Pretty Rickey what they call him. Or more fittingly, pretty Rickey is what he calls himself lol.
The day before the Mets resume their season, hitting coach Rick Down was fired. And guess who was hired as a full-time coach and a possible replacement for Down?
You guessed it, none other than Rickey "3rd Person" Henderson.
From the Newark Star Ledger:
Stealing a move from the Yankees dog-eared playbook, the Mets, who have had trouble scoring runs and hitting with men in scoring position in recent weeks, fired hitting coach Rick Down tonight and added Rickey Henderson to Willie Randolph's coaching staff.
Henderson, who had been serving the team as a special instructor for the past two seasons and who has made leadoff hitter Jose Reyes his pet project, will be in uniform tonight at Shea Stadium when the second half of the season begins with the first of four games against the Cincinnati Reds.
It is unclear, however, whether Henderson will actually replace Down as the hitting coach or whether those duties will go to another member of Randolph's staff.
First-base coach Howard Johnson, who served as a hitting coach while working in the Mets minor-league system, could also be a candidate to replace Down.
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So there you have it, Down is out and Rickey is in. I don't know, maybe this sparks the club to hit better than the .268 average they hit in the first half. Honestly, there's no excuse for a team that has Reyes, Wright, Beltran and Delgado to be hitting so poorly. Rickey Henderson did wonders for Reyes and his approach n the bases and in the batter's box so maybe, just maybe Omar Minaya is on to something here. Regardless, the clubhouse will surely be a lot more interesting with "the greatest basestealer of all-time" (his quote by the way) prancing through the dugout. Holla back.
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