At the risk of navel gazing, I just wanted to share a few memories of Gary Carter, who passed away today. I’m sure the other authors of Real Dirty Mets will have their own to share in the coming hours and days.
When my cousin first told me about the rumor that the Mets were close to making a trade for Gary Carter, I couldn’t process it. Throughout most of my childhood, Gary Carter was one of “those” players. You know, the good ones. The ones the Mets never had. We settled for the mediocre youngsters, the washed-up veterans, the no-names. Sure, we picked up Keith Hernandez in ’83, but Gary Carter, too?
Then I wasn’t sure – was it worth giving up Hubie Brooks? Who was going to play third? Then I got over it.
When the trade was finalized, I told my brother-in-law, a Yankee fan, that Carter was the “portal to the World Series.” Yes, I actually said that, and I’m not proud of myself.
Then Carter hit a walk-off (they didn’t call it that back then, but I digress) home run on opening day, 1985, against a Cardinals team they would duel with all year long. The Mets won 98 games that year. The Cardinals were 3 games better. But they went down fighting, as if infected by the never-quit attitude of the Kid himself.
By then, my buddy and I would go to the local baseball field and play pick-up games, when we weren’t playing Babe Ruth league games. I would imitate the stance of Keith Hernandez, and he would imitate (perfectly, I might add), the stance of Gary Carter.
Carter was a vital part of the championship team of 1986 team – they all were, really. But Carter provided a game-winning (erm, walk-off) single in the NLCS, and toyed with the Green Monster by hitting 2 home runs in Game 4 of the World Series. He started the miraculous rally in the 10th inning of Game 6 with a two-out single. He jumped like a little kid into the arms of Jesse Orosco after the final swing-and-miss by Marty Barrett in Game 7.
I remember going to a game at Shea in 1987. By the time we got there, it was already the second inning, and the Mets were down by 3. The first thing I saw was Carter staring up at the heavens with his mask off following a wild pitch. I don’t remember who the pitcher was, and I don’t even remember who they played. I do remember that Carter and the Mets came back to win – was it 10-6? Howard Johnson capped the game off with a long bomb into the right field bullpen.
That was another year the Mets just couldn’t outduel the Cardinals. Their pitching staff was just too banged up, much like Carter’s knees. Years of pushing himself to the limit were finally taking their toll.
When he left after the 1989 season, I knew it was the right move, but I wished he could have finished his career with the Mets. He finished it with his original team, the Expos, which was the next best thing.
When Gary Carter passed on today, part of my life did – part of my childhood. Strange as it sounds for someone I never even met, I feel like I lost a friend.
8 comments
MetsFan4Decades
2/16/2012-10:18pm at 10:18 pm (UTC -4)
Thanks for sharing. Reading these Gary Carter memories from fans this evening made me realize what a universally beloved player he was among us fans. I’m so thankful now I was a card carrying die hard Met fan for many years already by the time Cashen made that trade to bring Gary over to the Mets.
Thanks for starting The Rally in ’86, Gary.
Speaking of his first game ever in a Met uniform….just got to the top of the 10th on Opening Day 1985. We all know how this ends in the bottom of the 10th.
Mike.BTB
2/17/2012-8:51am at 8:51 am (UTC -4)
In a clubhouse filled with dominant personalities, Gary Carter’s presence took a back seat to no one’s.
SaltyGary
2/17/2012-9:59am at 9:59 am (UTC -4)
“When Gary Carter passed on today, part of my life did – part of my childhood. Strange as it sounds for someone I never even met, I feel like I lost a friend”
Feel the same way. It’s really the first time I have ever been emotional about someone I never knew personally. As I digested it last night I really felt like I lost a piece of my youth. As a adult you hold on to those exciting memories of when you were young. Seeing Han Solo frozen by Darth Vader in a movie theater when I was 5, sleep-overs and Carter for me was the introduction to how you play sports.
Paul Festa
2/17/2012-11:29am at 11:29 am (UTC -4)
Well put!
Mr North Jersey
2/17/2012-10:35am at 10:35 am (UTC -4)
Thanks for sharing this Paul.
SaltyGary
2/17/2012-4:40pm at 4:40 pm (UTC -4)
A friend of mine who works for a public access station in NY found some archive footage of Carter in a interview ’88 and loaded it up. Get though the hokey music and it’s good:
http://vimeo.com/36978788
Also look at the dugout interior in the beginning. Last night watching Carter’s 1st game the camera panned to the dugout. I immediately said to my wife “look at that god awful wood paneling, they probably haven’t updated the dugout since Shea was built”. Within a second of me finishing that comment the game announcer says “we don’t know if you noticed at home but the Mets have completely renovated the dugouts, don’t they look great”?
gategem
2/17/2012-5:39pm at 5:39 pm (UTC -4)
I had the pleasure of attending games at “Big Shea” (as Merle Harmon called it when broadcasting Jets games) and it was indeed a beautiful ballpark. It’s sad to think that it was modeled after Dodger Stadium and while Dodger Stadium to this day is one of the finest ballparks Shea was allowed to become a rundown old ballpark (although it was “our dump”).
Paul Festa
2/17/2012-6:14pm at 6:14 pm (UTC -4)
Yeah, I remember when they renovated the dugouts. They made them look like my parents’ basement.