It’s a little easier to fit into Division I college athletics when your father spent 16 years in the big leagues.

Redshirt junior James Lopes, who runs the 60-meter dash and a leg of the 1600-meter relay for the ISU track team, knows how it feels to grow up the son of a major league father. He is the son of former Los Angeles Dodger Davey Lopes.

“Some of my teachers in high school saw my last name and wondered if I was Davey Lopes’ son,” James said. “Also, some of my friends’ dads knew who he was, and they thought that he was a good player. People just say a lot of interesting things because they don’t know many people with a professional athlete as a dad.”

James’ father played Major League Baseball for four teams from 1972-87. Davey started out with the Dodgers and played with them for 10 years. He also had brief stints with the Oakland Athletics, the Chicago Cubs and the Houston Astros.

The elder Lopes is best known as the leadoff-batting second baseman for the Dodgers in the 1970s. As a member of the Dodgers, he made four All-Star teams (1978-1981), led the league in stolen bases twice (1975-76) and won a Gold Glove in 1978. He finished his career with a .263 career batting average and 557 career steals.

Lopes is the former manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, a position he held from 1999-2001.

He was also the first base coach of the San Diego Padres on its 1998 National League championship team. Now, he serves as the third base coach for the Padres.

With the accolades that his father earned on the basepaths, it’s no surprise James gets some of his track talents from his dad.

“I get my natural speed and always being able to be competitive from Dad,” James said. “It is always easy for me to pick up a new sport. In high school, I didn’t start to play football until my freshman year, and I ended up being on the varsity team that year. I get my speed and jumping ability genetically from my father. That is probably the reason why I am [at Iowa State].”

James’ mother, Sandy Lopes, has seen both father and son participate in sports and has noticed other similarities between them.

“They have great speed and both are very fierce competitors; they just love to compete,” Sandy said. “[They] are the same size and are both muscular. They are very dedicated because they love their separate sports.”

James said he has learned how to achieve success from his father’s lengthy professional career.

“If you want to be in sports a long time, you have to dedicate yourself and make a strong commitment,” Lopes said.

James said his father never put pressure on him to play baseball and supported him in whatever sports he chose to participate in, but not without helping guide James in what he needed to do to reach his goals.

“He basically told me to work hard, stay humble and to continue to make myself better,” James said. “He always told me not to put pressure on myself, on athletics or school, although I put pressure on myself [now] because I know that I have the ability.”

While attending North High School in Des Moines, James’ athletic career almost came to a halt.

“I got recruited at Division I schools to play football but not after I broke my ankle in practice,” James said.

“Then coach [Steve] Lynn gave me a call and still wanted me to run track.”

Lynn, the ISU men’s track coach, said he still saw reasons to recruit James to run track.

“James’ high school coach told me good things about how he considered him a team guy,” Lynn said. “He was a good student and was a local kid that I wanted to give a chance to.”

Lynn said James, now a captain, has been a very positive influence, bringing in a great team-first mentality.

“He is the most improved guy on the team,” Lynn said. “James is a very hard worker and helps out everyone by doing all the little things.”

Lynn saw firsthand the athletic background of Lopes when he saw Davey perform in college.

“I saw his dad play baseball at Iowa Wesleyan in [the mid-1960s] when I was in junior high,” Lynn said.

“He was fun to watch; great basestealer. [I think] he was one of the best basestealers of all time.”

James said he aspires to be like his father and play sports professionally.

“Of course I would like to have a career in sports, it’s the only place to go after Division I,” Lopes said.

“I would definitely pursue that after college if given the opportunity.”