Lost amidst the din of the Whitney Houston death was the passing of a baseball legend whose life was as admired off the field as it was when he donned a glove and swung a bat. Gary Carter, the catcher whose 10th-inning single for the New York Mets in the 1986 World Series sparked an improbable winning rally, died of a brain tumor Thursday. He was 57.
Carter belonged to an era that seems rather distant upon reflection, a time when ballplayers seemed part of a clean athletic tradition, and not one pursued simply for big payouts and steroid-fueled home run production. "The Kid," as he was nicknamed, was a throwback to baseball played for the joy of it, as his toothy smile showed every time he stepped out on the field.
"His nickname captured how Gary approached life," the Mets front office said in a statement after his death. "He did everything with enthusiasm and gusto on and off the field. His smile was infectious. He was a Hall of Famer in everything he did." Elected to the Hall in 2001, fellow legend Mike Schmidt said that "No player ever appreciated that call to the extent he did. The joy it brought him was so real and pleasantly genuine, I ate it up and still do."
Showing his zeal for not only the game but its fans, Carter actually took a Berlitz crash course in French when he was drafted by the Montreal Expos in 1972 — though he'd also signed a letter of intent to play football at UCLA. He made the All-Star team in his rookie season, batting .270 with 17 home runs and 68 RBI. He's still the only player to hit two home runs in both an All-Star game and a World Series.
When I was growing up in Detroit, I always admired the kind of friendly intensity shown by players like Al Kaline, to whom sportsmanship and fair play were as important as winning or losing. Gary Carter embodied what's best about professional sports — watching grown men playing as hard as the rules allow them to, and looking like happy kids while doing it. That era, along with a great player and human being, has sadly passed us by.