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Great Athletes

Gary Carter

by Robert McClenaghan

Sport: Baseball

Early Life

Gary Edmund Carter was born on April 8, 1954, in Culver City, California, to James Carter, an aircraft-parts inspector, and Inge Carter. Along with his older brother, Gordon, Gary grew up in nearby Fullerton, where he showed athletic ability even as a small child. When he was seven, he won the National Football League’s Punt, Pass & Kick competition for his age group; as part of his prize, he was taken on tours of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the White House, and he also filmed a television commercial for the contest. The next year, he finished as the national runner-up for his age group in the same competition.

Gary Carter, who helped the New York Mets to the 1986 World Series title.

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(Courtesy of New York Mets)

When Gary was twelve, his mother died of leukemia; as a result, he became very close to his father. Although deeply saddened by his mother’s death, he developed an exuberant personality, and he retained his outgoing nature as an adult.

Gary was a star athlete at Fullerton’s Sunny Hills High School, captaining the baseball, basketball, and football teams and also earning selection to the National Honor Society for his academic performance. He was twice named a high school all-American in football, and he considered pursuing a football career. After suffering a severe knee injury in a scrimmage during his senior year, he decided to concentrate on baseball. He turned down more than one hundred college scholarship offers and instead signed with the Montreal Expos of baseball’s National League (NL) after he was picked in the third round of the 1972 amateur draft.

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The Road to Excellence

Gary started his professional career as a catching prospect with the Expos’ low-level minor-league teams in Florida. He made rapid progress through the Montreal farm system, reaching the AAA level, just one step below the majors, by the end of his second season. After spending most of 1974 with Montreal’s farm team in Memphis, Tennessee, he earned a late call-up to the big leagues; he made the most of the opportunity, batting .407 in nine games and hitting a home run off future hall-of-famer Steve Carlton. Over the winter, he married his high school sweetheart Sandy Lahm, with whom he eventually had two daughters.

In 1975, Gary was with the Expos from the start of the season, and he soon showed that his impressive performance the previous year was no fluke. While shuttling between catcher and the outfield, he hit 17 home runs and batted a solid .270, earned selection to the NL all-star team, and won the league’s rookie of the year award.

The next season, though, Gary struggled. Bothered by injuries, he played in only ninety-one games, and he was also distracted by continued shifting between the outfield and the catcher’s spot. His average dropped to .219, and he hit only 6 homers. With the help of special tutoring from coach Norm Sherry, however, he worked hard to improve his defense behind the plate, and he opened the 1977 season as the Expos’ full-time catcher.

Settled in at last, Gary came into his own. In April, he hit 3 homers in a single game, and he stayed hot all year, finishing the season with 31 home runs and a .284 average. For good measure, he established himself as a top defensive player, leading NL catchers in total chances, putouts, and assists.

The Emerging Champion

The catcher’s job is the most difficult in baseball. Catchers spend most of their on-field time in an uncomfortable crouch that takes a heavy toll on their backs and knees. Moreover, they suffer frequent injuries from such occupational hazards as errant pitches, charging base runners, and flying bats. Even the best catchers, therefore, are rarely consistent from year to year; for example, such greats as Roy Campanella and Johnny Bench alternated good years with lesser ones.

Gary, however, proved to be the rare exception. A rugged 6-foot 2-inch, 205-pounder, he stood up to the pounding of the position without letting it affect his performance. He continued to hit for power and for a good average, and he refined his already impressive defensive skills, developing a feared throwing arm and earning a reputation as both a fierce plate blocker and a clever handler of pitchers. He earned all-star status year after year and became the annual Gold Glove Award winner among NL catchers.

Gary’s consistently excellent play and his openness with fans and the press soon made him the most popular Expo, and he was nicknamed “The Kid” for his boyish enthusiasm. He reciprocated the city’s affection by moving his family to Montreal and taking courses to learn French, the area’s primary language.

The Expos of the early 1980’s were a talent-laden team that featured such other stars as pitcher Steve Rogers and outfielders Andre Dawson and Tim Raines. Year after year, experts predicted that Montreal would win the NL pennant, but the Expos fell short of expectations continually. As the team’s biggest star, Gary felt the brunt of such disappointments. Teammates came to resent his popularity, and he began to draw criticism for failing to lead the Expos to a championship.

Continuing the Story

In the winter of 1984, Gary was traded to the New York Mets for four players, and the change of scene proved to be just what he needed. The Mets were another talented team and looked to Gary to provide veteran leadership for such young stars as Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry.

This time, there were no disappointments. In 1986, the Mets dominated the National League, winning 108 games and stopping Houston in the playoffs before downing the Boston Red Sox in an exciting seven-game World Series. Gary was a big contributor all year, driving in 105 runs in the regular season, winning a playoff game with a twelfth-inning hit, and hitting 2 home runs in one game in the World Series.

Gary began to slip a little after the Mets’ championship season, though he remained one of the game’s better catchers. By 1989, however, his aching knees and other accumulated ailments had caught up with him, and he moved into a backup role. He left the Mets after the 1989 season and played briefly for the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers before finishing his career back with the Expos in 1992. He retired as one of the all-time leaders among catchers in games played, home runs, and RBI, and, after failing to be elected in his first five years of eligibility, Gary was inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003.

Summary

Gary Carter was one of only a handful of catchers in major-league history to combine a powerful bat with top-notch defense. His long-term excellence at a demanding position made him one of the most valuable players of his era.

Additional Sources

1 

Carter, Gary, and Ken Abraham. The Gamer. Dallas, Tex.: Word, 1993.

2 

Carter, Gary, and John Hough, Jr. A Dream Season. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1987.

3 

“Gary Carter.” Newsweek, 142, no. 4 (July 28, 2003): 63.

4 

James, Bill. The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. New York: Free Press, 2003.

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
McClenaghan, Robert. "Gary Carter." Great Athletes,Salem Press, 2009. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Athletes_1027.
APA 7th
McClenaghan, R. (2009). Gary Carter. Great Athletes. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
McClenaghan, Robert. "Gary Carter." Great Athletes. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2009. Accessed December 14, 2025. online.salempress.com.