Rocky Coppinger

John Thomas Coppinger

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 5", Weight 245 lb.
• High School Coronado High School (El Paso)
• Debut June 11, 1996
• Final Game October 4, 2001
• Born March 19, 1974 in El Paso, TX USA

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Biographical information

Rocky Coppinger pitched five years in the majors, winning 10 games as a rookie with the Baltimore Orioles.

Coppinger was born in [[El Paso, TX] and attended high school there. Of the seven major league pitchers born in El Paso (through the 2019 season), Rocky has the highest major league winning percentage (17-11, .607). A draft-and-follow selection by the Orioles in the 1993 amateur draft, Rocky started in the minors in 1994 and almost always had a winning record. In 1995, with three teams, he went 16-3. In 1998, with two teams, he went 10-5, and in 2001, with two teams, he was 8-1. Overall in the minors, he had a 49-23 record in parts of nine seasons.

Rocky debuted in the bigs with the Orioles on June 11, 1996, tossing five mediocre innings against the Detroit Tigers. The bulk of his big league work would come that season. He pitched 23 times (22 starts), putting together a 10-6, 5.18 record with 104 strikeouts in 125 innings to finish fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting. He started and lost Game 4 of the ALCS to the New York Yankees, surrendering 5 runs in 5 1/3 innings. For the rest of his career, he battled injuries, moving to the Milwaukee Brewers during the 1999 season and seeing his last big league action primarily out of their bullpen. In his final appearance, on October 4, 2001, he allowed the final career home run struck by Mark McGwire, his 583rd.