David Earl Lopes (; born May 3, 1945) is an American former second baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). He batted and threw right-handed. He played in MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs, and Houston Astros; he managed the Milwaukee Brewers.
Early years
Born and raised in Rhode Island, Lopes played in high school at La Salle Academy in Providence and in college for Iowa Wesleyan College and Washburn University in Kansas.
Lopes was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the eighth round of the 1967 MLB Draft but did not sign. He was taken by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the second round of the 1968 MLB January Draft.
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." Lasorda was also responsible for converting Lopes from an outfielder into a second baseman. He played three seasons in Triple-A, in Spokane (1970–71) and Albuquerque (1972), all with Lasorda as manager.
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. 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.
Lopes spent nine seasons with the Dodgers as their regular second baseman. Along with 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' 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.
A rare blend of speed and power, Lopes hit a career-high 28 home runs in 1979, becoming one of only seven 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 and Chase Utley are the others). He also hit 17 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. Arguably Lopes' best World Series was against the Yankees in 1978, when he hit three home runs and seven RBIs.
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 Rickey Henderson to steal 158 bases, setting a new American League record for teammates. Henderson collected 130, Lopes 28.
The Athletics traded him 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. He played in four All-Star Games and four World Series.
Coaching
Following his retirement as a player, Lopes 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.