RIP Gary Carter

Indeed. I grew up an Expos fan in the 70s (watching Dave Van Horne and Duke Snider call mid-week games on TV) before the Jays came around and continued to follow them until they moved to Washington.

If the Jays collapse against the Royals in the 1985 ALCS was my biggest disappointment as a fan, Rick Monday's homer and the cancellation of the 1994 season, when the Expos were the best team in the majors, would be a close second.

 

I've never been a big Canadiens fan, but I thought it was really classy of them to put on a Carter tribute before yesterday's game in Montreal:

http://www.businessinsider.com/watch-in-this-emotional-scene-the-montreal-canadiens-paid-tribute-to-gary-carter-2012-2

 

One thing I'll always remember about Carter was this advertisement for the team that ran in the Mets yearbook in Carter's first year.

The ad was kinda-like a Norman Rockwell painting, with this little boy in a baseball cap and his Lassie dog standing in the grass. The boy has this big smile on his face because it shows Carter in his Mets uniform and in his catcher's equipment down on one knee with his mask and glove on the ground autographing a ball for the kid.

I know that was his image, and some of his teammates and opponents hated it, but I've always thought it was cool that he really did try to be a good guy to everyone. I never got to meet him, but I had some friends who did, and they said he was the nicest guy to them.

RIP

 

I have to admit I never liked him - As a teenage Yankee fan, he was pretty easy to dislike though all my friends worshiped him.

Loved those Expos teams - Bill Gullickson was a favorite.

Seems like he was really sincere and a great guy. RIP.

 

I'm not a Habs fan in the least, but nobody does tradition like they do. And they've done a fantastic job of keeping the Expos flame alive in Montreal (and for keeping Youppi in the spotlight).

 

Yes they have. Kudos to the Habs.

 

Damn - another article that mentions the alums of Sunny Hills High School (Gary Carter, Jackson Browne) but leaves me out. I'm hurt.

(And Chris Dufresne attended a different school in the district, where my dad was a teacher.)