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Saturday, August 22, 2015

ANNIVERSARY: 40 Years ago Davey Lopes Steals 38 consecutive Bases

Forty Years Ago Davey Lopes was in the middles of Consecutive Successful Bases Stolen Streak that Reached a total of 38.

1976 topps #4 Dave Lopes Most Consecutice Successful Stolen Base Attempts

Lopes first tied and than broke the record or 31 (previously held by Hall of Famer Max Carey) on a pair of steals during a Dodgers 2-0 Victory against the Mets on August 9th.  The latter of the two stolen bases was a steal of third which led to a run as Lopes scored later via a Wild Pitch. Both Stolen Bases were recorded off the battery of Jerry Koosman and Jerry Grote.

1976 topps #4 Dave Lopes Most Consecutice Successful Stolen Base Attempts (b-side - click to make more readable)

The flip side of the 1975T Lopes Record Breaker has a nice detailed listing of the stolen bases during Lopes' streak, although there is a discrepancy between Topps and Baseball-ref. According to Topps the Record Breaking Steal (The latter of the two August 9th Steals versus the Mets/Koosman) the base listed is 2nd - Baseball-ref had the base as 3rd, after advancing on a sacrifice bunt by Lee Lacy.

The Catcher that finally gunned down Davey Lopes was Future Hall of Famer Gary Carter in the 12th inning of a 14 inning 5-3 Expos Victory over the Dodgers. Of course this came after Lopes had already stolen 3 bases off of Carter (who was a Rookie at the time) earlier in the game. The Pitcher on the mound when Lopes was caught was Dale Murray, the tag was applied by current Phillies Manager Pete Mackanin.

40 Years Ago Today
On August 22nd 1975 Lopes recorded steal #35 in a 3-1 Loss to the Expos. It was a steal of 3rd base off of Pitcher Dan Warthen and Catcher Barry Foote - Two Expos who were traded to the Phillies in 1977 for Wayne Twitchell and Tim Blackwell.

Consecutive Stolen Base Record
Lopes held the record for close to 14 years until it was broken by Vince Coleman on June 24 1989.

Coleman extended the record to 50 prior to being caught on July 28 1989. His streak was also ended by the Expos, This time the Montreal Battery consisted of Pascual Perez and Nelson Santovenia.

Sources and Links
1976 Topps Record Breaker Index
Baseball Almanac
Cardinals Journal - John Snyder 
Baseball-ref


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