The Los Angeles Dodgers organization has been home to some great players throughout their history, including the likes of Jackie Robinson, Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Roy Campanella, Steve Garvey, Mike Piazza and Clayton Kershaw, to name a few.
One player who often gets overlooked is second baseman Davey Lopes, who began his career with the Dodgers in 1972 and remained with the organization for 10 years.
After concluding his 16-year big league career, Lopes made the transition to a role in coaching, even spending some time as a first-base coach in the Dodgers organization from 2011-15 under former manager Don Mattingly.
Lopes has been a player or coach in the Majors for the last 45 seasons, but it appears the 72-year-old is ready to call it a career as he announced his retirement on the Newsmakers Podcast:
“I’m not doing much. I’m retired, taking it easy,” said Lopes, who last worked for the Nationals as a first-base coach in 2017. “It was not a difficult decision to make, but one I was kind of hesitant to make. But it all works out. I got the opportunity to play, manage or coach for a long, long time. I’m extremely thankful. I was one of the lucky ones in the big leagues for 45 straight years. That’s a long time. I have no complaints.”
Lopes was a four-time All-Star while with the Dodgers, winning a World Series in 1981 and a Gold Glove Award in 1978. He was mainly known for his speed, stealing as many as 77 bases in 1975.
Lopes’ coaching career included a stint with the Milwaukee Brewers from 2000-02 and time with the Baltimore Orioles, San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies, Dodgers and most recently the Washington Nationals, where he was the first-base coach each of the last two seasons under manager Dusty Baker.
Lopes added a second World Series ring in 2008 while he was the first-base coach of the Phillies.
