Davey Lopes, prolific base-stealer and longtime second baseman in the 1970s and 1980s, notably with the Los Angeles Dodgers, died on Wednesday at a hospital in his hometown of East Providence, Rhode Island.
As reported by USA Today on Wednesday, Lopes’s ex-wife, Lin Lopes, informed the Dodgers that he had Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
Lopes displayed many outstanding skills on the field, and later as a coach and manager of the Milwaukee Brewers. As a base-stealer, Lopes swiped 557 bags during his 16 MLB seasons. From 1972–1987, Lopes was caught stealing only 114 times, good for an 83 percent success rate.
He is 26th among MLB’s all-time career stolen-base leaders. During the 1974 season, when stealing 59 bases in his second full season with the Dodgers, in the August 24, 1974 game between Los Angeles and the St. Louis Cardinals at Dodger Stadium, Lopes stole five bases off of future Hall of Fame Cardinals catcher Ted Simmons.
Arguably, Lopes’s greatest accomplishment came as part of a Dodgers infield that completed together for eight-and-a-half consecutive seasons, from 1973 through their 1981 World Series championship season.
Steve Garvey was at first base, Lopes at second, Bill Russell was the starting shortstop, and Ron Cey patrolled third base. The time the foursome covered the Dodgers’ infield remains an MLB record. In February 1982, Lopes was traded to the Oakland Athletics, ending his 14 years within the Dodgers organization.
During Lopes’s four-plus minor league seasons in the Dodgers system, Bobby Valentine was his teammate at Triple-A Spokane, Washington, in the Pacific Coast League for two of those years (1970 and 1971). Valentine was also Lopes’s teammate in 1972 when the Dodgers’ second baseman made his MLB debut. They formed a bond that remained strong throughout their playing days and followed into their coaching and managing careers.
Speaking to The Epoch Times by phone from Japan on Friday, Valentine remembers his friend of more than half a century as a really good man who will be missed.
“I remember Davey then in Spokane as being really businesslike. He was a little older than me at the time in 1970. I was 20, and Davey was 25. Davey enjoyed playing the game, and he worked really hard to make the big leagues. I remember him being incredibly disciplined and also a great influence on his teammates.”
The well-matured ballplayer really loved to compete throughout his minor league days, and playing in parts of three seasons for manager Tommy Lasorda, who would coach and manage Lopes with the Dodgers throughout his decade in Los Angeles.
It was seasons with the Spokane Indians that Garvey, Lopes, Russell, and Cey first came together. It was Lasorda who is credited with transforming Lopes from an outfielder to a second baseman early in his playing days. Garvey made the switch from third base to first base, thus allowing Cey to be the everyday third baseman.
Along with Lopes being selected as a National League All-Star four times, playing in four World Series, being on the winning side in 1981 with Los Angeles and 2008 as a coach with the Philadelphia Phillies, and winning a Rawlings Gold Glove, he made an impact on so many players for seven clubs as a coach.
From 2000 through 2002, Lopes managed the Milwaukee Brewers. 15 games into the 2002 season, Lopes was fired.
After Lopes retired as a player with the Houston Astros in 1987, when spring training camp opened, Lopes was back in uniform with the Texas Rangers as a coach on manager Valentine’s staff. He remained on the Rangers staff for four seasons.
Valentine, who is in Japan for a week to take in the country’s cherry blossom season, explained how his longtime friend made the quick transition from player to coach in 1988.
“Davey was a student of the game. He didn’t mind sharing the knowledge that he had. We had a young team in Texas, and with Davey being a great base stealer and All-Star, the players needed his influence. He was a spectacular coach,” Valentine said.
From 1982–1987, Lopes, who retired at 42, played third base, second base, and outfield for the Athletics, Chicago Cubs, and Houston Astros. For five seasons, 2011–2015, Lopes returned to his Dodgers roots, serving as their first base coach.
Peter O’Malley, whose family owned the Dodgers from 1950 to 1998, offered high praise to the Los Angeles Times on Thursday for Lopes’s contributions to the great tradition of Dodgers baseball over a decade.
“Even though Davey may have been the less visible of the famous long-running infield with Cey, Russell, and Garvey, his impact on the team’s success was huge,” former Dodgers owner and president Peter O’Malley told the Times.
“All Dodgers fans will always remember the excitement he gave us on the basepaths, and I admire his commitment to the game, managing, coaching, and instructing after his playing days.”
Lopes made his MLB debut at age 27 in 1972. He had a lifetime batting average of .263 and a managerial record of 144–195.
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