Former Phillies' first base coach and longtime Los Angeles Dodger Davey Lopes died at the age of 80, the Los Angeles Dodgers announced.
Lopes joined the Phillies coaching staff as the first base coach from 2007 to 2010, winning the 2008 World Series where the Phillies ranked fourth in MLB in stolen bases. In his three seasons on the staff, the Phillies were among the top base stealing teams in the big leagues.
Spending his first decade in the major leagues as a player with the Dodgers, Lopes was a four-time All-Star in his 16-year career helping the Dodgers win the 1981 World Series. Lopes did not retire until 1987 at the age of 42, spending time with the Athletics, Cubs and Astros to round out his career.
He was part of one of the most prolific and reliable infields in the history of the sport, playing in 833 games alongside first baseman Steve Garvey, shortstop Bill Russell and third baseman Ron Cey, setting a record for games played together by an infield according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
One of his calling cards was his ability wreak havoc on the bases and was one of the game's best base stealers.
Lopes stole 557 bases ranking 26th all-time and was successful in 83% of his attempts, posting one of the top success rates in the history of MLB. leading the National League with 77 steals in 1975, including 38 consecutive which was then a record. He paced the Senior Circuit again with 63 swiped bags in 1976.
In all, he played in 1,812 games from 1972-1987, recording 1,671 hits and scoring 1,023 runs with a 42.2 career WAR.
In addition to his time with the Phillies, Lopes had a lengthy coaching career with stops in Texas, Baltimore and San Diego before being hired by Bud Selig to be the manager for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2000. He last a little over two seasons with the Brewers before being fired and then went on to coach with the Nationals and Dodgers before officially retiring from the sport in 2017.
