Yeah, I know. As a life-long resident of Atlanta and a Braves fan, I am supposed to hate and despise all things Mets-related with a purple passion.
But I just cannot seem to raise that ire for one of my favorite baseball players of all time.
Gary Carter was a great player, and a fine human being.
And 57 is much too young an age to leave this world.
Via palmbeachpost.com:
Gary Carter, Hall of Fame catcher and Palm Beach Gardens resident, dies at 57
“Just him being who he was helped turn this program around,’ said retired big-league pitcher Kent Bottenfield, was who hired as the school’s associate coach in July.
He brought his competitive spirit to everything he did. Mr. Carter – who once said he hated to lose “even at Monopoly, even at cards’ – retired from the majors after the 1992 season with a .262 career batting average, 324 home runs and 1,225 RBI. His 298 home runs as a catcher rank sixth all time.
He was an articulate team leader who didn’t shy away from attention. His former Expos teammate, Andre Dawson, once joke that Mr. Carter “could never find a camera he didn’t like.’
“He always had that smile,’ Dawson recalled. “He always made himself accessible at all times. When guys didn’t want to talk, the writers would go to Gary. That’s why he was one of the leaders. Over a period of time, it came to the forefront that the club was building itself around Gary.’
Mr. Carter, who was born in Culver City, Calif., was taken by the Expos as a shortstop in the third round of the amateur draft in 1972 after signing a letter of intent to play football at UCLA. After a brief stint with the Rookie League Cocoa Expos, he played 20 games for the West Palm Beach Expos in the Florida State League late in the 1972 season.
Mr. Carter once said his older teammates first nicknamed him “The Kid” during spring training in 1974. “I was trying to win every sprint,” he said. “I was trying to hit every pitch out of the park.’
The Expos converted Mr. Carter to catcher in the minor leagues, but he split time between catching and right field over his first two seasons in 1974 and ’75. He became the starting catcher in ’77 when Barry Foote was traded to Philadelphia.
Mr. Carter hit his first major-league home run in ’74 off future Hall of Famer Steve Carlton, and he went to his first All-Star Game in 1975, playing right field. But he was considered the NL’s top catcher in the 1980s, a successor to the title held in the previous decade by Johnny Bench.
Mr. Carter was traded after the 1984 season to New York for Hubie Brooks, Mike Fitzgerald, Herm Winningham and Floyd Youmans.
[...]
His illness limited his ability to coach. His players wore “Team Carter” bracelets with the inscription “Isaiah 40:31,” Carter’s favorite Bible verse.
The verse says: “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.’
You can read the rest here.
-Dave
I despise all NY teams yet Gary was a good guy. RIP
Beautiful man. Safe in God’s arms! I can only imagine the next baseball game up there!
Dave, hey I was a Yankeee fan. Still had to like Carter. Class shows. RIP.
May God bless you and your Family.
I always admired Gary Carter,,, He was, at one time, A Denver Bear~!, when Montreal was a parent team of the Denver franchise,,, ( IF my memory serves me right~! )
R I P, Mr. Carter,,, and “PLAY BALL~!”
You were a fine ballplayer, but even more important, a finer human being~!
Grouchy, I was at first game the Rockies ever played. Forget the yr, but it was against the Met’s in NY. I was working my detail that night.
Steve, it was 1993,,, and just a few days later, I had my first heart attack,,,
Now, whether the two events are actually related, I have NO idea,,,
I DO remember Eric Young hitting the First home run of the first home game, and as I recall, it was the first at bat of the first inning~! Mile High Stadium, which is no longer,,, but oh, Lord, was that place HUGE~!,,, it sat 80,000 people for S R O,,,
Memories,,, Oh, such BLESSED MEMORIES~!
” Where did you go, Joe DiMaggio? “
Grouchy, wow 93 that long ago. Sorry about heart, but hey 20 yrs after is good long time. Kule!!!
They have a new stadium?. I have a very (I think) Collectible item. As I said I was working and as such had access to VIP tent. Maybe 300 people and they gave away a ticket showing it was first game and it was in like that clear hard stuff. Good paper weight. I have it somewhere I think.There was only 300 maybe. I’ll find it when a world series for ebay..LOL. Or if you want I’ll give it to you. You know that was first time I sat in private box with food and booze and waiter. It stunk. You were so far from field. Like watching at home. The private bathroom was Kule. Next time my client was invited back we sat in stands as per her request..
Mile high is gone?
i’ve always liked gary carter even though i’ve always been a cardinal fan. several years ago a couple of my friends put together a baseball team the great lakes A’s anyway they talked me into playing even though i hadn’t played baseball in around 20 years but had been playing slow pitch softball so to get myself back into baseball mold i searched the library for instructional videos the one i rented featured gary carter and tom seaver they went over positioning, cut off’s, basic defense, bunting, the whole nine yards basball is very very different from softball but after going about a month hitless my timing got better and i maintained a .400 batting average whiling playing a semi errorless first base…
Igor, way to go. Slow pitch is one thing, but to go to hardball and bat .400 is awesome. I played hardball, little league from about 7 to 19. I was a catcher.
By the way next week my right knee will be operated on. Say’s I’m headed for knee’s (New, store bought). Think it had anything to do with it?..