Davey Lopes - WikiHQ

David Earl Lopes (; May 3, 1945 – April 8, 2026) was an American second baseman, coach and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for four teams from 1972 to 1987, best known for his ten seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he was part of the most durable infield in major league history. The team won four National League (NL) pennants during his tenure, culminating with the 1981 World Series title. A four-time All-Star, he led the NL in stolen bases in 1975 and 1976. In 1978 he played a major role in the Dodgers posting the league's best record, batting .324 over the season's last weeks and earning his only Gold Glove Award. He then batted .389 with a pair of home runs in the NL Championship Series to help the team repeat as league champions, and hit .308 with three home runs in the World Series loss to the New York Yankees.

Playing almost exclusively as the team's leadoff hitter, Lopes led the Dodgers in stolen bases eight times between 1973 and 1981, and in triples and runs scored three times each. His 418 career steals with the team are the second most in franchise history, behind only Maury Wills's total of 490. Lopes became a coach for the Dodgers and five other teams between 1988 and 2017, including the 1998 pennant-winning San Diego Padres and the 2008 World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies, and he managed the Milwaukee Brewers from 2000 to 2002.

Early years

David Earl Lopes was born on May 3, 1945, in East Providence, Rhode Island, and played baseball in high school at La Salle Academy in Providence. He played college baseball for Iowa Wesleyan College and Washburn University in Kansas. Lasorda was also responsible for converting Lopes from an outfielder into a second baseman. Two days later, he recorded his first hit on a single to right field off of the Giants' Jim Barr. His first home run was hit on May 13, 1973, also against Barr.

thumb|left|Lopes with the Dodgers

Lopes spent nine seasons with the Dodgers as their regular second baseman. Along with the rest of the starting infield, Steve Garvey (1B), Bill Russell (SS), and Ron Cey (3B), which stayed together for eight and a half seasons.

Used in the leadoff role most of his career, Lopes was one of the most effective base stealers in baseball's modern era. His 557 career stolen bases rank 26th all-time, but his success rate of 83.01% (557 steals in only 671 attempts) ranks 3rd-best all time among players with 400 or more career stolen bases (behind Tim Raines and Willie Wilson). In 1975, Lopes stole 38 consecutive bases without getting caught, breaking a 53-year-old record set by Max Carey. Lopes's record was later broken by Vince Coleman in 1989. Lopes led the National League with 77 steals in 1975, and again with 63 the following season. He won the Gold Glove Award for second basemen in 1978. In the 1981 playoffs, he set a then-single-season MLB postseason record of 10 stolen bases (in 10 attempts),

Before the 1982 season, the Dodgers sent Lopes to the Oakland Athletics (for minor leaguer Lance Hudson) to make room for rookie second baseman Steve Sax. With Oakland, Lopes teamed with Henderson to steal 158 bases, setting a new American League record for teammates. Henderson collected 130 and Lopes 28.

The Athletics traded Lopes to the Chicago Cubs on August 31, 1984, to complete an earlier deal for Chuck Rainey. He was then traded on July 21, 1986, to the Houston Astros for Frank DiPino. He stole 47 bases at the age of 40 and 25 at age 41, before retiring at the end of the 1987 season.

In a 16-season career, Lopes posted a .263 batting average with 155 home runs and 614 runs batted in in 1,812 games played.

In 2001 Lopes was the target of controversy following statements he made regarding stolen-base king Rickey Henderson after he stole second base with his San Diego Padres up by seven runs. Lopes said that this violated an unwritten rule against "showing up" the opposing team. Lopes was quoted, "He was going on his ass. We were going to drill him." This was despite Henderson being removed for a pinch runner after the steal. Afterwards, Lopes said "Somebody might not be as lenient as I was, and drill the hitter that's next to him [in the lineup]." The day after, the Elias Sports Bureau produced a list of the seven times during Lopes's playing career that he had stolen a base while his team was leading by seven or more runs.

Tired of the Brewers' continued poor performance and Lopes's media and field antics, club management fired him as manager fifteen games into the 2002 season. He was 144–195 in three seasons with the Brewers.

Lopes rejoined the Padres as first base coach from 2003 to 2005 and then held the same position with the Washington Nationals in 2006 and the Philadelphia Phillies from 2007 to 2010. In each of his Lopes's three seasons with the Phillies, the team led the majors in stolen base percentage, including the best in major league history in 2007 – 87.9% (138-for-157). They finished second or third in total steals each of those seasons.

On November 22, 2010, he was named the first base coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers, a position he held through the 2015 season. On November 5, 2015, he was named the first base coach of the Washington Nationals. His contract expired after the 2017 season and he retired from professional baseball.

Statistics

Playing career

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: auto"

|+ Career hitting

! G

! AB

! H

! 2B

! 3B

! HR

! R

! RBI

! SB

! BB

! SO

! AVG

! OBP

! SLG

! OPS

| 1,812

| 6,354

| 1,671

| 232

| 50

| 155

| 1,023

| 614

| 557

| 833

| 852

| .263

| .349

| .388

| .737

Defensively, Lopes recorded an overall .977 fielding percentage. His primary position was second base, but also played all three outfield positions, third base, and shortstop. In 50 postseason games, he posted a .238 batting average (43-for-181) with 29 runs, 3 doubles, 3 triples, 6 home runs, 22 runs batted in, 19 stolen bases, and 25 walks.

Managerial record

{| class="wikitable" Style="text-align: center"

! rowspan="2"| Team

! rowspan="2"| From

! rowspan="2"| To

! colspan="3"| Regular season record

! colspan="3"| Post–season record

| Milwaukee Brewers

| 2000

| 2002

| colspan="3"| —

! colspan="9"| Reference:

He was diagnosed with prostate cancer following a routine physical in February 2008.

Lopes died in Rhode Island on April 8, 2026, at the age of 80, due to complications from Parkinson's disease.

Highlights

4-time All-Star (1978–1981)
In the 1978 World Series against the Yankees, hit two home runs and drove in five runs in Game One, and added another home run in the sixth and final game.)

References

External links

Davey Lopes at Baseball Almanac
Davey Lopes Washington Nationals Bio;
Davey Lopes Los Angeles Dodgers Online