Syd Cohen

Sydney Harry Cohen
(Pablo Garcia)

• Bats Both, Throws Left
• Height 5' 11", Weight 180 lb.
• School University of Alabama, Southern Methodist University
• Debut September 18, 1934
• Final Game September 9, 1937
• Born May 7, 1906 in Baltimore, MD USA
• Died April 9, 1988 in El Paso, TX USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Syd Cohen pitched 56 games with the Washington Senators between 1934 and 1937.

Syd Cohen as a hitter and as Pablo

The brother of big league second baseman Andy Cohen, Syd made his pro debut in 1928 as a position player, hitting .296 in the Three-I League. The next year, Cohen played for two teams in the Arizona State League, batting .263 with 6 homers. In 1930, Syd hit .356 for the Bisbee Bees in that circuit. Cohen went to the Mexico-based Nogales Internationals in 1931 in the Arizona-Texas League. The club had faced local unrest due to their reliance on American players. When Cohen arrived, the manager decided to introduce the swarthy, fluent Spanish speaker as Pablo Garcia. "Pablo" hit .323. The next year, he went to play for his hometown El Paso Texans and hit .302. He also saw brief action with the Oakland Oaks.

Syd Cohen as a pitcher

In 1933, Cohen began to pitch regularly, going 1-3 with a 5.89 ERA for the Portland Beavers and Hollywood Stars. The next season, he fared even worse with the Minneapolis Millers, posting a 2-0 record but an 8.76 ERA. He fared better with the Chattanooga Lookouts that year, going 11-10 with a 3.26 ERA. Amazingly, given his track record in the top minor leagues, he wound up with the Washington Senators late in [1934 Senators|1934]] and allowed Babe Ruth's final home run as a member of the New York Yankees. He also became the last pitcher to strike out Ruth during his New York career. Syd returned to the Lookouts in 1935 and went 16-16 with a 4.73 ERA. In addition to a 7-8, 2.94 campaign for Chattanooga in 1936, Syd spent a fair portion of the year with the Senators, with a 5.25 ERA in 19 games. The next season, 1937, Cohen was one of the top Washington hurlers, going 2-4 with 4 saves and a 3.11 ERA, the best of any pitcher to appear in 10 or more games with the team. Despite a 143 ERA+, Syd had pitched his last season in the majors.

Syd Cohen on the west coast

In 1938, Cohen was 0-3 with the Baltimore Orioles and 8-6 with a 4.09 ERA for the New Orleans Pelicans. With the Pelicans in 1939, Syd went 11-16 with a 4.52 ERA. Returning to his home state in 1940, he was shelled with Dallas and Fort Worth, going 1-11 with a 4.34 ERA in the Texas League. After a year off, the 36-year-old went to the Portland Beavers in 1942 and spent five years in the Pacific Coast League, home to many past and future big leaguers. Cohen went 44-45 with the Beavs, winning 10 or more the first four years.

Syd Cohen, back home

Syd was with El Paso once again in 1947 and had one of his best seasons ever. At 41, he was 17-5 with a 3.38 ERA, finishing second in the Arizona-Texas League in wins and either first or second in ERA. After a year off, he slipped to 8-17 with a 4.86 ERA for the Texans. Cohen went to Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua in 1950 and managed the Juarez Indios to their first title in the Arizona-Texas League. Cohen did not help on the mound, going 3-6 with a 7.10 ERA. Fans recalled him as Pablo Garcia and greeted him with his old moniker. After that, Syd spent three years with the Bisbee-Douglas Copper Kings and went 4-13 from age 45 to 48. He spent his last two seasons as a player back home with El Paso, not getting any decisions. Cohen continued to manage in the minors, including a 1957 stint back with Ciudad Juarez, now in the Central Mexican League. As both Syd and brother Andy had been active in minor league baseball in their hometown for many years, El Paso named their new ballpark in memory of the two when they opened Cohen Stadium in 1990.

Main sources: Pat Doyle's old-time professional baseball player database, "The Big Book of Jewish Baseball" by Peter Horvitz and Joachim Horvitz

Year-by-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Playoffs	Notes
1947	El Paso Texans	Arizona-Texas League	44-86	6th
1949	El Paso Texans	Arizona-Texas League	67-83	4th	League Champs
1950	Indios de Ciudad Juárez	Arizona-Texas League	93-55	1st	Lost in 1st round
1951	Bisbee-Douglas Copper Kings	Southwest International League	64-80	8th
1952	Bisbee-Douglas Copper Kings	Arizona-Texas League	60-80	5th
1953	Bisbee-Douglas Copper Kings	Arizona-Texas League	59-80	5th
1954	El Paso Texans	Arizona-Texas League	69-71	4th
1955	El Paso Texans	West Texas-New Mexico League	34-46 8-18			replaced by Jim Mangan (14-19) on July 9 replaced Dick Honacki (0-1) on August 13
1956	Indios de Ciudad Juárez	Central Mexican League		3rd	none	Replaced Manuel Fortes
1957	Indios de Ciudad Juárez	Central Mexican League		--	--	Replace by Jesus Diaz