Tag Archives: Gary Carter

May 25, 2020

Catcher WOWY

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Tom Tango does a with or without you (WOWY) study of catcher runs reduced. Gary Carter appears to be the best of all time at 1204 runs reduced when catching. What caught my eye, however, was the last paragraph:

Note 2: since someone will ask, Mike Piazza was better than his mates by 322 runs. Make of it what you will. I just know whatever number this method spit out, someone is going to complain.

TangoTiger.com

Piazza’s offense worked at any position, so if his defense really cost his teams a lot of runs, someone would have moved him to first base sooner rather than later. The fact that he caught a number of really good pitchers throughout his career indicates to me that these pitchers were not complaining much about his ability as a catcher. So that result does not surprise me.

February 25, 2012 February 16, 2012

Carter Passes

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Gary Carter lost his fight with brain cancer:

Former Major League Baseball catcher Gary Carter, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame who won a World Series with the 1986 New York Mets, died on Thursday, aged 57, after battling brain cancer, his family said.

Carter, an 11-time All-Star who spent the bulk of his career with the Montreal Expos, was known as “The Kid” during a 19-year career that also included stints with the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers.

“The Kid’s contribution to our National Pastime is big, but his heart was even bigger,” Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson said in a statement.

Carter was the rare breed of catcher who excelled both at the plate and behind the plate. His best year was 1982, when he posted a .381 OBP and a .510 slugging percentage playing in a tough park for hitters in Montreal. His defense was outstanding, both in handling pitchers and throwing out runners. During his peak, he posted bWARs of 5.0+ in eight of nine years. He was fun to watch.

His biggest hit came in 1986. With two out in the bottom of the tenth and the Mets one strike away from a World Series loss to the Red Sox, Gary singled to start one of the great comebacks of all time, and the Mets went on to win the World Series.

I did have a brush with greatness with Carter. In the early 1990s I was working for STATS, Inc., and out reporter in the Shea Stadium pressbox kept having trouble with the scoring software. I thought if I sat with him, I might see the problem and be able to fix it. At one point I went to the bathroom, and in walked Gary Carter. We gave each other a head nod as we relieved ourselves. Of course, that was the moment the software chose to crash. 🙂

The NY Times offers this slide show of Gary’s career.

My thoughts go out to his family and friends.

January 19, 2012

Cancer Returns

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Gary Carter‘s brain cancer is back:

According to a family source, the doctors are now deciding whether to cease giving Carter any more treatment.

In a telephone conversation with the Daily News two weeks ago, Carter expressed his fear and frustration over his worsening condition and the devastation of the brain tumors that were first diagnosed in May of last year.

“I’m not feeling too good,” he told The News. “It’s been coming on and coming on. I’ve had a chest cold. I’ve got sores in my mouth, blood clots. I get sick … there’s just so many things … It’s been nine months now and I don’t feel any different from Day One. I haven’t been up to doing any interviews.”

On the website Thursday, Carter’s daughter reported: “I wish I could report the results were good … I write these words with tears because I am so sad for my dad. Dr. Jimmy Harris will be coming to my parents’ house this evening to talk to the family about the next step.”

We had a family friend go through this. This is a terrible cancer that eventually gets the best of the treatments. My heart goes out to Gary and his family.

October 29, 2011 June 1, 2011

Retiring Carter’s Number

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Craig Calcaterra wonders if now is the right time for the Mets to retire Gary Carter’s number:

Question: If there wasn’t a reason for that and it was mere lazy oversight, is changing course on that now — in light of a possibly terminal cancer diagnosis — an awkward thing for Carter? Does it turn the affair into a premature wake? If I’m Gary Carter, do I ask “hey, why didn’t you do this before now?”

I would point out that the Yankees did the same thing for Roger Maris, waited until he was dying to retire his number. I will also point out that a premature wake is not a bad thing. A very good friend of ours died of brain cancer, and while she was still able to function decently she invited all her friends for a party. Everyone got to see her and say good-bye, and while it was a sad occasion, it was a happy one as well, a much better memory than seeing her lying in a coffin. I’m all for the ceremony, given that experience.

May 27, 2011