Gary 'The Kid' Carter wasn't supposed to get sick - Bob Klapisch / NJ Record
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It was his cheerful nature – an optimism that was out of place amid his teammates’ savage in-fighting. Carter was the Mets’ co-captain, yet he never was part of the team’s inner circle. He was too nice for that, which is why news that he’d been diagnosed with four brain tumors was so devastating. Good guys like Carter deserve better.
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“Gary figured it out way before we did how to treat people,” Backman said. “We used to make fun of him, the way he’d sign every damn autograph. We had to hold the bus for him sometimes, because he didn’t know how to say no. He didn’t want to say no. But you know what? He was right. He really loved the game.”
Of course, no one ever questioned Carter’s credentials on the field, where he hit .262 with 324 home runs and 1225 RBI in a 19-year career. Along with Hernandez, The Kid was one of the integral components of a resurgence in Flushing that began in earnest in 1985. And talk about timing: in his first game as a Met, Carter hit a 10th-inning home run off Neil Allen to give the Mets an opening day victory over the Cardinals.
Carter’s postgame smile was that of a prophet’s: He sensed the coming of the golden era, which the Mets never have duplicated. Carter taught New York that nothing was beyond the imagination – a lesson that, sadly, is being relearned today.
Who knew Carter would be the first ’80s Met to get sick? This is impossible.
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Gary 'The Kid' Carter wasn't supposed to get sick - Bob Klapisch / NJ Record
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The Meck Report / Blog - May 22, 2011 - 3:38a
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