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| Davey Lopes | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Lopes coaching for the Nationals in 2017 | |
| Second baseman / Manager | |
| Born: May 3, 1945 East Providence, Rhode Island, U.S. | |
| Died: April 8, 2026 (aged 80) Providence, Rhode Island, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 22, 1972, for the Los Angeles Dodgers | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 4, 1987, for the Houston Astros | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .263 |
| Home runs | 155 |
| Runs batted in | 614 |
| Stolen bases | 557 |
| Managerial record | 144–195 |
| Winning % | .425 |
| Stats at Baseball Reference | |
| Managerial record at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
| |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
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David Earl Lopes (/ˈloʊps/; May 3, 1945 – April 8, 2026) was an American second baseman, coach and manager in Major League Baseball 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 51⁄2 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' 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
Lopes was born in East Providence, Rhode Island, on May 3, 1945, and played baseball in high school at La Salle Academy in Providence.[1] He played college baseball for Iowa Wesleyan College and Washburn University in Kansas.[1] He also played college basketball for Washburn.[2]
Lopes was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the eighth round of the 1967 amateur draft but did not sign. He was taken by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the second round of the 1968 January draft.[1]
Career
Playing
When Lopes started his career in the Dodger organization, he was an introvert, reserved and quiet. Tommy Lasorda encouraged him to assert himself more. According to Tommy John, "And as his confidence grew, Dave did just that, becoming outspoken, a catalyst, a leader. He was a guy whose blazing speed made things happen on the field and whose personality made things happen in the clubhouse. When something needed to be said to a teammate, even if it was critical, Lopes would be the guy to say it."[3] Lasorda was also responsible for converting Lopes from an outfielder into a second baseman.[3]
At age 27, Lopes made his major league debut for the Dodgers on September 22, 1972, against the rival Giants and was hitless in five at bats.[4] Two days later, he recorded his first hit on a single to right field off of the Giants' Jim Barr.[5] His first home run was hit on May 13, 1973, also against Barr.[6]
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.[7]
Used in the leadoff role most of his career, Lopes was one of the most effective base stealers in baseball's modern era.[8] 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.[9] Lopes' 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.[2]
A rare blend of speed and power, Lopes hit a career-high 28 home runs in 1979, becoming one of only 11 second basemen in NL history to have hit that many home runs in a season (Rogers Hornsby, Davey Johnson, Jeff Kent, Ryne Sandberg, Juan Samuel, Chase Utley, Javier Báez, Dan Uggla, Ketel Marte, and Ozzie Albies are the others)[citation needed]. He also hit 17 home runs twice (1978 and 1983), appeared in four consecutive All-Star games from 1978 to 1981, played in one Division Series, six NLCS and four World Series, including as a member of the 1981 World Champion Dodgers. In the 1978 World Series, Lopes hit three home runs with seven runs batted in.[10]
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.[2] With Oakland, Lopes teamed with Rickey Henderson to steal 158 bases, setting a new American League record for teammates. Henderson collected 130 and Lopes 28.[11]
The Athletics traded Lopes to the Chicago Cubs on August 31, 1984, to complete an earlier deal for Chuck Rainey.[12] He was then traded on July 21, 1986, to the Houston Astros for Frank DiPino.[13] 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.[14]
Coaching
Following his retirement as a player, Lopes served as the bench coach for the Texas Rangers from 1989 to 1991. After leaving the Rangers, he coached first base for the Baltimore Orioles from 1992 to 1994 and the San Diego Padres from 1995 to 1999. Lopes was hired as the Milwaukee Brewers manager in 2000 following Bud Selig's recommendation to hire a manager with a minority background, becoming the manager for the team's last season at Milwaukee County Stadium, then their first season at Miller Park.[14]
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."[15] 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' playing career that he had stolen a base while his team was leading by seven or more runs.[16]
Tired of the Brewers' continued poor performance and Lopes' media and field antics, club management fired him as manager fifteen games into the 2002 season.[17] He was 144–195 in 3 seasons with the Brewers.[18]
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' 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.[19]
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[20] and he retired from professional baseball.[21]
Statistics
Playing career
| 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
| Team | From | To | Regular season record | Post–season record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | Win % | W | L | Win % | |||
| Milwaukee Brewers | 2000 | 2002 | 144 | 195 | .425 | — | ||
| Reference:[18] | ||||||||
Personal life and death
Lopes was of Cape Verdean and Irish descent.[2] He has a recreation center named after him in Providence, Rhode Island.[23]
He was diagnosed with prostate cancer following a routine physical in February 2008.[24]
Lopes died in Rhode Island on April 8, 2026, at the age of 80, due to complications from Parkinson's disease.[25][26]
Highlights
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (April 2026) |
- 4-time All-Star (1978–1981)[1]
- First in the All-Star Game vote (1980)
- NL Gold Glove Award (1978)[1]
- Twice led NL in stolen bases (1975–76)[1]
- His career 557 stolen bases ranks him 26th in All-Time list as of 2026[1]
- Ranks sixth in All-Time list as of with an 83% stolen base success rate[1]
- Ranks second in Dodgers history with 413 steals behind Maury Wills (490)[27]
- 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.[1]
- Stole five bases in the 1981 NLCS
- Stole four bases in the 1981 World Series
- Set a NLCS record (since broken) with eight career stolen bases
- Tied an NL record (since broken) with five stolen bases in a game (1974)
See also
- List of Major League Baseball stolen base records
- List of Gold Glove Award winners at second base
- List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders
- List of Major League Baseball annual stolen base leaders
References
- Randhawa, Manny (April 8, 2026). "Davey Lopes, prolific basestealer and Dodger mainstay, dies at 80". MLB.com. Retrieved April 8, 2026.
- "Davey Lopes – Society for American Baseball Research". Society for American Baseball Research. May 27, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2026.
- John, Tommy; Valenti, Dan (1991). TJ: My Twenty-Six Years in Baseball. New York: Bantam. p. 133. ISBN 0-553-07184-X.
- "September 22, 1972 Dodgers vs. Giants box score". Baseball-Reference.com. 2014. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
- "September 24, 1972 Dodgers vs. Giants box score". Baseball-Reference.com. 2014. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
- "May 13, 1973 Dodgers vs. Giants box score". Baseball-Reference.com. 2014. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
- Bloom, Barry M. (February 7, 2006). "Dodgers infield recalls glory days". MLB.com. Retrieved September 22, 2014.[dead link]
- Gleeman, Aaron (November 23, 2010). "Dodgers hoping new first base coach Davey Lopes can work his magic on Matt Kemp". NBC Sports. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
- Brener, Steve (March 1976). "Dave Lopes, New Champion of Major League Base Stealers". Baseball Digest: 58. Retrieved November 23, 2010. [dead link]
- "New York Yankees over Los Angeles Dodgers (4–2)". Baseball-Reference.com. December 16, 2024. Retrieved April 8, 2026.
- https://ktla.com/news/local-news/dodgers-legend-davey-lopes-passes-away-at-80-report/
- Newman, Scott (July 26, 1985). "He's Become a Steal : Whatever Makes Davey Lopes Run, at 39, Has Escaped Dodgers". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 8, 2026.
- "Cubs Trade Lopes, 40, to the Astros for DiPino". Los Angeles Times. July 21, 1986. Retrieved April 8, 2026.
- "Report: Davey Lopes to be named Brewers manager". ESPN. November 4, 1999. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
- "Rickey's taking extra base draws Lopes' ire". ESPN. Associated Press. July 29, 2001. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
- Arizona Daily Star, August 26, 2001, pg. 47
- "Lopes fired, Jerry Royster named interim manager". MLB.com. April 18, 2002. Archived from the original on October 23, 2013.
- "Davey Lopes". Baseball Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
- White, Paul (October 29, 2009). "First-base coach Lopes steals an edge for Phillies". USA Today. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
- Adams, Steve (October 20, 2017). "Dusty Baker Will Not Return As Nationals' Manager In 2018". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
- Ladson, Bill (January 30, 2018). "Lopes 'taking it easy' after calling it quits". mlb.com. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
- "Davey Lopes Player Page". Baseball-Reference.com. 2014.
- "Davey Lopes – Providence Recreation". Providence Recreation. Retrieved April 8, 2026.
- "Phils say Lopes expected to make full recovery from prostate cancer". ESPN. Associated Press. March 3, 2008. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
- Mandella, Anthony (April 8, 2026). "Former Brewers manager Davey Lopes dead at 80: report". FOX6 News Milwaukee. Retrieved April 8, 2026.
- Harris, Beth (April 8, 2026). "Dodgers great Davey Lopes, an infield fixture and record-setting base stealer, dies at 80". Associated Press. Retrieved April 8, 2026.
- "Dodgers great Davey Lopes, four-time All-Star, dies at 80". ESPN.com. Associated Press. April 8, 2026. Retrieved April 10, 2026.
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Davey Lopes, Base-Stealing Maestro, Is Dead at 80
He was one of baseball’s most efficient thieves, and part of a storied infield quartet with the Los Angeles Dodgers, playing in four World Series.
Davey Lopes, an All-Star second baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers who was one of the most successful base stealers in baseball history, died on Wednesday in Providence, R.I., near where he grew up. He was 80.
A spokesman for the Dodgers said his death, in a hospital, was from Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. One of his sisters had been caring for him. He had previously lived in San Diego.
In 1973, his first full season with the Dodgers, Lopes became a pillar of the team’s dynamic infield, alongside Steve Garvey at first base, Bill Russell at shortstop and Ron Cey at third. They started a record 833 games together over 8½ seasons.
“He was the catalyst to the engine, and it was 700 horsepower with the four of us,” Garvey told reporters after Lopes’s death.
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There were still plenty of hungry base thieves in Major League Baseball at that time, including Lou Brock, Rickey Henderson, Joe Morgan, Bill North, Omar Moreno and Willie Wilson. Lopes followed in the sprinting footsteps of another Dodger, the shortstop Maury Wills, who stole a record 104 bases in 1962.
In 1975, a year after Brock broke Wills’s single-season record with 118 steals — which Henderson then eclipsed with 130 in 1982 — Lopes led baseball with 77 stolen bases, including 38 consecutive successful attempts without being caught, an M.L.B. record at the time. The next year, his 63 steals led the National League. He stole five bases in a game in 1974.
“Good base stealers have an attitude,” he told MLB.com in 2016, when he was a coach for the Washington Nationals. “They like to run. You can actually control the game if you are good out there. The good base stealer intimidates. If the catcher threw me out, I would say, ‘What did I do wrong?’ I would never wonder what he did right.”
Lopes saw base stealing as an integral part of taking charge of the basepaths.
“A running team puts a lot of pressure on the other side,” he told The Los Angeles Times in 1976. “You pressure the catcher, obviously. But in addition, you put a lot of heat on the infield. One of the guys in the middle has to be moving, and that opens up another hole to hit through. And very often, the pitcher eases up a little.”
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He proposed that aggressive base running was more fun than a home run.
“Home runs are dramatic, but how many do you see?” he said. “Besides, the moment the ball is hit, it’s all over.”
He added: “There’s more excitement when you’re running the bases. It begins to build when you get on first and keeps building until you either steal second or get thrown out. Everybody in the park knows you’re going to go.”
Lopes continued to steal until he neared the end of his career. As a part-time player with the Chicago Cubs in 1985, when he was 40, he stole 47 bases.
Overall, in 16 years with the Dodgers, the Oakland A’s, the Cubs and the Houston Astros, Lopes stole 557 bases, which ranks 26th all-time. (He stole 20 more bases in postseason games.) He was thrown out 114 times, giving him a success rate of 83 percent, better than the nearly 81 percent achieved by Henderson, the career stolen-base leader, with 1,406.
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“He’s the best there is at stealing,” Johnny Bench, the Hall of Fame catcher with the Cincinnati Reds, told a Dodgers publication in 1976. “Lopes not only has the knowledge and speed, but also the quick acceleration. He has everything.”
David Earl Lopes was born on May 3, 1945, in East Providence, R.I., and grew up in South Providence. He was one of 10 children raised by his mother, Mary, a domestic worker. His father, who was from Cape Verde, an island country off the coast of West Africa, left the family when Davey was a toddler. The family was said to be impoverished, subsisting on his mother’s earnings and welfare payments.
Davey found an outlet in sports. A local coach, Mike Sarkesian, mentored him and later recruited him to two colleges at which Sarkesian was hired as athletic director: Iowa Wesleyan University in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, and then Washburn University in Topeka, Kan.
While at Washburn, in 1967, Lopes batted .380, with nine home runs, and earned all-conference honors. He was also a starting guard on the school’s basketball team.
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Although he was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in 1967, Lopes decided to stay at Washburn another year. The Dodgers drafted him in 1968. He graduated from Washburn in 1969 with a bachelor’s degree in education.
After five seasons in the Dodgers’ minor league system, Lopes was called up to the majors late in the 1972 season and became a regular in 1973. Through his final season with the Dodgers, in 1981, he played in four World Series, winning one, against the Yankees in 1981. He was chosen for four All-Star Games and won one Gold Glove Award.
Lopes was not big — 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds — but he was strong enough to hit 155 home runs in his career, including 28 in 1979.
He had his best statistical day at Wrigley Field in Chicago in August 1974. A week before the game, Red Adams, a Dodgers coach, advised him that manager Walter Alston wanted him to walk and bunt more.
“The first time up — bang — a home run,” Lopes said in an interview with Ross Porter, a former Dodgers announcer, for the book “The Ross Porter Chronicles, Volume 1: The Dodger Years” (2025, with Mike Kunert). “Second time up — bang — a home run. And Red Adams comes up and says: ‘Davey, forget what Walt said. Just keep swinging.’ So I hit another one.”
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After the 1981 season, the Dodgers were prepared to make Steve Sax their starting second baseman and traded Lopes to Oakland, where he was Henderson’s teammate. Lopes was sent to the Cubs in 1984, then to Houston in 1986. His final stolen base came as a pinch runner in the eighth inning of an Astros-Cubs game in August 1987. He stole second off the reliever Lee Smith.
Retiring after that season, he spent the next two decades coaching for the Dodgers, the Texas Rangers, the Baltimore Orioles, the San Diego Padres, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Nationals. He also managed the Milwaukee Brewers to losing records in 2000 and 2001 before being fired early in the 2002 season.
Information on his survivors was not immediately available.
Dusty Baker, who played with Lopes on the Dodgers and managed the Nationals when Lopes was one of his coaches, said in a phone interview that, as a base runner, Lopes “had good instincts and good anticipation.”
“He knew the pitchers’ idiosyncrasies and where you could get a hell of a jump,” Baker added.
Lopes passed his knowledge on to other players, but, as Baker recalled, “He would tell guys something, and they’d get a good jump, but they’d stop, because they couldn’t believe how right he was. Sometimes they stole the base, and sometimes they got caught.”
Richard Sandomir, an obituaries reporter, has been writing for The Times for more than three decades.
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