He stood 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and weighed 170 pounds (77 kg), batted left-handed and threw right-handed.

A speedy baserunner, Hopkins stole over 40 bases four times in his minor league career, and was acquired the Athletics from Montreal just prior to the 1975 campaign.

At the time, Oakland owner Charlie Finley — one of the early proponents of the designated hitter rule, adopted in the American League in 1973 — was also advocating the creation of the "designated runner" in baseball, and he regularly employed fast players on his 25-man roster to specialize in pinch running.

He appeared in 82 games, largely pinch-running for future Baseball Hall of Fame member and veteran Billy Williams, who was Oakland's designated hitter.

He drew two walks and had one career hit, a single, off the Detroit Tigers' Fernando Arroyo in a lopsided, 16–4 Oakland win on July 22.