Gary Carter’s Smile

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• 86mets May 28, 2011 at 10:33 am

  I never had the chance to see the Mets,or “The Kid”, in person. But I will always remember that smile that you talk about Annie. I remember watching the Mets on TV and seeing that smile on his face in the dugout or on the field is a memory I’ll always have of Gary Carter. If you were having a bad day, how could you not feel better just seeing his smile? This, I’ll remember too. There were some wild individuals on that 1986 WS championship team, guys you’d never, EVER, let your daughter date (Lenny Dykstra springs to mind immediately), but Gary Carter always seemed to be just a great guy on or off the field.

  I know some opponents probably thought Gary was arrogant or whatever because he was always smiling and talking. But I think he just absolutely appreciated the opportunity to play a kid’s game for a living and make a lot of money to boot doing it. I don’t think Gary Carter ever once took for granted the privilege he was granted to play the game he loved so very, very much as so many of today’s stars do. That’s why Gary Carter always has been, and always will be among my favorite Met stars of all time.

  My thoughts and prayers with Gary and his family in his hour of need. Best wishes to the man we’ll always love as “The Kid”.
• christine May 28, 2011 at 11:08 am

  Hi
  I am also one of the biggest Gary Carter fans out there..I am quite very sad about this.I met Gary several times. The first when he wrote his first book at Bloomingdales, he was so nice and you could tell right away that he loved talking to baseball fans.The second time was at a baseball card show in NJ my husband drove me for I don’t drive I have a photo of him & people that I worked with at the time has the photo made super-sized in is in my Computer room along with alot of gary stuff..Also, I have all of his coopertown items wehn he was inducted in 2003 we went to the Met game of course when they had a sepcial day for gary..We went to cooperstown last year & it was quite emontional to see him among all the other great players…I so will cross my fingers for him & his family,my heart goes out to him…
• Lou May 28, 2011 at 11:13 am

  I hope they have a Gary Carter day at Citi Field soon and hope he is well enough to attend. It would be a fine tribute to him, his family and appreciation from the Met owners and fans. Hall of Fame aside, this would mean more. Get well and God Bless Gary and his family.
  • christine May 29, 2011 at 4:16 pm

    I would like to see that too!!!He so deserves one of these MLB teams to make him a Manager As all you tru Gary Carter fans would only know… Also I like him before he became a Met You could see he loved to game of baseball His nickname (Kid) so suits him.
• Annie Savoy May 28, 2011 at 12:40 pm

  86Mets, Christine and Lou –

  Thank you for your very special memories of Gary as a player. I can’t remember anyone else on that team having such a good time and being so gracious about it.

  Christine, Thank you for telling us about Gary at Cooperstown – he certainly belongs there with all the other great and talented players.

  Lou – As we hear more news about Gary’s condition, it would be wonderful for the 2011 Mets to honor him with a day at Citi Field.

  I received this note from Nora –
  I just read the note on MMO that you posted about Gary and it’s all so true. He is a wonderful person and I was saddened when I heard last night that it’s probably 90% cancer. A tough road ahead for him and his family, but he has a lot of folks praying for him.
  • Lou May 28, 2011 at 12:49 pm

    PS: No Met ever looked beeter in the Met pinstripe uniform than “The Kid” . I love that pinstripe uniform and wish they would bring it back permanently. It is a classic!
• Drew May 28, 2011 at 11:07 pm

  My first Mets game was in the early 1990s as a 3-year-old. My dad took me to Shea, and we got seats on the 3rd base side pretty close to the field. The Mets were playing the Expos, and The Kid was back playing for Montreal. Of course, since I was a 4-year-old at the time, I have very little recollection of any of the Mets games I went to at Shea before moving to Florida in 1993, but I do remember a very specific part of this game.

  While I was sitting in my seats, a little girl in either the row in front of me or the row behind me (my memory and my dad’s disagree on this) turned to me and said “The Expos are gonna win!” My response was to begin chanting (yes, chanting) “Nu-uh. Mets Rule, Expos Suck! Mets Rule, Expos Suck!” My dad, a life-long Mets fan (well, since he was 4 when they formed anyway) tried to quiet me down, and I remember thinking that it seemed really weird, but I continued anyway. I don’t remember anything else about the game or any other, but I brought this up to my dad about 10 years ago, and he told me that what I remembered was completely true. So I asked him why he was trying to keep me quiet. His response? The girl I was arguing with was Gary Carter’s daughter.
• alwayzamazin May 29, 2011 at 9:14 pm

  Hi Annie,

  i was listening to the radio today and they were commenting that to have a “Gary Day” at citifield might imply it is hopeless. very mixed reviews on that one. i think that would have to be left to he and his family to decide. I hope the mets make the offer, not sure how we make our voices heard on that.

  in the meanwhile, how about collecting all our good wishes and sending them to him and his family? your asking for stories is great! not everyone likes to write, maybe just give them a chance to offer prayers…

  the responses to your query are very special and of course should be
• alwayzamazin May 29, 2011 at 9:18 pm

  *** (got cut of)front and center when the well wishes are sent. Gary would for sure enjoy each one!

  any one else, thoughts?
  • Annie Savoy May 30, 2011 at 12:40 pm

    Thank you all for wanting to send our messages to Gary – I think we need to wait and see just what he is facing. Computers are wonderful in that they save all our writings and so they will be available if and when we need them. I appreciate all of you that wrote and I’m sure there are those who just prayed. Gary needs all of us.