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Thread: Gary Carter (57) Hall of Famer & Part of the 1986 World Series Champion Mets Dies From Brain Tumor

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    Gary Carter (57) Hall of Famer & Part of the 1986 World Series Champion Mets Dies From Brain Tumor

    Dear Childhood Idols, please stop dying. :(
    1986 was a good year to be a new yorker and an even better year to be a New York Mets Fan.



    http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-me-...,6528145.story

    Gary Carter, who was raised in Fullerton and played for the Montreal Expos, Mets, Giants and Dodgers, had been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in May. A catcher, he had a key hit in the 1986 World Series and was known for his exuberance.

    By Mike DiGiovanna, Los Angeles Times

    February 17, 2012

    Gary Carter, a Hall of Fame catcher from Fullerton who helped lift the New York Mets to a dramatic victory over the Boston Red Sox in the 1986 World Series, died Thursday in Florida. He was 57 and had brain cancer.

    Nicknamed "Kid" for his grit and youthful exuberance, Carter was an 11-time All-Star who hit .262 with 324 home runs and 1,225 runs batted in during 18 seasons playing for the Montreal Expos, Mets, San Francisco Giants and Dodgers.

    His goal to become a major league manager unfulfilled, Carter was coaching at Palm Beach Atlantic University near his Florida home last May when he experienced headaches and forgetfulness and was diagnosed with brain cancer.

    "Nobody loved the game of baseball more than Gary Carter," Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver said Thursday. "Nobody enjoyed playing the game of baseball more than Gary Carter. He wore his heart on his sleeve every inning he played. For a catcher to play with that intensity in every game is special."

    Former Expos pitcher Steve Rogers, who is now a players union special assistant, played with Carter in Montreal. "Gary and I grew up together in the game, and during our time with the Expos we were as close as brothers, if not closer," Rogers said. "Gary was a champion. He was a 'gamer' in every sense of the word — on the field and in life. He made everyone else around him better, and he made me a better pitcher."

    Angels Manager Mike Scioscia, who was Carter's teammate with the Dodgers in 1991, remembered him as "not only an incredible ballplayer but an incredible person."

    "I always admired him when I played against him," Scioscia said, "and it was a pleasure to play with him."

    Born April 8, 1954, in Culver City, Carter was raised in Fullerton. His father, Jim, was an aircraft worker, and his older brother, Gordon, played two years in the Giants' minor league system.

    Carter told Sport magazine that a turning point in his life was the death of his mother when he was 12. Inge Carter suffered from leukemia and died when she was 37.

    "I took it very personally, very hard," Carter said. "One thing it did was turn me off God for a while and onto sports. I really feel everything good I did on a field was for my mother."

    Carter excelled on many athletic fields, collecting 11 varsity letters at Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton and earning more than 100 college scholarship offers in baseball, football and basketball.

    Though a knee injury forced him to miss his senior football season at Sunny Hills, Carter, a quarterback, was set to attend UCLA on a football scholarship until the Expos selected him in the third round of the 1972 draft and signed him for $40,000.

    Carter reached the big leagues two years later. In 10 years with the Expos, the 6-foot-2, 215-pounder with the dimpled chin, curly brown hair and ever-present smile hit .272, averaged 21 homers, 26 doubles and 80 RBIs a season and was a seven-time All-Star.

    Carter was a rare player who would stand outside the park and talk to fans at length. In spring training, he set aside time to pose for pictures and sign autographs.

    He was so accessible to and talkative with the media that once, according to Sports Illustrated, as a sportswriter approached Carter in the clubhouse, a teammate cried out, "Gary, at least wait until the guy asks a question."

    A trade to the New York Mets before the 1985 season thrust Carter from the relative obscurity of small-market Montreal into the limelight of the nation's biggest media market, where Carter was scrutinized like never before.

    Some thought Carter went too far out of his way for good press. Some teammates, resentful of the many endorsements and speaking engagements Carter garnered, thought he hogged the spotlight.

    "It was jealousy more than anything else," Carter told The Times in 1993. "They felt this guy was too good to be true, but I was the same as a rookie as I was the last day I took my uniform off."

    The Mets made Carter baseball's highest-paid player with a $2.07-million salary in 1986, and Carter delivered with a superb season in which he hit .255 with 24 homers and 105 RBIs and finished third in National League most valuable player voting.

    After a slow start in the postseason that October — he had one hit in his first 21 at-bats (.048) in the NL championship series against Houston — Carter warmed at the plate.



    RIP Kid. :(

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    Certified Grumple Bottoms Ron_NYC's Avatar
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    My childhood is taking an extreme beating this week.
    Quote Originally Posted by bowieluva View Post
    Ron was the best part, hands down.

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    Wow, the most shocking thing about this article is being reminded that the Mets actually won something once.
    I wear caps with flat brims and sunglasses with white frames. I...DROOL...

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    Quote Originally Posted by wmdeeznuts View Post
    Wow, the most shocking thing about this article is being reminded that the Mets actually won something once.
    suck it
    they also won in '69
    this is about Gary Carter. He was awesome.

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    Salty. angelaiscaustic's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by wmdeeznuts View Post
    Wow, the most shocking thing about this article is being reminded that the Mets actually won something once.
    STFU

    This made me really sad. RIP Kid.

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    Certified Grumple Bottoms Ron_NYC's Avatar
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    I bet he was born after 86.
    Quote Originally Posted by bowieluva View Post
    Ron was the best part, hands down.

  7. #7
    Moderator puzzld's Avatar
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    Gary Carter was a class act. RIP sir.
    Quote Originally Posted by bowieluva View Post
    lol at Nestle being some vicious smiter, she's the nicest person on this site besides probably puzzld. Or at least the last person to resort to smiting.
    Quote Originally Posted by nestlequikie View Post
    Why on earth would I smite you when I can ban you?

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    New york City Tribute to Gary Carter: Empire State Building in Blue and Orange. <3


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