Hall of Famers Pray For Mets' Carter - NYPost

Posted by The Meck

Hall of Famers pray for Mets' Carter - NYPost / Kevin Kernan
excerpts ..
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- This is all you need to know about The Kid.
Bert Blyleven, who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame tomorrow along with Roberto Alomar, got a call from Gary Carter. "He apologized because he couldn't be here," Blyleven told The Post yesterday. "It was pretty touching."

Carter, 57, could not make it to Cooperstown because he is in Florida battling glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer. In a few weeks, the former Mets great should know where he stands in this fight of his life.
His fellow Hall of Famers have been hit hard by Carter's illness and the deaths in the past year of Bob Feller, Sparky Anderson, Duke Snider, Harmon Killebrew and Dick Williams.

"I don't even feel like being here," a somber Johnny Bench said. "I'm doing it for Bert and Roberto. It's just the worst year ever. I was hoping Gary would be here. I texted him yesterday and he responded."

Blyleven and Carter come from similar backgrounds.
"Gary and I grew up in Southern California," Blyleven said. "He's a couple years younger than me. We've always been good friends. He's just a good Christian man and our prayers go out to Gary, his wife Sandy and his family.
"Gary is one of these guys who wakes up every day and is thankful he is awake. He appreciates every day on this earth. That's his enthusiasm. You run into people who are just kind of there. Gary is so much more than just there."
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The hotel overlooks pristine Otsego Lake and the beautiful Leatherstocking Golf Course, a Norman Rockwell painting. On this day the sky is blue, the mountains so green.

"It's a gorgeous day," Bench said, "but not without Gary's smile."

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Hall of Famers pray for Mets' Carter - NYPost / Kevin Kernan
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The Meck Report / Blog - July 25, 2011 - 11:29a

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