Luis Antonio Lopez (born September 1, 1964) is an American former professional

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

and

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. He played 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), ...

for 41 games for the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

and

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

and later in

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

. Lopez's greater success came in Japan, where he played for six seasons between and . He spent five seasons with the

Hiroshima Toyo Carp The is a professional baseball team based in Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan. They compete in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda ...

and played for the

Fukuoka Daiei Hawks The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture. They compete in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as a member of the Pacific League. The team was formerly known as the Nankai Hawks and was based in Osaka. ...

in . He was twice selected to the Japanese post-season all-star team, the Best Nine, for the

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consi ...

in 1996 and . Overall, he batted .303 with 129 home runs over his Japanese career. He was born to a family of Puerto Rican migrants. His father, Victor Lopez, ran a supermarket. His mother, Providencia Pagan, was a housewife. He has two older siblings named Victor and Nancy. Baseball runs deep in the family. Lopez’s grandfather Jose Lopez was local sports coach in the family’s hometown of Quebradillas, Puerto Rico. His uncles Luis and Wilfredo Lopez, were both patrons of local sports occasions.

References

1964 births Living people Los Angeles Dodgers players Cleveland Indians players Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball first basemen Hiroshima Toyo Carp players Fukuoka Daiei Hawks players American expatriate baseball players in Japan Great Falls Dodgers players Vero Beach Dodgers players Bakersfield Dodgers players San Antonio Missions players Albuquerque Dukes players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Canton-Akron Indians players Charlotte Knights players Richmond Braves players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Somerset Patriots players Baseball players from New York (state) Nippon Professional Baseball coaches Lafayette High School (New York City) alumni {{US-baseball-catcher-1960s-stub