Cotton Pippen

Who was Cotton Pippen?

Henry Harold "Cotton" Pippen was a 6 ft 2 in Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher for three years with St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Athletics, and Detroit Tigers. Pippen was born in Cisco, Texas, where his father was a rancher. Nicknamed "Cotton" because of the color of his light blond hair and blue eyes. Over three seasons in the Major Leagues, Pippen won 5 games and lost 16 with a career earned run average of 6.38. His 12 losses in 1939 was 10th highest in the American League.

In 1936, Pippen struck out Ted Williams in his first professional at bat in the Pacific Coast League. Pippen's minor league career included stints with the Beatrice Blues in the Nebraska State League; Houston in the Texas League; Sacramento in the Pacific Coast League; the Oakland Oaks in the Pacific Coast League. Pippen served in the military in 1945. In 1951, Pippen was the player-manager for Reno. An Oakland newspaper reported in 1954 that Pippen was "now pitching them over the bar at Oscar's on Lakeshore." Pippen reportedly tended bar at a number of establishments in the Oakland area. He died in 1981 at age 69 in Williams, California.