Online well wishes prompted a specific memory for Brewers fans of a certain age, who forever will connect Cooper with one of the best moments in franchise history. His go-ahead single in decisive Game 5 of the 1982 American League Championship Series against the Angels, which Cooper willed to the grass in shallow left field at County Stadium, sent the fans into a frenzy and the Brewers to their only World Series.
But it was not the only big hit in club lore.
Candidates for the biggest hit in Brewers' history range from the merely memorable -- Sixto Lezcano's walk-off grand slam on Opening Day in 1980, Rick Manning's walk-off single with Paul Molitor and his 39-game hitting streak on deck in '87, and Bill Hall's pink bat blast on Mother's Day in '06 -- to the truly impactful.