Kirkland's Patrick Downs Devoted To Little League -- In 20 Years Of Coaching, He Taught Kids To Use Their Heads

Patrick Joseph Downs of Kirkland had no children and never played baseball. What he knew about the game he learned from reading books and occupying bleachers.

Yet twice in 20 years of coaching in the Kirkland National Little League he took teams to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa. They won it all in 1982 and finished third in 1980.

"I went to the Seattle Public Library and I got about 10 books about baseball," he told The Seattle Times in 1982. The information was geared to the adult game, "so you had to cut everything down" to Little League scale.

Then every year he'd take up to four months off his Port of Seattle longshoreman's job without pay just to work with the kids, often leading practice seven hours a day.

"A lot of what he taught had nothing to do with baseball," said his sister, Clare Cochran of Kirkland. "It was about using your head, setting a goal and doing the best you can. He thought thinking was the most important thing, even in sports. The brain comes first, not the body."

Mr. Downs died Sunday (Nov. 9) of what his family thinks was a heart attack. He was 53.

Born in Port Gamble, Kitsap County, he grew up in Kirkland and graduated from Lake Washington High School, competing in wrestling at the weight of 103 pounds.

"That's why he never played the other sports in high school," Cochran said. "He was also very shy. He wasn't in Little League for himself, but for the kids."

Mr. Downs attended the University of Washington for a year, then served two years in the Army in Korea. Afterward, he began working on the docks as his father did.

"He was no older than 23 when someone asked him to coach Little League," Cochran said. "He got coaching fever."

He was serious whether at practice or at a game, and could be gruff at times. But it earned him respect.

His knowledge increased by watching the kids, and he felt they taught him.

"He expected a lot and received a lot," Cochran said. "The older some of the players get, the more the respect they have for him and what he did for them."

Other survivors include his sister Mary Delay, Woodinville; his brothers Michael Downs, Torrance, Calif.; Mark Downs, Seattle; and his twin, Stephen Downs, Seattle; and eight nieces and nephews.

Services are at 10 a.m. tomorrow at Green Funeral Home, 400 State Ave. S., Kirkland.

Remembrances may go to Kirkland National Little League Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 2116, Kirkland, WA, 98083; or to Greenwood Home, P.O. Box 30639, Seattle, WA, 98103.

Carole Beers' phone message number is 206-464-2391. Her e-mail address is: cbee-new@seatimes.com