The Baseball Crank: The Kid calls his last slider

Kid

If you don’t already know, Gary "Kid" Carter is going to die pretty soon. He will be 58 years old on April 8, if he lives that long.

Last spring, Carter was diagnosed with brain tumors, and after some small improvement in his condition, things have recently gotten much worse.

Many casual baseball fans of the 1980’s would immediately recognize the handsomely-smiling, pushed out of the dugout bow-taking, giver and receiver of back-slapping, Gary "Kid" Carter.

If you didn’t know him, you would, or a New York Met fan would let you know about him back then. He was kind of like Tim Tebow, but where Tebow is always giving, Gary was sometimes taking. What I am saying is, Gary Carter was a really good guy, but he had some legitimate detractors – not only for his self-promotion, but also for his lack of production after 1986, at least according to any ardent Met fan of the time.

In 1985, when the New York Mets acquired slugging, All Star catcher Gary Carter in a trade with the Montreal Expos, the future Hall of Famer became another huge piece of a Met team that remains the best they have ever had. Carter had a great season in 1985, when the Mets fell a bit short of the Cardinals, in spite of Dwight Gooden’s unbelievable year. The Kid followed 1985 up with a good season in 1986, when the Mets won the Series. Carter only hit .255 but had 24 homers and drove in 104, and he was great behind the plate. After that season, Carter spent more and more time on the DL, and was never really a productive hitter again. All those years behind the plate took a huge toll.

Another homer for the Kid

Past that, he was well worthy of being elected to the Hall of Fame, and is arguably a top 10 catcher, all time.

The best Gary Carter story I know is really a Keith Hernandez, Jesse Orosco, and Gary Carter story:

In the 6^th game of the 1986 NL Championship game versus the Houston Astros, the Mets were up 3 games to 2, trying to end a remarkable extra-inning marathon, clinch the pennant, and not have to face Mike Scott in a game seven they knew they couldn’t win.

The Mets had come off the mat in the top of the 9^th inning for 3 runs to tie the game, after having been shut out through 8 innings.

In the 14^th, the Mets pushed a run across, and asked Orosco to shut ‘em down.

Jesse threw a fastball to Mickey Hatcher who jacked it down the left field line to tie the game.

In the top of the 16^th, the Mets piled up 3 runs, and asked Orosco to shut ‘em down.

After striking out the first batter on a slider, Jesse ended up walking a guy, and then Houston got three singles off fastballs sandwiched around a groundball force. Houston scored two runs, and had the tying run on second base with two out.

At that crucial moment in New York Mets history, Gary Carter walked out to the mound to talk to Orosco about how to pitch to the next batter. Hernandez wandered over from first base.

Orosco’s fastball was getting creamed every time he threw it, and he was a very tired pitcher at that moment. Carter is out there trying to pump Jesse up, and find out what he wants to throw?

Keith says, "Kid, if you call anything other than the slider I will kill you."

Kevin Bass struck out on a slider, and the Mets had won their first pennant since 1973.

Carter had two huge home runs in game 4 of the World Series against the Red Sox in Fenway that led the Mets to a win that tied the series up.

In Game 6 of that series, one of the greatest games in baseball history, Kid Carter had the first two-out hit in the bottom of the tenth inning of that game. That hit started arguably the greatest last-ditch comeback in World Series history, when the Mets rallied for 3-runs to win, and force a game 7?