Carter: `A Gracious And Giving Person`

Gary Carter: 'A Gracious And Giving Person' - WSlcom
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THE WALL rnu:Ef JOURNAL.
WSJ.cam
roN METS
February 17. 2012
Carter: 'A Gracious And Giving Person'
By JEFF PEARLMAN
Ed Hearn was crying when he cal1ed on Thursday.
Earlier in the afternoon, Hearn had learned that Gary Carter, the Hal1 of Fame catcher, had died from brain
cancer at age 57. Like many former Mets, Hearn took the news hard. Carter, after all, was one of the centerpieces
of the 1986 World Series champions-a fist-pumping, horne run-hitting ball of energy who carried a long­
suffering franchise to new heights.
But unlike most of the former Mets who now mourned Carter's
leadership and strength and compassion, Hearn was confronted
by an extra wallop of emotion. Seventeen years ago, when Trish
Hearn gave birth to her and her husband's only child, Ed
suggested the boy be named Cody Carter Hearn-"for someone 1
admired so very much," Hearn said of the player he backed up in
'86. "A gracious and giving person."
Three days ago, on Feb. 14, Cody, a handsome boy with his
father's humility and his mother's smile, underwent his fifth
chemotherapy treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. That,
coupled with the passing of his son's namesake, was too much.
"For him to have cancer, and for Gary to die of cancer ... it's very
hard," Hearn said through tears.
"But Cody is just like Gary-tough. I've always hoped that Cody
will one day grow up to be the man Gary Carter was. A man of
faith, a family man, a man who genuinely lived life to the fullest.
If that happens... " A long pause. "If that happens," Hearn said, "1
did something right."
Paul BenoillAssoc,ated Prest
Gary Carter celebrates after the Mats won Ine World
Serles in 1986. Remembrance
Daily Fix: Baseball BIds Adieu to 'The Kid'
Slugging Catcher Fueled Mets' Glory of
19805
Hearn, more than most, always had an understanding of Carter-a bal1player who never quite fit in. It's a seemingly quizzical thing to say about a handsome, strapping man. But it
also happens to be true.
Basebal1 clubhouses are much like junior-high lunchrooms, in
that the cool kids divide themselves from the un-cool; the studs
distance themselves from the geeks.
In the oft-ignorant, oft-shallow world of baseball, Carter was
deemed a geek from the very beginning. He didn't drink and didn't smoke. He didn't curse and he didn't talk
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Gary Carter: 'A Gracious And Giving Person' - WSlcom
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smack. He showed up to work early, played hard, embraced home-plate collisions and-by all accounts-worked
his tail off. He was loyal to his wife, Sandy, and an involved and dedicated father to their three children.
Yet this was rarely good enough for teammates. In Montreal,
where Carter established himself as a star from 1974-84, he was
derisively tagged "Teeth," "Lights" and "Camera Carter" for his
apparent love of the spotlight and his willingness to grant any
and every interview request. Such behavior didn't sit well with
many of the Expos, who mocked him (cowardly, Carter would
later tell me) behind his back and made him the butt of their
juvenile jokes. Why, Carter's famous nickname-The Kid-was
born of neither love nor appreciation, but scorn.
Focus on SportlGetty Images
Gary Carter tags out Boston's Jim Rice at home plata
during Game 6 of the 1986 Worl d Series,
As he was rising through the Expos' minor league system in the
early 1970S, Montreal's players used to irritate the team's
starting catcher, a gruff beer barrel named Barry Foote, with
taunts of, "The Kid's coming! The Kid's gonna take your job!
Watch out for The Kid!"
To his credit, Carter embraced the moniker. The way he saw it, he was a man being paid big dollars to playa
child's game. Hell yes, he was a kid.
Upon arriving in New York in 1985, Carter was celebrated as the final piece for a franchise long on talent and
short on veteran leadership.
And, indeed, he immediately filled that void-hitting a game-winning homer against the hated Cardinals in his
debut game, then bounding out of the dugout for a double-fisted curtain call. Yet even in the Big Apple, Carter
had to deal with the bullies. Darryl Strawberry, the gifted-yet-immature slugger, once egged him into a fight on a
bus, an unthinkable (and embarrassing) moment for a devout Christian who was rarely goaded.
So why all the hostility? Why the insults?
"Simple," says Hearn. ".J ealousy and immaturity. There were people who chose to poke fun at Gary's strength and
character as a man. When you're that different from the majority, and you're vibrantly outspoken, people don't
understand. So they become mean-especially when you're as good as Gary was on the field."
Indeed. Throughout his 19-year career, Carter made baseball and, specifically, catching look easy. Writers
marveled over Strawberry's sinewy grace and Dwight Gooden's 98-mph heater, yet those within the game knew
that the Kid-a 6-foot-2, 205-pound statue of a man-was as gifted as anyone. His throwing arm was a rifle. His
willingness to block the plate was unmatched (his 1986 collision with Cincinnati's Eddie Milner is the stuff of
legend). He hit with power and hit in the clutch. Could he be a tad overly enthusiastic at times? Sure. Did he milk
the occasional moment? Perhaps.
But would teammates rather be stuck with, say, Albert Belle? "Oh my goodness, Gary Carter was a marvelous
player and a marvelous athlete," Brian Johnson, a San Francisco Giants scout and former Major League catcher,
reca1led Thursday. "The way he hIT and threw, even the way he moved around the bases athls size. he was
phenomenal. People don't talk about Gary Carter when they discuss the best of all time, but they should. He
belongs in that dialogue."
Carter's 11 All-Star appearances, three Gold Gloves, five Silver Sluggers, 324 home runs and 1,225 RBI speak
loudly for the career of a man whose bust (featuring, after much deliberation, an Expos cap) sits in the halls of
Cooperstown. Yet for me, one tiny moment from a career of many enormous ones stands out.
In 1985, midway through the Mets' 98-win season, Carter received a call from a producer for "Good Morning
America." The show was looking for .a n athlete to participate in an on-air bubble gum blowing contest and
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Carter-who, true to form, always opted for Bubblelicious and Hubba Bubba over Skoal and Copenhagen­
seemed perfectly suited for the task.
To the producer's surprise, Carter insisted on a condition.
''I'll do it," he said, "but the gum has to be sugar free. I don't want to set a bad example."
-.leff Peaoman is the author of "The Bad Guys Won," a biography Of the 1986 Mets.
A version ojthis article appeared P, bruary 17, 2012, 011 page AIS in some U.s. editions o/Tlte Wall Street
Journal, with the headline: Carter: 'A GracioUSAncl Giving Person',
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