had spent most of 1936-38 with Sacramento, going 17-8 for the team in 1938. The Philadelphia Athletics drafted him away from the St. Louis Cardinals organization after the 1938 season, and made him a starter in 1939. Pippen's 5.99 ERA was only a little worse than the team ERA of 5.79, but the team let him go in August, with the 1939 Tigers picking him up off waivers. He pitched the rest of 1939 for the Tigers and 4 games in 1940.

Thereafter he spent many years with the Oakland Oaks (1940-44 and 1946-47) and also played in 1948 in the minors. In 1951 he served as a player-manager at Reno.

During World War II Cotton would spend 1945 serving in the United States Navy.

Ted Williams wrote in My Turn at Bat that Pippen had been the pitcher who struck him out in Ted's first time at bat in the minors. Later, Williams returned the favor by getting his first two hits at Fenway Park off of Pippen.

The book Detroit Aces: The First 75 Years has a photo of Pippen in a Detroit cap, during his short time with the Tigers.