Gary Carter, April 8, 1954 – February 16, 2012
There cannot be enough said about Gary Carter. The baseball world, players, analysts, writers, and fans have been remarkable in their tributes to Carter’s life and legacy. Carter passed away yesterday just a few months shy of his 58th birthday. He was too young. He was too nice. He was too amazing a person to have been taken from this world. Yet, that’s the horror of cancer. Cancer does not care.
I wrote about Gary Carter and his career against the Padres for Chicken Friars, but it’s not enough. I may not have the personal memories, the stories that those close to him have, or the one-on-one contact that so many have shared, but I know what Carter means to the game. I know his life is one that should be remembered, and it should be told and re-told countless times. My subtle contribution may pale in comparison of others, but this is something I felt needed to be done. When the world spends a week mourning the death of a pop star, but the death of a Hall of Fame baseball player who battled cancer barely makes a blip with non-sports media, something is wrong.
Carter was elected to the baseball Hall of Fame in 2003. He wasn’t a first ballot Hall of Famer. No, Carter had to wait eleven years after his playing days had ended to be enshrined in Cooperstown. And I have no doubt he waited with a smile on his face. Carter, aside from his playing career, is known for his attitude. He was always smiling, he was always excited to play the game, and he did so with child-like enthusiasm. For some the game presses down on them too much. It causes stress, and it makes some only able to see the negative. And there is surely plenty of negative to be seen. However, Carter never let that wear on him. Not publicly at least. In a fantastic post about Carter’s life, Joe Posnanski explains why Carter was called “The Kid,” and why it fit him better than just about any player to ever carry that nickname.
Gary Carter hit .262/.335/.439 in his career. Hit clubbed 324 home runs, and he drove in 1,225 runs, all while collecting 2,092 hits. He was worth 66.3 wins above replacement over the course of his 19-year career. However, these are just numbers. Carter was more than the statistics we all love so much. His arm behind the plate was fantastic, his bat packed some power, but Carter was an enigma among players. He was Derek Jeter before there was Derek Jeter. He was Tony Gwynn while playing five years in the media-hightened city of New York. Fans loved him. Carter didn’t let his frustrations show. He exemplified what fans always think. These players get paid to play a game, and Carter embraced that. While the thought that baseball is just a game, and that every player should just be thankful is a oversight on the part of many fans, Carter really made people watch him play and remember their days on the Little League diamonds.
Carter was a very religious man, and he felt compelled and honored to give back to the community, to help those in need. From his website, the mission of the Gary Carter Foundation is, “to better the physical, mental, and spiritual well being of children.” Carter’s foundation provided support and monetary assistance to so many. According to the website, the foundation raised over $622,000 for charitable purposes. In 2007, the Gary Carter Foundation was awarded the “Spirit of Youth Foundation Honoree.”
Gary Carter was that player we all look to as a role model for our children. When negative news involving players comes out, we all yearn for players like Carter to step up in the game. His legacy is so much more than what he did on the field. Carter provided the world with a star of America’s Pastime in which we could expect professionalism and dignity both on the field and off. He lead by example, and did so while putting up Hall of Fame-worthy numbers.
Carter will be sorely missed, but we can honor him, his philanthropic goals, and his brave battle with cancer. I am not a charitable organization spokesman. I am a blogger. I write about baseball, but given the opportunity to support organizations that battle cancer, I will take them every time. The game of baseball has been touched by cancer on numerous occasions, but the world is touched every day. It’s a disease that knows no bounds. Children, young adults, men, and women are all affected. Cancer doesn’t have a rule book, it doesn’t care where the fair or foul lines are. It just takes. But we can work to fight it.
The V Foundation makes sure every penny donated goes directly to cancer research. During Jimmy V Week last year, I wrote a piece about cancer in baseball and urging you all to donate. I’m doing that again. In the wake of another cancer victim, this one as well-known as Gary Carter, take the opportunity to donate to an organization that not only you should be proud of but Carter himself would be proud of.
If you’d like to donate, click here.
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