Ultimate Mets Database - Memories of Rick Down

THE ULTIMATE METS DATABASE IS NOT AFFILIATED IN ANY WAY WITH THE NEW YORK METS OR MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL.

- All-Time Roster Every Met player... EVER!
- Mug Shots The pretty ones and the ugly ones -- we have them all!
- Player Awards Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, Hall of Fame, and more.
- Transactions Over a thousand player transactions -- in chronological order!
- Managers & Coaches The men who have led the Mets, and the men who helped them.
- Mets Staff Executives, General Managers, Broadcasters, and more. (And Jane Jarvis too!)
- Birth Places Perfect for planning your Mets pilgrimages!
- Oldest Living Mets See which Mets players have spent the most time walking the Earth.
- Necrology Mets players and personnel who are no longer with us.

- Game Results
  All the wins, all the losses. Includes box scores and score cards!
- Opening Day
  The first day of each season! See the starting lineups, who started at each position year-by-year, and leaders by position.
- Walkoff Wins & Losses
  Interactively search for the happiest and saddest endings to Mets games.
- Postseason Games How the Mets have fared in the games that count the most!
- No-Hitters & One-Hitters See a list of every no-hitter and one-hitter pitched by the Mets, or against them. One of these categories was frustratingly empty for over fifty years, but not anymore!
- All-Star Games Mets who have appeared in baseball's Mid-Summer Classic
- Opponents & Ballparks See the Mets won-lost record against every team, and in every ballpark in which they've played!
- Daily Standings What was the Mets' pennant outlook on any given day in past seasons?
- Yearly Finishes The heights and the depths: the Mets won-lost record at the end of each season.
- Mayor's Trophy Games A look back at the long-ago annual series between the Mets and their Bronx rivals.

- Leaderboards Career, season, and individual game leaders at your fingertips!
- Team Leaders Players who led the Mets in various categories, from season to season.
- Decade Leaders Mets history broken down into ten-year chunks!
- Post-Season Leaders Mets leaders, by category, in post-season games

- Ultimate Mets Scrapbook The history of the Mets, as it was reported when it happened!
- Forum Visit the Crane Pool Forum to discuss the Mets and just about anything else!
- Fan Memories Insightful. Poignant. Thrilling. Somber. Nutty. Our visitors have submitted thousands of thoughts and memories of the Mets and the games they've played.
- Mets Uniforms It's more than just laundry! Trace the evolution of the Mets official uniform over the years.
- Uniform Numbers In association with Mets By the Numbers, we present a full history of who wore what number, and when!/li>
- Baseball Cards Our collection of home-made baseball cards, in the style of the classic Topps cards of the 1970's.
- This Date in Mets History Births, Deaths, Transactions, Newspaper Covers

- Contact Us
- FAQ Frequently Asked Questions

Rick Down

Richard John Down
Born: December 14, 1950 at Wyandotte, Mich.
Died: January 5, 2019 at Las Vegas, Nev.
Throws: Right Bats: Right
Height: 5.11 Weight: 220

Non-playing roles with Mets

Hitting Instructor 2005 - 2007

Share your memories of Rick Down

HERE IS WHAT OTHER METS FANS HAVE TO SAY:

Richard Ivans
August 5, 2005
Many years ago, back in Southgate, Michigan, Rick, a bunch of other great guys and I played on the same Little League team. And Rick, of course, was the best hitter. The team was the Southgate Yankees -- the Mets were only about a year old.

tom
September 8, 2006
I met Rick Down in Long Beach, New York when I was on vacation there because I had lived there the first thirteen years of my life. I met him at the pizza store and then when I came back to Las Vegas from my vacation I realized that the girl in my Spanish class was Rick Down's daughter. I just thought this was weird.

Rick Gabriel
January 11, 2007
I played baseball with Rick back in Southgate, MI. I wasn't on his little league team, but played against him. The most memorable moment was pitching to Rick with the bases loaded. We were only down by a run and needed to get out of the inning. I figured to throw a fastball and blow it by him. Ha, ha. As I watched the ball sail over the fence, I thought,"Here is a guy who will do well down the road".

Sammy Mikitaroff
August 9, 2010
I met Rick in Las Vegas 1979 at Western High School in our batting cage. He was there helping our High School coach with our workouts.
I was from Michigan where I grew up playing hockey shooting left handed but batting right in baseball.
As I was hitting I was playing around hitting left handed and Rick saw me swinging. He then asked me, "Sam, Don't you bat right?" [I then thought he was going to be upset at me and say turn around and bat right!] I said, "Yes, I bat right." He then said I should try left handed because my swing was better then my right side. That day is when I started switch hitting. Rick then coached my American Legion Team in Vegas which we ended up winning states. I will always remember Rick as a special coach and friend.

Pete H
August 14, 2013
The Mets have not hit well as a team since Rick Down was fired as Hitting Coach.