Steve Cooper died on June 27, 2025, following a fall at home. Many of you knew Coop as
teammate and competitor from North County MSBL and from local and national tournaments.
He was a member of the 2010 MSBL World Series Champion North County Mudcats and the
and won awards at other local and national tournaments. Coop played varsity baseball at UC San
Diego, where he had lots of playing time at first base and as a pitcher. Some of you might know
Coop from Friday batting practice sessions at Pine Street Park in Carlsbad. Some of you might
not know that that BP session was created and nurtured mostly by Coop, with a few other guys.
It started with just a few friends and grew rapidly as more players learned about it, and Coop
arranged for expert pitchers to make the practice sessions much more valuable. Even in declining
health, he still regularly attended weekly batting practice, which he helped found and organize,
and which is now a Carlsbad institution for many of his baseball buddies. His sharp wit never
faded, and he never failed to offer greetings and encouragement, and he will be missed.
Coop earned a PhD in Chemistry from UC Berkeley, then was appointed assistant professor at
Harvard, promoted to associate professor there, and then took a position as full professor at
Oxford University, UK. He came back to the US to work in industry, then spent his later years in
Carlsbad as an independent consultant.
A celebration of life will be held at the Cooper family home on Friday, July 25 from 12:30 pm.
The day and time were chosen to make it convenient for the Friday practice guys to get to the
event. Steve’s widow, Triby (Tril), would be happy to see guys showing up in their practice
clothes at the family home at 3501 Avondale Circle, Carlsbad, a short distance from Pine Street
Park. A good showing at the event from Coop’s baseball buddies would be a welcome lift for
Tril.