Vicente López (Nicaragua)

Vicente López Lara

• Born April 19, 1945 in Matagalpa, Matagalpa Nicaragua
• Died October 10, 2010 in San Isidro, Matagalpa Nicaragua

Biographical Information

Vicente López was a regular for the Nicaraguan national team. He was noted as a strong defensive and offensive catcher.

He played for Nicaragua in the 1969 Amateur World Series and 1970 Amateur World Series. He hit only .218/.297/.301 for Managua in 1970. In the 1971 Amateur World Series, he helped Nicaragua win Bronze. He led Nicaragua with eight hits in the 1971 Pan American Games as their starting backstop; his .286 average was second to Ernesto López. He hit .360/.427/.449 for Carazo in 1971.

In the 1972 Amateur World Series, he homered off Cuba's José Antonio Huelga in an upset win. Nicaragua got the Bronze Medal. He batted .302/.368/.458 for Carazo in '72. In 1973, he hit .355/.442/.496 for Carazo and led the league with 9 intentional walks. He posted a .364/.462/.629 batting line the next season. He won Bronze with Nicaragua in the 1975 Intercontinental Cup.

López hit .339/.392/.545 for Carazo in 1975, leading the league in at-bats (336) and double-play grounders (14) while setting records for hits (114, broken the next year) and runs (79, besting the old mark by 21; Wayne Taylor broke his record two years later). In 1976, he led the league in games (97) and double-play grounders (10) while batting .294/.369/.440 for Esteli.

The Matagalpa native was at .275/.350/.446 for Esteli in 1977. He was with Nicaragua for the 1977 Intercontinental Cup. He hit .353 when Nicaragua won Gold in the 1977 Central American Games and led the way with two doubles. When Nicaragua won Silver in the 1978 Central American and Caribbean Games, he hit one homer, against Colombia.

He batted .258/.358/.452 in the 1978 Amateur World Series, played error-free defense and caught four of ten would-be base-stealers. He drove in 8 runs in 9 games, one behind team leader Ernesto López. He had a huge year for Esteli at .437/.497/.825. He led the league with 274 total bases (10 shy of Ernesto López's record), led in average (setting a record, broken 14 years later by Nemesio Porras) and set a record for slugging which still stands.

Vicente hit .308/.413/.512 for Carazo in 1979 and was with Nicaragua for the 1979 Intercontinental Cup. He split 1980 between Esteli and Matagalpa, batting .283/.350/.543. He slipped in 1981 to .266/.346/.378 for Leon and .194/.318/.226 in '82.

Overall, he hit .320/.397/.508 with 116 homers, 510 runs and 508 RBI in 792 games. In 2005, he was inducted into the Nicaraguan Sports Hall of Fame

Primary Sources

• Nicaraguan Sports Hall of Fame
• Memoria Panamericanos by the Nicaraguan Olympic Committee
• El Nuevo Diario
• Defunct IBAF site
• Nicaraguan Baseball Federation