Former major league second baseman and base coach Davey Lopes has retired, MLB.com’s Bill Ladson reports. In a recent appearance on MLB.com’s Newsmakers podcast, Lopes said, “I’m not doing much. I’m retired, taking it easy.”
Lopes continued, “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 retired as a player after the 1987 season. He began coaching in the majors from 1992-94 with the Orioles, then joined the Padres from 1995-99 before taking over as Brewers manager from 2000-02. He returned to coach the Padres from 2003-05, the Nationals in ’06, the Phillies from ’07-10, the Dodgers from ’11-15, and was the Nationals’ first base coach the last two seasons.
The Nationals have replaced Lopes with Tim Bogar.
Lopes is considered by many to have been among the best coaches. In particular, he is credited for the Phillies of the late 2000’s having so much base running success, helping them win a championship in 2008. The Phillies led the league in stolen base success rate in each of his four seasons as their coach.