I just saw on the New York Times front page that former Expos, Mets and Dodgers catcher Gary Carter has just died of brain cancer. I had no idea that he was even sick so this comes as a total shock and surprise. He was only 57. Way way way too young.
Carter was a key member of the great 1986 Mets team that barreled over the National League Eastern Division and won the pennant against the Houston Astros and then World Series over the Boston Red Sox. I fondly remember following nearly every game that season on TV or radio, and attending a number of games in person including the season opener and closer.
The 1986 World Series was of course the one in which Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner famously misplayed a slow grounder by Mookie Wilson in game six, allowing the Mets to come back from sure defeat and world series elimination and win the game, setting up a game seven win. Carter was the player who began the rally that led to this incredible comeback, with a 2-out single in the bottom of the 10th with the Mets down 5-3.
Carter was not only a great catcher and player, but a great person, always upbeat and optimistic, even when things were down. He will obviously be missed, by his family, friends, fans, and baseball. Condolences to all, and rest in peace, Gary.
Gary Carter, Exuberant Power-Hitting Catcher, Dies at 57
By RICHARD GOLDSTEIN
Published: February 16, 2012
Gary Carter, the slugging catcher known as Kid for the sheer joy he took in playing baseball, who entered the Hall of Fame as a Montreal Expo but who most famously helped propel the Mets to their dramatic 1986 World Series championship, died Thursday. He was 57.
The cause was brain cancer, which had been diagnosed last May. Carter had been treated with chemotherapy and radiation, but his daughter Kimmy Bloemers said in mid-January that new tumors had been discovered. She announced his death on her family journal at CaringBridge.org.
Carter played with intensity and flair, hitting 324 home runs and punctuating many of the ones he hit at Shea Stadium with arm-flailing curtain calls emblematic of the Mets’ swagger in the middle and late 1980s. In his 19 seasons in the major leagues, all but two of them with the Expos or the Mets, he was an 11-time All-Star and was twice named the most valuable player in the All-Star Game.