By Blaidd Drwg
It appears that Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter’s doctors have found more cancer. Carter has been battling brain cancer off and on for the last few seasons. It is probably not good – the cancer was aggressive and inoperable, when he was first diagnosed. Normally I would not go out of my way to mention this, but Gary Carter is one of the good guys out there. He has spent a good part of his life raising money for charity, even during his playing days, and is very sincere and humble if you ever get a chance to talk to him. I had the opportunity to meet him in Montreal in 2002 during an Expos game and I asked him about his charity work, especially as a player when he would go to visit children’s hospitals to bring some cheer to the kids there. He said he felt it was his responsibility as a celebrity to give back to the community.
In 2011, MLB made a “Stand Up to Cancer” commercial. At the 19 second mark, the Baseball Tonight Crew is pictured. On the left, you have John Kruk, who is a cancer survivor. On the far right, you have Ron Darling, who was Carter’s teammate with the Mets in the late ‘80’s. Darling is holding up a sign for “My Catcher” referring to Gary Carter. I am not sure how many people even realized what that referred to, but it still gets me choked up when I see it.
The commercial is here:
Update – ESPN is reporting that Gary Carter has passed away at age 57.
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