Gary Carter (born April 8, 1954), also nicknamed "The Kid", has been regarded as one of the top hitting Major League Baseball catchers in baseball history. Carter established himself as one of the premier catchers in the National League both defensively and offensively. He won three Gold Glove Awards (1980, 1981, 1982), and regularly threatened the 30 home runs and 100 RBI plateaus.
Born in Culver City, California, Carter broke into the Majors with the Montreal Expos in 1974. In his first full season in 1975, he batted .270 with 17 home runs and 68 RBI, made the All-Star team, and received The Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award.
In 1984, Carter set personal-highs in RBI (106, leading the league), batting average (.294), hits (175), total bases (290), and games played (159). At the end of the season, he was traded to the New York Mets for four players.
With the Mets, Carter enjoyed consistent production with 32 home runs and 100 RBI in 1985; 24 and 105 in 1986, winning his only World Series championship in that season. Nevertheless, Carter began showing signs of deterioration in 1987, when he batted only .235, and was released at the end of the 1989 season after hitting just .183. After leaving the Mets, he played for the Giants (1990) and Dodgers (1991) before returning to Montreal for a last hurrah (1992).
Carter was a career .262 hitter with 324 home runs and 1225 RBI. Over his 19 year career, he ranks sixth all-time in career home runs by a catcher with 298, and was selected an All-Star in eleven times, winning the Most Valuable Player award in the 1981 and 1984 games.
In 2003, Gary Carter was selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame as an Expo. This created some controversy with American fans since Carter had won his only World Series title with the Mets, and had worked for the Mets organization since retiring as a player. Additionally, it was his stint in New York that made Carter a media celebrity, and Carter himself had expressed a preference to be inducted as a Met. However, the final decision rested with the Hall of Fame, and the Hall felt that Carter's play with the Expos had earned his Hall of Fame induction, whereas his play with the Mets by itself would not have. Carter had previously been inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 2001. Also in 2003, Carter was elected into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame along with Kirk McCaskill.
Carter currently is the manager of the Gulf Coast League Mets minor league team.
