Teeswater News – Online!

So Long Kid

By: Mark W. Law (February 17, 2012)

Heroes are made every minute on Twitter, twice an hour on Facebook, but there was a time, back when bread was’ just a bit more’ than a nickel and it REALLY was 10 miles to school that heroes were fewer and farther between.

It was September 1974 – I had moved from a very small community to the ‘big city’, from skipping stones in the Straits to dodging cars at the corner of Hillside and Shelbourne, but some things had never changed, mostly my love of baseball.

A second losing season with ‘Big Barn Market’ (fire engine red mitts and all!) was behind me, the usual round of all-star games and tournaments, even a trip to the BC Summer Games as I remember. Time to sit back and watch the ‘Boys of September’ fight it out for the National League pennant (I hardly followed the American League back then). With trusty Coke in hand I settled down to watch The Expos take on The Mets in the second half of a doubleheader on CBC.

Half interested in the game my attention snapped back from my magazine when Dave Van Horne announced a rookie callup named Carter. Bouncing out of the dugout with long curly locks flowing, piercing eyes focusing directly on the pitcher, in an instant a hero was made in my mind.

Gary Edmund Carter (April 8, 1954 – February 16, 2012), nicknamed “Kid”, was an American professional baseball catcher whose career spanned 21 years, 19 of which were spent with the Major League Baseball (MLB) Montreal Expos (1974–1984, 1992), New York Mets (1985–1989), San Francisco Giants (1990), and Los Angeles Dodgers (1991). Carter had 2,092 hits, 324 home runs, and a .262 batting average during his career; he was named an All-Star 11 times, and was a member of one World Series championship team.

But the numbers tell only half the story. Off the field Gary Carter’s laidback style translated into adulation in a country used to heroes like Rocket Richard and Gordie Howe. A clean-cut hero who wouldn’t be afraid to look straight into the camera and tell Canada that he had had a ‘lousy’ day at the plate! The kind of hero you would have loved to just ‘hang out’ with.

Time passed, Gary Carter moved on to The Mets, Toronto’s MLB franchise took over in the hearts of Canadians, even Les Expos became the Washington Nationals. But the memory of Gary Carter behind the plate or hustling towards second remained firmly fixed in my mind.

It was a shock yesterday when I saw the news blip on TSN that Gary Carter had died of a brain tumour. Woah… he was only 3 years older than I me!

I put down my tools and sat back from the mess of wires. Then I went out to my workshop and looked at the overflowing rack of parts. There on top perched my old fire engine red Big Barn mitt, just waiting the chance to shag a long fly ball or snap the tag on anyone foolish enough to try and steal third base.

Heroes are made every minute on Twitter, twice an hour on Facebook – and then they are gone. But there was a time when heroes were Heroes – like Gary Carter.

So Long Kid!

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Mark W. Law has been a writing and journalism fanatic since he was first tagged to write a 3 act ’shadow play’ – in Grade 2! Originally from the wee hamlet of Oyster Bay, BC, Mark has worked in many parts of the world, including almost all of the Canadian provinces, the United States, Europe and even a sand-filled radio station in North Africa. During that time he has written for military and local newspapers, served as editor for a number of online magazines as well as publishing his own popular ezine for new writers and artists – The ThinWire Journal. Mark has also penned more than 100 poems and essays and is an internationally known digital artist. And for anyone who lived in Northern BC during the 1980’s and 1990’s, Mark was the ‘morning weatherman’ on CBC Radio. Opinions expressed in ‘the View’ are his own and do not necessarily reflect Teeswater or Teeswater.Ca.

Filed Under: Sports, The View
Tags: Dave Van Horne, Gary Edmund Carter, Gordie Howe, National League, Rocket Richard, Toronto