May 15, 1963: The Flight of Gordon Cooper

May 15, 1963: Gordon Cooper is launched into space aboard Faith 7. It is the last mission of Project Mercury.

Leroy Gordon Cooper Jr. was born on March 6, 1927 in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Like his father before him, "Gordo" rose to the rank of Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He did not see action in either World War II or the Korean War, but he became one of the USAF's top test pilots, enabling him to be chosen as one of the Mercury 7, the 1st 7 American astronauts, in 1959.

On May 15, 1963, he was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida aboard Mercury 9, the mission also known as Faith 7. He circled the Earth 22 times, and reached a height of 166 miles. This makes him, to this day, the human being who has traveled the furthest from the surface of the Earth alone. (The Apollo missions to the Moon had 3 men each.)

He later flew on Gemini 5, and later helped the Walt Disney Company design the EPCOT Center. He was also one of the few astronauts to have claimed to have seen what he thought was an alien spacecraft. In the 1983 film The Right Stuff, he was played by Dennis Quaid. He died on October 4, 2004, at the age of 77.

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May 15, 1963 was a Wednesday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-3 at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 8th to come from behind, making Bill Stafford a winning pitcher in relief of Ralph Terry. Mickey Mantle went 2-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Yogi Berra and Roger Maris did not play. Harmon Killebrew went 1-for-4. Four months later, on September 15, in Minnesota, the Yankees would beat the Twins again, to clinch the American League Pennant.

* The New York Mets beat the Houston Colt .45s, 7-4 at Colt Stadium in Houston. The Colts became the Astros in 1965. Ron Hunt went 3-for-5 with an RBI for the Mets. Al Jackson went the distance for the win.

* The Boston Red Sox swept a doubleheader from the Los Angeles Angels, 9-3 and 7-6 at Fenway Park in Boston. Dick Stuart hit home runs in each game, but the 1st baseman so bad a fielder than he was known as "Dr. Strangeglove" and "Stonefingers" also made an error in each game. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-9 with an RBI.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Washington Senators, 7-1 at District of Columbia Stadium (later renamed Robert F. Kennedy Stadium) in Washington. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-3.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Athletics, 1-0 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-4 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Al Kaline went 0-for-4.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 10-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Yes, both Chicago teams were at home on the same day. Frank Robinson went 3-for-4 with a walk and 3 RBIsl Rookie Pete Rose went 3-for-5 with a walk and 2 RBIs. Ernie Banks went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Milwaukee Braves beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 9-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Hank Aaron went 0-for-3 with a walk. Stan Musial, in his final season as a player, did not get into the game.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Ron Fairly singled Jim Gilliam home with the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning. Sandy Koufax pitched all 12 innings and got the win.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Willie Mays went 1-for-4. So did Roberto Clemente, and he also had an RBI.