Javier "Javy" López Torres (born November 5, 1970) is a
Puerto Rican former
catcher
Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...
in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
who played for the
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...
(1992–2003),
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...
(2004–2006) and
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
(2006). He batted and threw right-handed. He was named Ponce, Puerto Rico's Athlete of the Year from 1984 to 1987.
Professional career
Atlanta Braves
López (birth name: Javier López Torres
) was signed by the Atlanta Braves in 1987 as an
amateur
An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...
free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
, López made his debut on September 18, 1992, against the
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...
. After sharing duties with
Charlie O'Brien
Charles Hugh O'Brien (born May 1, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Oakland Athletics (1985), Milwaukee Brewers (1987–90), New York Mets (1990–93), Atlanta Bra ...
and
Eddie Pérez for four seasons, he established himself as the Braves' regular catcher in 1996. The same season, he led the Braves to win the
National League Championship Series
The National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the winners of the two National ...
, earning the series
Most Valuable Player
In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...
honors. He also made the
National League All-Star team from 1997–98. Lopez had his best season in 2003 with a .328
batting average
Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic.
Cricket
In cricket, a player's batting average is ...
, 43 home runs and 109
RBI in 129 games, including a .378
on-base percentage
In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...
and a .687
slugging percentage
In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...
. In that season he broke
Todd Hundley
Todd Randolph Hundley (born May 27, 1969) is a former Major League Baseball catcher and outfielder. He was a two-time All-Star who played for 14 seasons with the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Chicago Cubs.
Early life
Hundley was born ...
's record for most home runs hit in a season by a catcher (41) and was selected to the
All-Star Game
An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or div ...
, winning the
Silver Slugger Award
The Silver Slugger Award has been awarded annually since 1980 to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League and the National League, as determined by the coaches and managers of Major League Baseball.
These voters cons ...
and finishing fifth in the
National League MVP The Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award given to one outstanding player in the American League and one in the National League. Since 1931, it has been awarded by the Baseball Writers' ...
ballot.
While with the Braves, López caught
Kent Mercker
Kent Franklin Mercker (born February 1, 1968) is an American former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. He played for nine teams over his 17-year career.
Career
Mercker was born in Brownsburg, Indiana and lived in several different cities ...
's
no-hitter
In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...
on April 8, 1994.
Baltimore Orioles
Before the 2004 season López signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles. He hit .316 with 86 RBI, and the following season hit .278 with 49 RBI, while seeing a decline in his game time from 150 to 103 games.
Boston Red Sox
In the 2006 midseason he was acquired by the Boston Red Sox from Baltimore in exchange for minor league
outfielder
An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...
Adam Stern
Adam James Stern (born February 12, 1980) is a Canadian former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder who played for the Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, and Milwaukee Brewers from 2005 to 2010.
Stern is the second Jewish player from Canada ...
and cash consideration. López debuted with Boston on the same day after
Doug Mirabelli
Douglas Anthony Mirabelli (born October 18, 1970) is a former Major League Baseball catcher. He played for the San Francisco Giants (1996–2000), Texas Rangers (2001), Boston Red Sox (2001–2005), and San Diego Padres (2006) before returning to ...
left the game early after an ankle injury. On September 8, the Red Sox released López due to
Jason Varitek
Jason Andrew Varitek (; born April 11, 1972), nicknamed Tek, is an American professional baseball coach and former catcher. He is currently the game planning coordinator, a uniformed coaching position, for the Boston Red Sox. After being traded a ...
returning from the
disabled list
In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL).
General guidelines
...
, which minimized his playing time.
Retirement
In January 2007, it was reported that López reached a preliminary agreement on a $750,000, one-year contract with the
Colorado Rockies
The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...
, but he did not play for them during the regular season. Before the 2008 season he signed a minor league deal with an invitation to
spring training
Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...
with the Atlanta Braves, in an attempt to return to the majors. But after being told he would not make the opening day lineup, López retired for good. "I feel perfect physically", he said. "It's just that the hitting wasn't there and unfortunately I didn't throw the guy out on the stealing attempts. That's a concern. I don't blame them. My role as a backup catcher is to be able to throw every single runner out." He plans to continue in the Atlanta Braves organization performing other duties.
In a 15-season career, López posted a .287 average with 260 home runs and 864 RBI in 1,503 games. His 243 home runs as a catcher ranks eighth on the career list at that position. Strong defensively, he recorded a .992
fielding percentage
In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...
. In 60 postseason games, he batted .278 (57-for-205) with 27 runs, 14 doubles, 10 home runs, 28 RBI and 14 walks. His final game was on September 2, 2006.
Personal
López married Analy Hernández. They had two children: Javier Alexander (born 11/6/95) and Kelvin Gabriel (born 10/17/99). They divorced and López married his second wife Gina Brodbeck on June 23, 2004, and they have had two sons, Brody Brodbeck Lopez, born in 2010 and Gavin Richard Lopez in 2013.
Notes
See also
* List of Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico currently has the fourth-most active players in Major League Baseball (MLB) among Latin American jurisdictions, behind the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Cuba. More than three hundred players from the archipelago have played in the ...
* List of Puerto Ricans
* List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
This is a list of the 300 Major League Baseball players who have hit the most home runs.
In the sport of baseball, a home run is a hit in which the batter scores by circling all the bases and reaching home plate in one play, without the benefit ...
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Javy
1970 births
Living people
National League Championship Series MVPs
National League All-Stars
Atlanta Braves players
Baltimore Orioles players
Boston Red Sox players
Major League Baseball catchers
Gulf Coast Braves players
Greenville Braves players
Richmond Braves players
Senadores de San Juan players
Baseball players from Atlanta
Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico
2006 World Baseball Classic players
Sportspeople from Ponce, Puerto Rico
Silver Slugger Award winners