After splitting time between the major and minor leagues, Lopez became the Dodgers' regular starting catcher in at the age of 21 and remained a consistently dependable catcher for many subsequent seasons.
Hall of Fame umpire Bill Klem once ejected Lopez from a game just as it was getting started after Lopez pasted onto home plate a photo he had clipped from a newspaper, which showed Klem clearly in error calling a previous play in another game involving Lopez.