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 catc ...

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 league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

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) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

and later in

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

. 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, 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 founder Jujiro Matsuda ...

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. Founded on February 22, 1938, as the Nankai Club, being the first Kansai ...

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

Central League The or , also known as the for sponsorship reasons, 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 i ...

in 1996 and . Overall, he batted .303 with 129 home runs over his Japanese career. He was born to a family of Puerto Ricans. 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.

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 20th-century American sportsmen 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 Brooklyn Nippon Professional Baseball coaches Lafayette High School (New York City) alumni {{US-baseball-catcher-1960s-stub