Long after the Athletics left Philadelphia for Kansas City in 1954 without retiring his uniform number 2, the Philadelphia Phillies honored him by electing him to the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame at Veterans Stadium, although the Athletics' plaques from that display have been moved to the Philadelphia Athletics Museum in Hatboro, Pennsylvania. The Tigers honored him by renaming National Avenue (behind the third-base stands of the old Tiger Stadium) Cochrane Avenue, but have never retired the uniform number 3 he wore with them. Cochrane briefly worked in baseball after World War II, notably serving as a coach, and then as general manager, of the Athletics during the season, Mack's last year as manager. He also owned an automobile business after his baseball days; he sold it in the mid-1950s. A heavy smoker, Cochrane was only 59 when he died in 1962 in Lake Forest, Illinois of lymphatic cancer. In his book, "The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract", baseball historian Bill James ranked Cochrane fourth all-time among major league catchers. In 1999, he was ranked 65th on "The Sporting News" list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. Yankee Hall of Fame slugger Mickey Mantle was named after him.