Describe growing up in Arapaho:

I lived in Arapaho only as an infant. My father was teaching school there. I grew up in Oklahoma City.

Did you come from a big family and what was your father's occupation?

Three boys and a girl. Dad taught and coached for a few years, but for the major part of his career he was personnel manager for Oklahoma Natural Gas Company (public utility here).

How did you become interested in baseball? Did your father / brothers play?

Father played, not professionally, and started in 1932 or 1933, a league here in Oklahoma City - in conjunction with the YMCA - for underprivileged boys. It grew state wide, then nationwide, then developed into what has been called "Little League". He has not been recognized nationally, however. My older brother R.B., Jr. was a pitcher at Oklahoma University and played one year professionally in the Western Association (1940). My younger brother Clarence, played third base at Oklahoma University.

Did you play sandlot, Little League, high school, or American Legion ball?

All of them.

What positions did you play growing up?

Outfield mostly. Signed as outfielder and third baseman when I was sixteen, started playing professionally at seventeen.

Did you have a favorite player(s) growing up?

The Waner brothers.

Team?

The Pirates.

Tell us about your nickname:

The nickname "Cot" comes from my having been a "cotton top" as a toddler, later shortened to "Cot."

What did your family think of you making a career out of baseball?

It's a baseball loving family.

Describe how you were signed and who signed you:

In September, '39 I spent a week with the Pirates in Pittsburgh, and signed there. Bully McLean, from Oklahoma City, was the scout.

Describe and share your memories of your first minor league / professional baseball game:

At Salina, Kansas ... don't remember details.

Who was your manager? Teammates?

Jimmy Jordan, former Brooklyn Dodger. No teammates of major league note.

What was your best memory / day / event in the minor leagues?

Pitching twenty innings in Columbus, Ohio, 1949.

Describe how you were called up or notified about the major leagues:

Manager Elmer Yoter at Toronto told me near the end of the 1947 season.

What type of pitcher were you by this point? Describe your pitching motion... Did you copy any other pitchers' way of doing certain things?

My own style - converted outfielder - and got off to a good start in spring of '48, but hurt my arm that spring, and never fully recovered.

You pitched in forty-five games, what was your favorite big league park and why?

No favorite park.

Least favorite and why?

Wrigley Field, but only because Eddie Stanky left me in two different times to take a beating - with the wind blowing out.

What kind of instruction did you receive during the regular season?

Nothing anybody else didn't get.

Who was your favorite umpire? Why? Least favorite and why? Did you ever get ejected?

In a game in St. Louis in 1954 for stalling. You could find the story, no doubt, through the Sporting News. Stanky and (Sal) Yvars were ejected too. I was not fined.

When did you personally make the decision to leave the mound and did you coach anywhere?

I started coaching early because of my chronic arm problems. I coached in the big leagues for the Reds, the Colt 45's, the Yankees, the Kansas City A's, the Indians, the Tigers, and the Astros.

What was your signing bonus? How much did you make in any given year and did you ever have contract problems?

Got a $2,500 bonus in 1939 - big for that time!

Did you work during the off season?

Went to college, then many years in winter ball.

Were you superstitious?

None.

What number did you wear? Why?

No. 8 was retired in Puerto Rico. No other favorite.

Rochester Redwings (International League)
Career Pitching Statistics:

Rochester Redwings (International League)
Career Hitting Statistics:

One thing I'm very proud of: having been elected to the Rochester Red Wing Hall of Fame in 1994. I spent many pleasant years there, and was the first manager in the Red Wings pioneering of community ownership.

Major League Pitching Statistics: