Hall of Famer Gary Carter “The Kid” Loses Battle with Brain Cancer at age 57
By Drew Balen
In 1972 at the age of 18, Gary Carter began his professional playing career (after being selected in the 3rd round of the 1972 MLB amateur draft out of Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton, California) playing with the Montreal Expos Rookie Team in the Florida East Coast Rookie League (FECRL) before being promoted to the High-A West Palm Beach Expos of the Florida State League for the remainder of the 72 season. The 1973 season saw Carter play for the Double-A Quebec Carnavals (Eastern League) and the Triple-A Peninsula Whips (International League). In 1974, Carter was a member of the Triple-A Memphis Blues (International League) before making his Major League debut on September 16, 1974 when the Montreal Expos hosted the New York Mets in the second game of a doubleheader at Parc Jarry.
Over the course of his 19 year MLB career, Carter would play in 2296 regular season games in which he collected 2092 hits, 324 HR and 1225 RBI as a member of the Montreal Expos, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, and Los Angeles Dodgers. He was an eleven-time All-Star, five-time Silver Slugger Award winner, three-time Gold Glove Award winner and member of the 1986 World Champion New York Mets.
In 2003, Carter was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York. He went in as a member of the Montreal Expos, who retired his number 8.
Carter was the manager of the Gulf Coast League Mets in 2005, the St. Luice Mets (Florida State League) in 2006, the Orange County Flyers (Golden League), Long Island Ducks (Atlantic League), and was the head coach of NCAA Division II Palm Beach Atlantic University.
Today, Carter lost his battle with Brain Cancer. He was 57 years old.
All of us at Seedling to Stars would like to send our condolences to his family and friends. The kid was one of a kind. He will be remembered for his many accomplishments as a player and coach, after dedicating his life to the game of baseball.
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