RIP Gary Carter

Gary Carter was my first favorite baseball player. I saw him play in a Memphis uniform in the minors. I wanted to be a catcher because Gary Carter was a catcher. Gary was one of those guys who was always having fun on the field. Even when he played for those damned Mets it was impossible not to love Carter. My early life as a baseball fan and a card collector were defined by people like Dale Murphy, Steve Carlton, Mike Schmidt, Tim Raines, Andre Dawson, and of course, Gary Carter. Before my family relocated to Georgia, I was an unabashed Montreal Expos fan, and it was Carter, along with Raines and Dawson, that built the franchise. It's hard for me to believe that both the Expos and Gary Carter are gone.

The tribute at MLB.COM is amazing.

57 is so young.