Farewell to "The Kid"; Gary Carter dies at 57.

I became a Mets fan in 1985, the year Gary Carter became their starting catcher. My timing was good, as I saw the Mets go all the way to the World Series and the championship the following year, with Carter, called "The Kid" because of his enthusiastic play, an essential part of the team. I watched as he hit two homers over the Green Monster at Fenway in game four of the 1986 Series. This gave him the still standing distinction of being the only player to hit two homers in a single World Series game and in an All Star game (1981, when he was with the Expos). He also had a crucial hit in the bottom of the tenth inning of game six that helped the Mets hold on to win that game (the Red Sox would have won the Series had they prevailed) Carter was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2003. He died today of brain cancer.

Thanks to imBaseball for the clip above, with its montage of photos of Carter during his Mets and Montreal Expos years.