Lopes will be best remembered as being part of a four-man Los Angeles Dodgers infield which stayed together for 8½ seasons. Joining Lopes at second base was Steve Garvey at first, Bill Russell at shortstop and Ron Cey at third. The foursome played in four NL pennant winners (1974, 1977, 1978 & 1981) earning a World Series ring in 1981.
Born and raised in East Providence, Rhode Island's tight knit Cape Verdean community, Lopes would play collegiate baseball at both at Iowa Wesleyan University and later at Washburn College in Topeka, Kansas. Lopes opted to remain at Washburn after the San Francisco Giants made him their 8th round draft pick in 1967. But he would sign with the Dodgers when they made him their second-round draft pick the following year.
Originally an outfielder, Lopes converted to second base under the tutelage of his manager Tommy Lasorda when he was a member of Triple AAA Spokane Indians in 1970. Lopes would his make big-league debut with the Dodgers late in the 1972 season. In 1973, Lopes would finish 6th in NL Rookie of the Year balloting.
Lopes' greatest strength on the diamond was his baserunning as he would lead the NL in stolen bases in back-to-back seasons in 1975 and 1976 with 77 and 63, respectively. Between 1978 and 1981, Lopes was selected to four consecutive NL All-Star Teams giving Joe Morgan a run for his money as the best second baseman on the Senior Circuit. In 1978, Lopes would earn his lone Gold Glove. Lopes would also be named team captain,
After earning a World Series ring with the Dodgers in 1981, Lopes would be traded to the Oakland A's where he would spend nearly three seasons before being dealt to the Chicago Cubs late in the 1984 season. Lopes would be reunited with Cey as the Cubs would win their first NL East title. The Cubs would fall to the San Diego Padres in the NLCS led by the former infield mate Garvey. The Cubs would send Lopes to the Houston Astros during the 1986 season and would enjoy one more post-season as a player as the Astros earned the NL West title.
Lopes' playing career ended following the 1987 season. Over 16 seasons, Lopes appeared in 1,812 games collecting 1,671 hits for a lifetime batting average of .263 with 155 HR and 614 RBI along with 557 stolen bases. Those 557 stolen bases put him 26th on MLB's all-time list. To put that number into perspective, no active MLB player is in the Top 100 in stolen bases with Starling Marte of the Kansas City Royals tied for 102nd with 361 career steals - nearly 200 fewer than Lopes.
Following his playing career, Lopes spent nearly 30 years as a big-league coach and manager. Lopes had stints as a coach with the Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, San Diego Padres (twice), Washington Nationals (twice), Philadelphia Phillies as well as five seasons back with the Los Angeles Dodgers as their first base coach between 2011 and 2015.
In 2000, the Milwaukee Brewers hired Lopes as their manager. Following back-to-back losing seasons, the Brew Crew fired Lopes early in the 2002 season replacing him with Jerry Royster. It was probably just as well because Lopes loved teaching the art of baserunning and stolen bases.
In his capacity as a coach, Lopes would return to the World Series thrice. First with the San Diego Padres in 1998 and with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2008 & 2009 with Lopes earning his second World Series ring in 2008. Lopes would retire from baseball after the 2017 season when he coached under his former Dodgers teammate Dusty Baker with the Nats. It is not known if Lopes had been diagnosed with Parkinson's at this point.
What is clear is that Davey Lopes spent half a century of his life in baseball - 20 as a player at both minor and major league level and nearly three more decades as a coach and manager. Lopes will also be remembered in Providence where he had a sports and recreation center named after him following his retirement as a player.
While Lopes' career fell short of Cooperstown, he enjoyed a solid playing career and built an even deeper legacy as a mentor. R.I.P.
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