Davey Lopes Came Along at a Key Time in Brewers History

[Steve Drumwright]

Image courtesy of © Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

Davey Lopes wasn't the best manager in Milwaukee Brewers history—far from it. But he was chosen to be the Crew's skipper at one of the most important times in franchise history.

Lopes passed away on Wednesday at the age of 80. In addition to being the Brewers' manager from 2000 through early 2002, he was a baseball lifer. He was a pesky second baseman and a four-time All-Star with the Los Angeles Dodgers during his 10 seasons there (1972-81). Lopes, who didn't make his MLB debut until he was 27, was a prolific base-stealer, leading MLB in swipes with 77 in 1975—including a then-record 38 straight—and the NL with 63 in 1976. That was a stretch in which he had six consecutive seasons of 40 or more steals. Perhaps more famously, he was part of the Dodgers infield with first baseman Steve Garvey, shortstop Bill Russell and third baseman Ron Cey. The quartet played a record 833 games together. Lopes was on the 1981 Dodgers World Series championship team.

 

 

 

 

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When his 16-year playing career ended in 1987, he immediately went into coaching, joining the Texas Rangers' staff the next year and becoming the bench coach from 1989-91 under manager Bobby Valentine. That started a second career in dugouts throughout the league, which would keep him in the game though 2017.

As the 1990s wore on, Lopes became a managerial candidate. No one went with the fiery Lopes until the Brewers did so on Nov. 4, 1999, following his tenure as the third base coach with the San Diego Padres. The Brewers had fired the popular Phil Garner, who had guided the team since 1992 and racked up a franchise-best 563 managerial wins, during the season, with Jim Lefebvre in charge for the final 49 games. That was the Crew's second season in the National League, having moved from the American League due to expansion. Lopes was a candidate for two other managerial jobs at the time, in Anaheim and Cleveland.

"There was a point in my career—lately, in fact—that I didn't think this would happen," Lopes said at his introductory press conference.

The hiring of Lopes came at the urging of Bud Selig, then MLB's commissioner and the Brewers' former owner, who wanted to see more people of color get high-profile positions. While born and raised in East Providence, Rhode Island, Lopes has family ties to Cape Verde, an island off the coast of West Africa. Selig had yielded control of the Brewers to his daughter, Wendy Selig-Prieb, but his influence on the team was still profound and not much of a secret. Lopes was hired by general manager Dean Taylor, who had been hired to replace Sal Bando just a couple of months earlier.

It was a fresh start for the Crew, with some historic moments in the offing. Not only were the Brewers getting ready to flip the calendar to 2000, but they were about to close down County Stadium and move into what was then called Miller Park, the retractable-roof stadium built in the parking lot of County Stadium. The stadium's opening had been delayed a year by a crane accident that resulted in the deaths of three construction workers.

Taylor felt Lopes was the right choice, as the Brewers had lost their way under Garner. The hope was that Lopes would be able to bring the no-nonsense approach that epitomized his playing career.

In Lopes's first season in 2000, the Brewers didn't fare much better record-wise, finishing 73-89, one game worse than Garner's final season. But this time, instead of another fifth-place finish in the division, the Brewers were the third-place team in the NL Central in the final season at County Stadium, 22 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals.

The 2001 season saw Lopes and the Brewers christen Miller Park, which cost $392 million to build. But the new digs and 2.8 million fans pouring through the turnstiles didn't improve the product on the field. The Crew finished 68-93, fourth in the NL Central, 25 games behind the first-place Houston Astros. That season also saw Lopes's intense, old-school style start to wear on the team. Lopes drew headlines after one game against the Padres following Rickey Henderson stealing with a seven-run lead, saying Henderson was "showing up" the Brewers.

"He was going on his ass," Lopes said postgame. "We were going to drill him."

The next day, Elias Sports Bureau published a list of seven times Lopes stole a base with his team leading by at least seven runs.

When the Brewers started 2002 with a 3-12 record, Lopes was fired, replaced by bench coach Jerry Royster for the remainder of the season. In his two-plus seasons, Lopes's Brewers had a 144-195 record, a .425 winning percentage.

Lopes rejoined the Padres as the first base coach in 2003 and continued coaching through the 2017 season with the Dodgers, Baltimore Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies. He earned a World Series ring with the Phillies in 2008, and was renowned for his work with baserunners, especially when stationed as the first-base coach. His time with the Brewers was rocky, but he contributed tremendously to the game, and served at a fascinating and difficult time in the Crew's history.

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[Michael Trzinski]

Nice piece, Steve. Davey played against the Brewers many years ago and although he was normally a 2B, one game I saw him play in RF for Oakland. A batter hit a line drive to him and he misplayed it in the sun and it smashed his face. Ouch.

(July 6, 1984 first game of doubleheader. He then missed the next month or so because of it.)

[MattK]

Non-Brewer memory of Lopes was in the summer of 85, when living in Illinois, Watched the Cubs off and on, and that 40 year old stole 47 bases (in 51 tries) that season. Man. 

[Rick Daltons Flamethrower]

Great story about a wonderful human. Must have taken alot of courage to live and eventually die with Parkinson's. Blessings to his family!