Gary Carter, Hero of '86 Mets Team - Dying of Brain Cancer

I have been a NY Mets fan since the 60s when they went from 1 of the world's worst teams to the winners of the 1969 World Series, the "Miracle Mets". (No apologies to Cubs fans who feel they was robbed that year.) Over the years I have followed their ups & downs, more downs than ups at times. In 1986 what was the almost perfect combination of players, manager & coaches came together that resulted in another World Series win. The team included Davey Johnson, Bud Harrelson, Mel Stottlemyre, Keith Hernandez, Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, Lenny "Nails" Dykstra, HoJo (Howard Johnson) etc., but IMHO the brightest star of the '86 Mets constellation was Gary Carter. He was their primary catcher that year. More than any other position, catcher is the key defensive position of a team. & Carter proved himself to be 1 of the all time greats at that position.

& with all due respect to Ray Knight, Gary Carter was just as deserving of the World Series MVP award that year as he was.

I will never forget as I watched on TV what happenned in the 10th inning of the 6th game when the Mets were 1 out from losing the series. The score was 5-3, Boston. Hernandez had just made the 2nd out. Carter came up to bat & with a single to left he brought new life to the Mets fans hopes. Then pinch-hitter Kevin Mitchell singled to center. Shea Stadium started to get loud & so did things at my place. Ray Knight came up next. He went down in the count 0-2 bringing the Mets once again to the last strike away from losing. Then he hit the next pitch into center field for a single that scored Carter & advanced Mitchell to 3rd base. This made the score 5-4. Things got louder at Shea & at home. Mookie Wilson came up to bat. The Sox replaced Calvin Schiraldi with Bob Stanley. Once again things were down to 1 strike from the Mets losing. The 7th pitch forced Mookie to his knees, the ball sailed by & hit the backstop allowing Mitchell to bring in the tying run. On the 10th pitch Mookie hit a grounder towards 1st base that should have been easy to field. Somehow the ball went under 1st Baseman  Bill Buckner's glove & between his knees. this allowed Knight to score the winning run as things errupted at shea & everywhere a Mets fan was watching the game.

Here is how

Vin Scully called the play:

"So the winning run is at second base, with two outs, three and two to Mookie Wilson. (A) little roller up along first... behind the bag! It gets through Buckner! Here comes Knight, and the Mets win it!"

Scully remained silent for more than 3 minutes, he then resumed with:

"If one picture is worth a thousand words, you have seen about a million words, but more than that, you have seen an absolutely bizarre finish to Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. The Mets are not only alive, they are well, and they will play the Red Sox in Game 7 tomorrow!"

The Mets went on to win that game & the series. Carter was awarded the Silver Slugger Award as National League Catcher that year.  Carter wrote a book about his experiences that year called A Dream Season.

Carter went on to play with the Mets until '89. He eventually ended up at Montreal where he had started out. In 2001 he was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame. In 2003 he was elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame as well as the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Because he spent more time with the Expos, he was inducted as an Expo.

In a lot of ways, Carter was out of tune with the direction sports was heading. While egos were growing, he was humble, while drugs were becoming more rampant, he didn't smoke & rarely drank. He is a family man. He did his best to live his Christian faith. His Gary Carter Foundation supports 8 Title I schools in Palm Beach County whose students live in poverty.

In May of 2011 Carter was  diagnosed with four malignant tumors in his brain after complaining of headaches & forgetfulness. He had a grade IV primary brain tumor glioblastoma multiforme, which is an extremely aggressive cancer. It couldn't be dealt with by surgery. But other treatments were used. Sadly, on 20 Jan 2012 his daughter Kimmy posted on her blog that an MRI had revealed he had additional tumors.  The WELL WISHES FOR GARY Official Greeting Card has been set up for fans to express their prayers & support for Carter & his family.

As I said, the Mets had many great players that year. They have also had many others before & after. But none of them ever captured my attention like Gary Carter. He is my all time favorite Met. I am saddened to see that this is how is life is ending. He is only 1-2 years older than I am. Which also makes him way too young.

My prayers are with him & his family.

Source: News of Gary Carter's inoperable brain cancer hits especially hard