Gary Carter

At 57 years old, Gary Carter has this physical status:

Playing career

Carter was drafted as a shortstop in the third round of the 1972 Major League Baseball draft by the Montreal Expos as a shortstop. During Carter's first spring training camp with the Expos in 1974, he earned the nickname "the Kid."

Carter was converted by the Expos to a catcher in minor leagues. For the Memphis Blues, he hit 23 home runs and drove in 83 runs in 1974. Carter made his major league debut in Jarry Park in Montreal in the second game of a doubleheader against the New York Mets on Monday, September 16. Despite going 0–4 in his first game, he finished the season batting.407 (11–27). In both games of an Expos sweep of another doubleheader with the Mets on September 18, he was a pinch hitter in the opener's seventh innings and as the catcher in the nightcap. In a 3–1 victory over the visiting Philadelphia Phillies on September 28, his first MLB home run came against Steve Carlton.

During his rookie season (1975), Carter went back to right field and catching, and was selected as a right fielder for the National League All-Star team. He did not have an at bat, but he appeared as a defensive replacement for Pete Rose in the ninth inning, and Rod Carew's fly ball for the final out of the NL's 6–3 victory. Carter batted in his first season in.270, winning the Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award and finishing second to San Francisco Giants pitcher John Montefusco for the National League Rookie of the Year award.

He was named Expos Player of the Year in 1977, 1980, and 1984, and 1984.

In 1976, Carter ran both in the outfield and behind the plate for the second time. He batted just.219 with six home runs and 38 RBIs, limited to 91 games due to a broken finger. Warren Cromartie, Ellis Valentine, and Andre Dawson, two young actors, became full-time outfielders in 1977. In mid-June, former starting catcher Barry Foote was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies, giving Carter even more starts. He responded with 31 home runs and 84 RBIs in a brief time at other positions. Carter had 29 home runs, 102 runs, and received his first of three consecutive Gold Glove Awards in 1980. In NL MVP voting, Mike Schmidt came second, his Phillies took the National League East by a game over the Expos.

During the first half of the strike, Carter caught Charlie Lea's no-hitter on May 10, 1981, the nightcap of a doubleheader split. Carter was playing in the 1981 All-Star Game for the first time on Sunday, August 9, as the season began again. His two home runs earned him the game's MVP award, making him the fifth and youngest player to reach two home runs in an All-Star Game.

With the first-place teams from each division competing in a best-of-five divisional playoff series, MLB divided the fractured 1981 season into two halves. The four survivors then advanced to the best-of-five League Championship Series in two separate seasons. The Expos won the NL East's second half with a 30–23 record. Carter played.421, scored two home runs and drove in six in the Expos' three games to a two-game victory over the Phillies in the division series, his first post-season appearance. Carter's average in the NLCS rose to.438, with no home runs or RBIs, and his Expos lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games, who won the World Series over the New York Yankees.

"I am certainly grateful that I don't have to run for office against Gary Carter," Pierre Elliott Trudeau, then prime minister of Canada, tweeted of Carter's popularity. However, several Expos were turned off by Carter's unbridled enthusiasm, fearing that he was too involved with his image and basked in his press coverage too eagerly, mocking him "Camera Carter." Carter, according to Andre Dawson, was "more a hound than a team player."

Carter received his second All-Star Game MVP award after hitting the home run in the 1984 All-Star Game to give the NL a 2–1 lead that they did not relinquish. Carter's 106 RBIs (an NL lead) 159 games were played,.294 batting average, 175 hits, and 290 total bases were all personal records, with 159 games played, 159 games played, 159 games completed, 159 games played, 159 games played,.294 batting average, 290 total bases, and 290 total bases.

In the NL East, the 1984 Expos came fifth. The rebuilding Expos chafed at Carter's salary demands and traded him to the Mets in December for Hubie Brooks, Mike Fitzgerald, Herm Winningham, and Floyd Youmans.

He won the Mets 6–5 in his first game with New York on April 9, 1985. Keith Hernandez, a former Cardinal first baseman, and Carter and ex-Cardinal first baseman Keith Hernandez led NY in the National League East championship. The Mets won 98 games but lost the division by three games to the Cardinals, but the Cardinals took the tie by three games. Carter made a career-best 32 home runs and drove in 100 runs. In the top ten in the NL MVP polls this season, three Mets players finished in the top ten (Dwight Gooden 4th, Carter 6th, and Hernandez 8th).

The Mets won 108 games and took the National League East by 21+1 games over the Phillies in 1986. Carter was in the NLCS' postseason slump, batting.148. Nonetheless, he won Game 5 after hitting a walk-off RBI single. In Game 6, which the Mets won in 16 innings, Carter had two hits.

In seven games over the Boston Red Sox, the Mets won the World Series in seven games. Carter in his first World Series hit.276 with nine RBIs, and in Game Four, he batted Fenway Park's Green Monster. In both an All-Star Game (1981) and a World Series game, he is the only player to have reached two home runs. In the tenth inning of Game 6, Carter led to a two-out rally, scoring the first of three Mets runs on a single by Ray Knight. He also tied the game with an eighth-inning sacrifice fly. In 1986, Carter ranked third on the NL MVP ballot.

Carter hit.235 in 1987 and ended the season with 291 home runs. After a fast start to May 16, 1988, he had 299 home runs against the Chicago Cubs in August 11, his lowest score in his 300th game at Wrigley Field. Carter was named co-captain of the team with Hernandez, who had been named captain during the previous season, during his home run drought.

Carter finished 1988 with 11 home runs and 46 RBIs, his lowest totals since 1976. With 10,360 career putouts as a catcher, he ended the season with 10,360 career putouts, beating Bill Freehan (9,941)'s career record.

The Mets won 100 games this season, winning the NL East by 15 games. They were notably upset by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS, who were largely favored. In 50 games for the Mets in 1989, Carter batted.183. Carter was fired by the Mets in November after five seasons, during which he had hit 89 home runs and drove in 349 runs.

Carter joined the San Francisco Giants shortly after being released by the Mets after the 1989 season. He platooned with catcher Terry Kennedy in 1990, batting.254 with nine home runs. In 1991, a Los Angeles Dodger returned to pennant racing, with LA finishing one game behind the Atlanta Braves in the National League West, with Atlanta finishing one game behind the Atlanta Braves.

Carter, a veteran of the season, returned to Montreal for his final season after receiving waivers from the Dodgers. Despite his age, Carter was still referred to as "the Kid" by coworkers. On September 27, 1992, he struck a double over the head of Chicago Cubs right-fielder and former Expos teammate Andre Dawson in his last at-bat (in the seventh inning). Larry Walker's hit was enough to win, and it was the winning shot. He was given a standing ovation after the attack. In the National League East, the Expos went 87-75 and finished second behind the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Carter, an eleven-time All-Star, has received three Gold Glove Awards and five Silver Sluggers in his nineteen-year career. He played in 2,296 games, totaling 2,092 runs at 7,971 runs batted in, a.262 career batting average, 324 home runs, 1,225 runs batted in, and a.335 on-base percentage. He made 307 home runs as a catcher, his seventh all-time at the position. In addition, his 1,225 runs batted in his career, placing him seventh all-time among major league catchers.

Carter's 2,056 games as a catcher place him fifth on the all-time list. He had 127 shutouts during his career, placing him sixth in the top-ten major league catchers in this category. He led National League catchers eight times in putouts, five times in assists, and three times in baserunners caught stealing. He had 810 baserunners caught stealing the most for any major league catcher since the time of the death-ball era, when stolen bases were more common. His 11,785 putouts and 149 double plays during his playing career put him joint tenth all-time among major league catchers.

During his playing career, Carter's.991 career fielding percentage was five points higher than the league average. When he cracked the 100 assists record in 1977, he joined Johnny Bench and Jim Sundberg as the only major league catchers to have more than 100 assists in a season since the Second World War.

Carter also had the second best career WAR for a catcher during his career.

Post-playing career

Carter worked as an analyst for Florida Marlins television broadcasts from 1993 to 1996 after his retirement as a player. He was also in the film The Last Home Run (1998), which was shot in 1996.

On January 7, 2003, Carter was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his sixth year on the ballot. He was the first Hall of Fame inducting a person with the Montreal Expos logo on his plaque. Carter had earlier stated his intention to be drafted wearing an Expos cap during his last playing season. Given the inconsistency surrounding the Expo franchise, Carter's time with the Mets, his World Series title with the Mets, and his media celebrity during his time in New York, he changed his preference for a Mets cap after his election to the Hall. Carter's choice, according to the New York City media, was to enter the Hall as a Met. Carter joked that "he wanted his Cooperstown cap to be a half-and-half split between the Expos and Mets." The final decision rested with the Hall of Fame, and Hall president Dale Petroskey announced that Carter's service with the Expos over the past twelve seasons earned him his induction, although his five seasons with the Mets would not have, "we want to represent the team that best represents where a player made the greatest contribution in his career." It's very straightforward when you look at it. Gary Carter is a vital piece of the Expos' history. "The fact that I served 11 years in Montreal and the fact that the bulk of my statistics and accomplishments were obtained there would be wrong, surely not to do it any other way." Carter expressed admiration for the Hall's decision. Carter spoke in French at the induction ceremony, thanking fans in Montreal for the immense honor and pleasure of playing in that city, while still remembering the Mets' 1986 championship as the pinnacle of his career.

Carter was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 2001. Although the Mets haven't renamed number eight, it has remained unoccupied since his induction to the Hall of Fame in 2003. He and Dave McKay were elected into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001, and his number eight was retired by the Expos in 2001. Following the 2004 season, the Expos in Washington, D.C., became the Washington Nationals, including Carter, Andre Dawson, Tim Raines, and Rusty Staub. Carter is honored in the Ring of Honor at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.

Carter was named First Coast Manager of the Year for his first season with the Gulf Coast Mets in 2005. A year later, he was promoted to the St. Lucie Mets A-Level and coached his team to the 2006 Florida State League championship, earning Manager of the Year awards once more. Carter was chastised in recent years, most notably by former co-captain Keith Hernandez for twice openly advocating for the Mets' managerial position when it was still occupied by incumbents Art Howe in 2004 and 2008, Willie Randolph.

In 2008, he coached the Orange County Flyers of the Golden Baseball League, guiding his team to the GBL Championship and winning the Grand Ball Championship for his first year.

Carter was named manager of the Long Island Ducks of the Independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball in the following seasons. The Ducks captured the 2009 Liberty Division title in the second half of the Liberty Division, but the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs defeated the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in the Liberty Division playoffs.

Carter was named head baseball coach for the NCAA Division II Palm Beach Sailfish in October 2009.

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