Ricketts was a reserve catcher on the 1967 World Series champion Cardinals and their 1968 pennant winners.

He later served as a longtime bullpen coach of the Cardinals (1974–1975, 1978–1991), including their 1982 World Series champions and 1985 and 1987 pennant winners, after having been the bullpen coach for the Pirates from 1971 to 1973, including the 1971 World Series champions.

Ricketts was born in Pottstown, Pennsylvania; his older brother Dick was the first pick in the 1955 NBA draft, and played three years in the National Basketball Association before pitching briefly for the 1959 Cardinals.

Dave Ricketts played basketball with his brother at Duquesne University,[1] graduating in 1957 with a degree in education.

He married Barbarann Boswell on August 17, 1957,[2] and they had a daughter, Candace, and a son, David Jr., who died of spinal cancer at age 10 in 1972.