DutchWolverine

February 16th, 2012 at 6:18 PM ^

I used to live with Gary's son-n-law several years ago.  From everything that I have heard, Carter was an even better man than he was a player.  Very sad.  57 is still so young.

Yeoman

February 16th, 2012 at 6:18 PM ^

The hard thing about being an Expo fan is that life doesn't go on. There's no new generation of players to replace the ones that are gone, and now they've started actually passing. It's very sad.

One of the greatest things about college athletics is that they'll never move your team to DC, change its nickname and unretire all the players' numbers. I appreciate that more with every passing day.

Yeoman

February 16th, 2012 at 6:36 PM ^

...but when they unretired the numbers of Raines, Carter, Staub and Dawson they made it clear they were cutting their ties with their past. And if they didn't want me, I sure as hell didn't want them.

(They eventually reversed the decision, but it was too late. I was done.)

Butterfield

February 16th, 2012 at 6:22 PM ^

His self-aggrandizing campaign to get in the HOF tarnished my opinion of him, but he was still a heck of a ballplayer in his prime.  Thoughts and prayers to his family. 

Butterfield

February 16th, 2012 at 6:31 PM ^

He was, by all accounts, a self-centered, egotistical man.  He was called a bad teammate by Keith Hernandez and is not looked upon fondly by many Mets and Expos fans who met him.  I feel terrible for his family because 57 is way too young for a wife to lose a husband and a daughter to lose her father, but it doesn't distort the fact that Carter wasn't known as such a great guy. 

Yeoman

February 16th, 2012 at 7:36 PM ^

Hernandez lost half his captaincy when Carter arrived and his manager recognized what he took to be superior leadership skills. There's more to their relationship than "Carter was a bad teammate."

I'm more familiar with the Montreal end of his career. He certainly wasn't the easy-going, modest, beloved teammate Raines or Dawson was, but I can't ever recall a word of criticism for how he went about his business on the field. He played hard, and he played hurt, and he was respected for it. If he enjoyed the attention, well, there was lot more attention to go around because he was there helping them win.

goblue1327

February 16th, 2012 at 8:46 PM ^

He wasn't known as a great guy? Read any set of reactions that have come out from former teammates today. There are stories of him holding up the team bus because he was signing so many autographs for fans. 

http://web.sny.tv/media/video.jsp

Go to the video with the Keith Hernandez interview (the third one) and tell me he wasn't liked by his teammates. I really hope you were trolling on this one. 

SouthernWolv

February 17th, 2012 at 9:06 AM ^

Just because someone supposedly said he was a 'bad teammate' doesn't actually make that accurate- you should make your own opinion about someone and not take on someone else's misguided view.

I had the pleasure of meeting Gary Carter and his family multiple times. He helped coach/support a local university baseball team when he had the time and his daughter coached softball for the same university. I have never been a Mets fan and never will but after meeting Gary - I became a Gary Carter fan.

My thoughts go to him and his family.

Tater

February 16th, 2012 at 8:55 PM ^

Carter had been fighting a very aggressive form of brain cancer since last May, and knew he didn't have a lot of time left.  I'm glad he had a few years to enjoy being in the Hall of Fame instead of it happening after he died, like it has with too many players.  

Denard excepted, there are two positions where it really helps to be cocky: QB and catcher.  It's probably part of what made him a Hall of Famer.  

Gary Carter died too young.  May he rest in peace.  And may his family find comfort in knowing that he got to enjoy a few years of being a Hall of Fame catcher.

Also, I think it's safe to say that the players on the Palm Beach Atlantic University baseball team don't see him as "self-aggrandizing," especially after he made it to opening day this year on the same day he found out he had more tumors and that his treatment hadn't worked.

LSAClassOf2000

February 16th, 2012 at 7:12 PM ^

...featuring Gary Carter. The man must have had a sense of humor about himself. He basically coached in some capacity until he could do so no longer, so he earned that "Kid" nickname with his love of the game. He was a huge advocate of the Reading Counts program in his adopted home of Palm Beach, I believe, and he did quite a bit of philanthropic work with kids for several causes.

willywill9

February 17th, 2012 at 10:34 AM ^

Yes, they should bring them back... pullover and all!  And yes, i'm very serious.  The mets should get rid of any black, as it is not an original color.  Dodger Blue + Giant Orange = Mets colors.

MMB 82

February 16th, 2012 at 7:47 PM ^

In the 1986 World Series Mets vs Boston Red Sox. Gary gets two strikes on him quickly, then strokes a single which started THE RALLY, ending with the dribble error thru Buckner's legs. NYers (and Red Sox fans) will never forget.

MGOReader

February 16th, 2012 at 7:55 PM ^

Some polarizing views on Gary Carter! One things for certain, 57 is too young to go. That disease has taken so much from so many. Personally I thought he was a bit of an egomaniac, but hey, when you are one of the best in the world at your position, I suppose that is maybe a bit normal, and for that matter part of the physical makeup of a guy like that. Anyway, no ill will and sad for his family and friends. RIP Gary Carter.

jerseyblue

February 16th, 2012 at 8:21 PM ^

Being a Yankee fan in NJ I was part of the minority in '86 when everybody and their brother jumped on the Mets bandwagon. I was in 7th grade and they wheeled the tv into our class and made us watch the parade to city hall. The only other Yankee fan and i looked at each other and  said "I can't believe we have to watch this shit." I hated the Mets. They were so cocky and took curtain calls after every friggin home run. Not the big moment ones. It was like all of them. But I have to say i hated them because they earned my hate.They were a great team. They were like rock stars. I hated them but i respected how great they played. RIP Gary Carter.

Cigarro Cubano

February 16th, 2012 at 9:00 PM ^

Huge GC & long time Mets fan.... it is a sad day for the sport of baseball.  Rest in peace Gary, we will miss you.  Thanks for that you did for the game of baseball. 

 

 

randyfloyd

February 16th, 2012 at 9:59 PM ^

Huge Reds fan here, but those Mets teams of the 80's were pretty kick ass and Carter was the glue. That team had more drug addicted and generally crazy players, than any team ever. R.I.P. Mr. Carter (mad respect to you sir)