Davey Lopes RIP

[qtlaw]

Even though I rooted hard for the rival, out of respect I wish him the best. Lopes killed many of my dreams and I hated seeing Garvey, Lopes, Russell and Cey together every day for 8 yrs while I rooted for Lemaster and Marty Perez and Madlock (non star version) and other retreads.

 

[DanOregon]

My goodness I hated the Dodger infield and the little kid baseball fan I was would have been stunned none of them made the Hall of Fame. Not so much for their career stats, but growing up, they seemed to be on the Game of the Week EVERY DAMN WEEK!.
Third highest success rate in stolen bases behind Willie Wilson and Tim Raines among players with more than 400 steals. RIP.

 

[Here me roar]

I hated the f****** Dodgers of that era, but I always liked Davey. Garvey and Ron Cey can **** all the way off. Rip Davey.

 

[Songbird]

Garvey, Lopes, Russell, Cey … my childhood.

 

[Bubbler]

Lopes had a pretty unusual career. Didn’t debut until he was 27, but still managed to play for 16 seasons. By his Astros days, I remember getting baseball cards of him and being incredulous he was still playing.

Must have been incredibly challenging for prospects in the Dodgers system in the early 70s. When Lopes broke in, he had old guard Jim Lefebvre and fellow long-career prospect Lee Lacy ahead of him.

That late 70s Dodgers infield seemed so monolithic when I was a kid. The standard. Those who might have lacked with their glove certainly did not with their bat.

Later, Lopes became one of the more anonymous Brewers managers, but I’m willing to forgive almost anyone who served in the late Selig era of ownership. By then, new park or not (Lopes was manager when Miller Park opened), they had stopped being a serious organization and were basically run to prove that small markets couldn’t compete.

 

[ChrisLong]

When Lopes flopped as Brewers manager, it was then I realized how difficult that job is. A newbie only gets hired by a crappy team and if he isn't a miracle-worker, he gets fired because he couldn't turn chicken **** into chicken salad. And it's on his record.

 

[DanOregon]

Anyone know the Dodgers history well enough to know how many decent infielders in the Dodgers system ended up making an All-Star game somewhere else in that era?

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

Lee Lacy was a veteran who came off the bench to play outfield and first occasionally but was probably more used as a pinch hitter and double-switch sub. Pedro Guerrero was a late call-up in 1978 and turned out pretty good. No other names that I recall. The Dodgers had some major constipation in their farm system at the time and it was well-noted.

 

[ChrisLong]

Ivan DeJesus did well with the Cubs.

 

[Bubbler]

Lee Lacy was a veteran who came off the bench to play outfield and first occasionally but was probably more used as a pinch hitter and double-switch sub. Pedro Guerrero was a late call-up in 1978 and turned out pretty good. No other names that I recall. The Dodgers had some major constipation in their farm system at the time and it was well-noted.

In 1972, Lacy came up in June and started more games than any other Dodger at second base for that season. Lopes didn't make his MLB debut until late September that season, despite being three years older than Lacy. However, Lopes took over the second base job full-time the following season.

 

[Jesus_Muscatel]

Even though I rooted hard for the rival, out of respect I wish him the best. Lopes killed many of my dreams and I hated seeing Garvey, Lopes, Russell and Cey together every day for 8 yrs while I rooted for Lemaster and Marty Perez and Madlock (non star version) and other retreads.

that's exactly how I look at it, qtlaw ... they were a worthy opponent for my New York Yankees, in the Series, when it REALLY felt like the World Series ...

 

[Songbird]

Anyone know the Dodgers history well enough to know how many decent infielders in the Dodgers system ended up making an All-Star game somewhere else in that era?

Buckner did pretty good after the Dodgers.

 

[MTM]

Lopes was part of probably the greatest draft class ever in 1968.
The Dodgers also selected Bobby Valentine, Steve Garvey, Bill Buckner, Ron Cey, Geoff Zahn, Tom Paciorek, Joe Ferguson and Doyle Alexander.
There were 11 future Major Leaguers in the class.
That was after drafting Charlie Hough, Bill Russell, Billy Grabarkewitz and Ted Sizemore in '66, and Steve Yeager in '67.

https://www.mlb.com/news/dodgers-cl...afts?msockid=216bf4965d4864000dc0e3a15c2e65ac