The Dodgers announced today that Davey Lopes passed away today at the age of 80. Lopes made his debut as a player in the early 1970s and went on to have a career as a coach and manager, making him a staple of the game for the bulk of five decades.
Lopes was a late bloomer. He didn’t make it to the majors until 1972, which was his age-27 season. Even then, he only got into 11 games for the Dodgers. The following year, his age-28 campaign, he finally established himself as a big league regular. He became the club’s second baseman and showed off the speed that would become his standout trait. He swiped 36 bags that year, his first of what would eventually be a 14-year streak of stealing at least 15 bases.
He stayed on the Dodger roster through the 1981 season, mostly covering the keystone but also with occasional action at shortstop, third base and in the outfield. The Dodgers had a very consistent infield during that stretch, with Steve Garvey the mainstay at first, Lopes at second, Bill Russell at short and Ron Cey at third.
Lopes played in 1,207 games for the Dodgers from his 1972 debut until the end of that 1981 campaign. He hit .262 in that time and launched 99 home runs but the eye-popping stat was his 418 stolen bases. He led the league in steals in both 1975 and 1976, with 77 in the former and 63 in the latter. The second instance was particularly impressive as injuries limited him to only 117 games. In 1978, he won a Gold Glove and also made the All-Star team, the first of four straight All-Star selections.
The Dodgers were quite good in that time but couldn’t quit win a title for most of it. They lost the World Series to the Athletics in 1974, then to the Yankees in both 1977 and 1978. In 1981, they were able to get the job done, topping the Yankees 4-2. Lopes stole ten bases in in 16 postseason games that year.
Prior to the 1982 season, he was traded to the A’s, kicking off the journeyman phase of his career. He would also bounce to the Cubs and Astros, playing past his 42nd birthday. He finished his career with 7,340 plate appearances over 1,812 games. He racked up 1,671 hits, including 155 home runs. He scored 1,023 runs and drove in 614. His 557 steals put him 26th on the all-time list.
He quickly pivoted to his post-playing career by becoming a bench coach with the Rangers. That was followed by stints as a first base coach with the Orioles and Padres. He was hired to manage the Brewers for the 2000 season. The club did not fare well and he was fired early in 2002. He never got another managerial gig and had a 144-195 record in that job. He then went back to being a first base coach, starting with a return to the Padres, followed by stints with the Nationals, Phillies, Dodgers and back to the Nationals. He retired from coaching after the 2017 season.
We at MLB Trade Rumors join the rest of the baseball world in sending condolences to the Lopes family as well as everyone else mourning him today.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
Damn. This is getting too real for me. I was not a Dodger fan, I rooted for the Pirates, but really respected Lopes and the Dodgers of that era. Just damn, I’m getting old.
Those Pirates teams back then were some of my favorites!
Scary teams. Stargell and a young Dave Parker.
I’m only 41 but man all our childhood heros are passing away. It’s so sad. Not limited to former MLB players everyone sports actors, comedians etc. All passing away.
At least in all our own childhoods.
Condolences to the family. As a Sox fan, I still “root” for the Dodgers when watching highlights of the 77 and 78 WS. Dodgers had a solid infield then and Lopes’ two way abilities were fun to watch. He wasn’t spectacular but like Willie Randolph for the Yankees was dependable. His base running abilities though is what should always be remembered first.
you’re right about the yanks and dodgers having excellent second basemen during that time. the sawx, too, with jerry remy and they were another 70s team that was right there every year. the reds, with joe morgan, also had great success because of stellar keystone play. was a great era for baseball. R.i.P. Davey Lopes– you were loved by many a baseball fan
Another great second baseman then of course was Lou Whitaker.
Windowpane—
I was going to say the same thing, except I hated the Dodgers, but not Davey Lopes. He was fun to watch. His passing—at only the age of 80—reminds me how brief out time is here. May he RIP and condolences to his family.
Windowpane; Completely agree. I was a big Pirates fan because Clemente was my favorite player. But, like you, I also respected Lopes and the Dodgers, even though I also rooted for the Giants. These days being 80, which I’m not far from, seems too young.
I’ve always been a Giants fan. Since 60s. And I too had Clemente as my favorite outside of Bobby Bonds and all the Giants. But there was something about Lopes that I feel all Giants fans respected. Not showy. Business like. Very underrated. And a huge loss to baseball. Yes Jean, 80 ain’t that far away and Lopes was too young. RIP.
Yep! The years are stacking up for sure
I remember the playoffs series between the Dodgers and the Astros in the late 70s. I was never a Dodgers fan but I had a lot of respect for Davey, Ron Cey, and Tommy Lasorda. They were classy and respectful. Professionals in every sense of the term. RIP Davey.
His career started the same year I started following baseball, 1972. He was a great base stealer who was ahead of his time because he realized how much it hurt his team to get caught stealing. Back then a lot of guys would get caught on nearly half their attempts or more. But Lopes established a record in 1975, since broken by Vince Coleman, for most consecutive steals without being caught at 38.
Very sorry to hear. Seemed like yesterday with that Cey, Garvey, Russell infield.
The LA/Cincy rivalry was heated in those days.
Because somehow Atlanta and Cincinnati were “West” teams.
And the Falcons and Saints were in the NFC Western Division with LA and San Francisco.
He’s was the motor that got those Dodger teams rolling. Rest in Peace, Davey…
I recall his baseball cards well from my childhood. RIP.
I distinctly remember his ‘78 topps card. His stache is so pitch black and it dominates the center of the shot, it’s like staring into the interstellar abyss.
Rip
I trashed so many Lopes (and many others) baseball cards in my bicycle spokes as a kid. Yeah….we’re getting older. Our childhood seems so far away.
He was still good during his time with the Cubs. Good player. Sad to hear this.
Rest in Paradise Mr. Lopes 🌹
Rest in Paradise to Miguel Rojas’ father who passed suddenly today as well. Miguel Rojas Sr. 🌹
RIP, D Lope…you were a great ballplayer and will always be remembered as a key part of my learning the game of baseball.
R.I.P. Davey
A hard couple days for the Dodgers. RIP Davey and Mr Rojas
5 decades in the sport is a very long time. What a legend. Rest in peace, great legend.
Rest in peace sir. You were truly a boon to our Phillies when we won it all in 2008. God bless his family through this difficult time.
The greatest first base coach ever?
When this ABS took flight, the first person I thought of was Davey Lopes. Opening day, 1982. Lopes took a pitch right down the middle, above the knees. The umpire called a ball, and it was a bases loaded walk off, walk.
Everyone knew it was a strike.
Lopes is known for a lot of things, but for me and maybe Don Aase, we are the only ones who will remember him for that.
Lopes was a real throwback player. Gritty as hell and well known for being gruff at times. He was an extremely tough player and as a manager, may not have been cut out to molly coddle the next generation but he did know how to teach the game the right way and was an excellent coach. I remember Lopes well and as a young Dodger fan that infield was just amazing. Always sad to hear when one of your old favorites passes on.
RIP Davey. The man was a stolen base machine, and was still an effective player at age 41. I’m old enough to remember his last few years in The Show, he was respected by all, and for good reason. Big hugs and much love to his family, friends, and fellow fans.
Good player
This Giants fan is sad to hear this. Lopes was a damn good ballplayer. May he rest in peace.
Tremendous base running coach, particularly with the Phillies.
He was a great 1st base coach for the Phillies. Was sad to see him go. RIP good sir.
The guy knew what he was doing on the diamond. Man I miss those kind of ballplayers. RIP DL.
What a fierce individual he was! Just a hardnosed player, manager and coach. He scared me when we would see him up close at Dodger games, like Reggie Smith he exuded that kind of toughness. When I was a reporter covering the Dodgers/Phillies (when he was a coach) NLCS in 2008, he still had that intimidating behavior. On one of the workout games I approached him and he sneered with more than a little contempt thinking correctly that I was going to ask him a question. Instead, I lied to him saying I was at Game 1 of the ’78 Series, the game where he hit two home runs . I swear to god he almost smiled and said, “That was a pretty good game. But we lost that Series, you know.”
RIP
Big part of the best infield! RIP!
Aw man. As a Reds fan in the 70s, respected and still had to despise the guy (in a good way as you do an opponent) because he played for our biggest rival in the old NL West.
Needless to say, very sad to hear of his passing. The man upstairs must have needed another sparkplug. Condolences to his family and friends.
Russell to Lopes to Garvey was the most durable double-play combo since Tinker to Evers to Chance. They’ll still be going ’round the horn in that great ballpark up yonder.
Irony is if my memory is correct…Russell, Hopes, Garvey were actually better defensive than the Tinker, Evers, Chance. I’ll always mourn the passing players from my days when 1st became a fan in 1970. Didn’t have internet but we had transitor radios and the morning paper. I caught my 1st baseball game in 1969 on radio which was the Chicago White Sox. That’s how I became a huge White Sox fan. Condolences to these guys
Figuring out which one turned more DPs would require some research, but I am more interested in which one was together longer. Either way, the famous Cubs infield has the advantage of having been immortalized in a poem.
This sucks. Some players just mean a ton to their local area and he was one.
RIP. Condolences to the family.
Thanks for the endless smiles at spring training.
I’m his former hairdresser, so this is hard for me
What a great player from great teams in an even greater era. Gone too soon. RIP Dave
Remember him very well. Awesome player and Coach for the Cubs and others. Never a dull moment if he was on base. He’d drive the other team nuts. RIP.
Heck he was only 10 years older than me. I thought he was more. he had that craggy kind of face that made him look older than he was I guess. Sad.
Garvey, Lopes, Russell, and Cey great infield durability.
But alas no HOFs.
I thought Garvey should have made it at least – he was very consistent and was core at getting LAD to WS.
Cey had a higher War and was a better player.
A modern statistic doesn’t work when comparing players of a past era.
In this case, WAR factors in defensive statistics. Video footage doesn’t exist for eighty percent of Cey and Garvey’s games (almost nothing in the 1970’s outside of the post-season and All-Star Games exists) so essentially their dWAR is pure guesswork.
In the 1970’s, players were judged by how often a player had 200 hits, batted .300, hit 30 home runs and reached 100 runs batted in. That’s what Steve Garvey did. There was no focus on WAR, OBP, SLG or OPS. That didn’t come around until Bill James in the mid-1980’s when Garvey and Cey’s career were close to over.
If you had asked almost any fan back then, they would have said Garvey was a sure Hall of Famer. Like Bill James once said, Garvey shined best at the 3 scoreboard stats of the day, HR, RBI, and batting average. As time passed and things like on-base percentage were shown to be equally or even more important, Garvey’s career started to be seen a little differently and he never really got close to being elected.
100% agree. James built his career trashing how players were evaluated pre-1980 and used Steve Garvey as one of his main examples.
The irony is that years later he came out and said that Steve Garvey was underrated when during a re-review of his career.
Lopez was an extremely solid secondbaseman and part of a superb infield for the dodgers. Rest in peace
Member of our ’86 team. Legend indeed.
I remembered him as the Padres first base coach for a number of years. Man, he sounded like quite the base stealer back in the day. RiP Davey.
For years he held the record for most consecutive steals without being caught with 38.
RIP
A really good player for a long time. Never posted a negative Bwar season. Then transitioned to a super 1B coach.
I am 62, from LA and I do remember how good that infield was and Lopes was a big reason for that.
Fans these days say anyone over 25 that hasn’t become a star yet is never gonna be anything
Funny that you should say that. A couple of days ago there was a chat here on MLBTR. Someone actually wrote a question about a guy who was drafted in ’24 and was only in AA.. He wanted to know if the player was a bust! Thank God that I still have my own choppers, otherwise I would have choked to death!😱
I think most fans are brainless
You just might be one of those fans.
Nope, I am the one that calls fans out when they express brainless thoughts
If you’re referencing Bazzana, you bet more is expected of the first pick in the draft than a .237 avg in AA while players picked behind him are already thriving in the Majors. Not an unrealistic expectation or question.
Money is responsible for that.
R.I.P. Davey Lopes. Thanks for the memories.
R.I.P. Mr. Lopes. You made me sweat bullets during the ’77 & ’78 World Series.
FYI to fans who have forgotten or are too young but I believe that Davey Lopes still holds the highest stolen base percentage; I think it’s around 80%!
Seems just like yesterday he was turning DPs for the Dodgers. I never realized he didn’t become a MLB regular until he was 28. Went on to have 40 WAR for his career. How many players had such a good career starting that late? RIP.
one of the greatest high percentage base stealers of all time. in his age 40(!) season he stole 47 bases in 51 attempts
R.I.P.
Davey Lopes should go into the Hall of Fame as a 1B coach. He played a huge and underrated role for the ’08 Phillies championship.
Arguably thee greatest 1B coach of all time. Rest easy
Part of one of the all-time infields with Garvey, Russell and Cey.
RIP
As a Reds fan in the 1970s the dodgers were our main rivals. What a great team they had…rest in peace Mr. Lopes
I remember him. Just goes to show how old I am. RIP Davey, you will be missed. My condolences to his family and friends.
I became a Dodgers fan, and a fan of the sport in 1977, the year before I started playing little league. I was at game 3 of the 2008 NLCS, sitting a row up from the 1st base line. Before the game started I saw Davey and yelled “you and Bowa are wearing the wrong uniforms, you’re a Dodger!” He looked up at me and smiled, I wish I had a picture of that. It was really cool a few years later when he came back as a coach. RIP, Davey, and condolences to your family.
The last Dodgers’ captain.