Braves’ Lopez Has Catholic School Cheering Squad

By PRISCILLA GREEAR, Staff Writer

Published: September 4, 2003

ATLANTA—A runner who also played volleyball and “béisbol” while attending La Academia Cristo Rey in the Diocese of Ponce, Puerto Rico, Javy Lopez is an All-Star product of Catholic education.

Some of the most devout fans of the Atlanta Braves catcher, through good seasons and bad, may well be at his alma mater. A major supporter of the school, he signed and dedicated a poster to the Sisters of Notre Dame during a daylong visit there in the 2001-2002 school year. School accountant and alumna Carmen Sanchez, who was a sophomore when Lopez was a senior, said he was always “very friendly” and a crowd favorite.

“He was so happy. Always at the end of the day he had a smile on his face. He was always practicing baseball. All the people went to the park to see him practice,” she said.

Scouted at 16, after he got his first check he bought a red Honda Prelude that was the talk of the school. “He always hit the ball outside the fence,” Sanchez said.

As he graduated and went on to work his way through the Atlanta Braves’ farm system, he had faith in his ability and was determined to make it to the majors. In 2003 the veteran 32-year-old player renewed that faith in himself as he entered his 10th season with the Braves and has made a major comeback after a few disappointing seasons.

And the sisters and students at Cristo Rey are doing the tomahawk chop.

“We are proud of that. Sister (the principal) is writing a letter to him just to congratulate him because he is doing very well now. Everybody here is in touch, saying, ‘Oh, Javy Lopez has a homerun,’” said Sanchez.

This year Lopez lost about 35 pounds and increased his workout, becoming stronger and leaner, and was ready to take off at the beginning of the season. In May he says he moved his arms a bit further back at the plate, which helped him wait more for pitches. But perhaps the most important change was in attitude.

On a July day in the busy and surprisingly small locker room at the Turner Field clubhouse, Lopez spoke of his belief in himself. Other players played cards, laughed loudly, dressed and trickled in from batting practice before a game with the Florida Marlins.

“This game, it’s not only physical. It’s more mental,” Lopez said, speaking softly. “When a lot of people lost their faith in me about not being the same player ... I started thinking the opposite. I started to believe in myself and to have faith that I’m going to be a totally different person. Focusing on my mental part of the game is what makes a big change in my game.”

“I think God gives everybody the ability to do our own thing. Everybody has a mind to use. It’s all about knowing how to use it. Nothing is impossible. Once you start using your head, you realize that you can do things you never thought you’d be able to do.”

Grounded in his self-confidence, Lopez is flying high this season. Before this year, his best season was in 1998, when he had a .284 average, hit 34 homeruns and had 106 RBIs. In 2000 he batted .287 with 24 homeruns and 89 RBIs. Those numbers dropped in 2001 and even more in 2002, when he batted .233 with 11 homeruns.

Now on one serious power trip, this year so far he has 34 homeruns, the most of any Braves player, and 86 RBIs with a .328 average.

Outside the locker room, manager Bobby Cox sat in the dugout and observed the quiet activity on the field where players took batting practice and media people chatted in clusters like ushers before church. Cox expressed enduring faith in Lopez, as he spoke of his personal and professional contributions to the Braves over the past decade. The National League East team has won 11 consecutive division championships and the World Series in 1995.

“He’s been a big part of our success since he’s been with us. He’s always played a role,” he said. “He’s a wonderful person. He’s one of the nicest kids I’ve ever met in this game. He is a great kid and he’s had a great career already and he’s got some years left.”

While close to 200 pounds, the 6-foot-3 Lopez is more lithe this season, but Cox added that he’s always been in “tremendous shape.”

“He just decided to lose some of the bulk. I think he wanted to just change something because he kind of had two off years.”

Lopez grew up in a close-knit Catholic family with four siblings in Ponce, where he was the city’s Athlete of the Year from 1984-87. He attended San Judas Tadeo School from fifth through ninth grade before going on to La Academia Cristo Rey. His dad often took him on weekend trips and attended all his games, encouraging him to settle on one sport and give it 100 percent.

Lopez wasn’t thinking big league until someone told him at 15 he could get to the majors. He pondered that comment and began to see the great American pastime as a career, deciding to dedicate himself totally to it. He signed on with the Braves at 17, favoring them because his friends and family could watch him in Puerto Rico on Turner Broadcasting. While playing through the farm system, he worked on mastering his English.

“I knew some day I was going to be in the big league—it didn’t matter which team--I just knew it. I really put all the effort, all the time in the world into the thing that I loved the most, which is baseball,” he said. “When I was a little kid I had a lot of fun and I knew how to play and knew how to play well. I fell in love with it. It is something I knew how to do. I had the ability and I could do it well. And if you feel that way about something, any kind of job, you better love it, otherwise you will miss something very important in your life.”

His middle-school history teacher at San Judas, Carmen Ana Colon Reyes, admires that strength and determination. She follows his progress and hopes he’ll return to the school for this year’s graduation. She remembers him as quiet, studious and admired and his parents as being very supportive of him.

“Following the values of his parents and the spiritual formation they gave him, he kept overcoming,” she said. “We feel very proud of him.”

Softening the lights of his star status, he has a boyish sincerity in one-on-one conversation. Whatever stress and emotional struggles he endures off the field, he said he’s somehow learned how to leave them at the clubhouse door for the games and practices meditation before games to help him focus.

Reading the book “The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom” also has helped him keep his eye on the ball, as the book explores concepts like speaking with integrity, not taking things personally and becoming immune to the opinions and actions of others to avoid needless suffering, and doing one’s best under any circumstance.

Although he does not hold himself out as a spiritual role model, Lopez said his Catholic upbringing established his belief in God and in the church.

“That’s how Catholicism showed me what life is all about,” he said. “I just live life. I thank God for letting me live another day and giving me all the happiness that I have. I do that every day and that’s how I live. If something really good happens to me, I really thank God right away. Otherwise, I’ll pray before I go to sleep. Before I go to bed, I always pray.”

Starting catcher in this year’s All-Star game, Lopez used to live off-season in Puerto Rico, but now lives year round in Atlanta. He feels his most important work is done on the field of family life with his sons Javier, 7, and Kelvin, 3. “My children are the two most important things in my life. They are my life.”

His favorite introduction song at the ballpark is “Family Affair,” and little Javy learned early how to do a good tomahawk chop and how to practice batting with an empty paper towel tube.

Following his own father’s example, Lopez strives to spend quality time with his sons and enjoys taking them to the movies, skateboard parks and riding a four-wheeler through the mountains. His primary hobby is building and flying remote control airplanes.

“It’s a lot of challenge, plus it’s beautiful, seeing those airplanes in the air, knowing you can control them.”

Juan Lopez, who lives in Puerto Rico, appreciates how fame hasn’t changed his easy-going brother, saying that he has a close relationship with his extended family, many of whom he found tickets for the All-Star game.

“He’s been very dedicated and very disciplined in his baseball. (But) besides his success, he’s the same boy out of Little League and hanging out with his friends,” he said. “He’s not materialistic. All he has are just those airplanes-- remote control ones-- that he flies. He’s still a kid. He enjoys his life.”

Juan thinks losing weight helped his brother gain his confidence. In discouraging years, he and other family members talked a lot with him, encouraging him not to worry.

“We are very close; all of us are close. We spend a lot of time during the season on the phone,” he said. “We never lost faith in him. We just told him to remember his time will come again and, if it doesn’t come, to know you’ve already given the game a lot. We were worried, but not that much.”

He has also offered his brother some spiritual coaching. “He needs to work a little bit more on that, (but) as far as I know he’s pretty good with his spiritual life. I always tell him to meditate because that’s a very important part of success. I’ve sent him some books ... His Catholic faith is what keeps him going, I’m pretty sure.”

Lopez gets together with his extended family in Puerto Rico at Christmastime and has a “great” relationship with Juan’s two daughters. Lopez’s mother, Evelia, passed away in 1999.

Classmate Sanchez said that Lopez has made periodic return visits to La Academia and that he is “very kind” and “very accessible.” He helped the school through a time of financial hardship. During the daylong visit, he spoke on his career and the importance of education and told the youth to “keep studying.” He also held a press conference where he fielded questions from aspiring journalists of the school’s newspaper. And he ate lunch with youth in the cafeteria and visited with the cook he’d known as a student.

“He is very open. He signed every ball that the boys here at school gave him ... He was giving autographs all day, always smiling or taking a picture with everyone here. He’s a very cool guy,” she said. “We spent a really good time with him.”

Also in the off-season he has led youth baseball clinics. He tells the youth that pursuing baseball requires both love of the game and hard work. A primary way Lopez has learned to survive and improve his game is by watching other players make mistakes and learning from them.

In his decade with the Braves, Lopez has also found a sense of brotherhood. A free agent at the end of this season, he hopes he can remain with the Braves, but will likely be traded. He is “tight” with former Braves catcher Eddie Perez, as the two catchers “grew up together” in the minors and push each other to live up to their potential. “I feel this (team) is my family, my second home.”

Breaking from a card game in the locker room, third baseman Vinny Castilla, another Catholic Latino from Mexico and one of the team’s best defensive players, expressed appreciation for Lopez.

“He’s a great guy. He’s always smiling. He’s a great teammate and a great player, but he’s an even better person. He’s a quiet guy,” he said. “He’s got a great heart.”

In an interview with The Atlanta Journal Constitution before a game with Montreal, he spoke of the joy he’s experienced playing against the Expos in Puerto Rico. His best game was against them April 17 in San Juan where he had a grand slam and a two-run homer as brother Juan and other family cheered him on.

“I’d like to play more games in Puerto Rico,” he said. “It’s great to play before people who have known you all your life.”

But for now his focus is maintaining his high performance and practicing positive thinking about post-season play. In a MLB.com article on the Braves Web site, he said, “If this is my last year with the Braves, I want to go out in the best way, which is to win a championship.”