In the wake of his death, countless words have been written about Gary Carter and all that he did in his life. I’m not going to try to duplicate any of that. I didn’t know Carter, I never met him, and I only saw him play in person twice, both from high stadium seats (once in 1986 and once in 1988). All I have of Carter is in cardboard and ink, so that will have to do.
The start of Gary Carter’s tenure with the Mets just happens to coincide with the start of my time as a Met fan. As with any fan of the Mets in that era, I saw Carter as part of the team’s foundation and, essentially, the face of the franchise in the late ’80s. This was perhaps shown best when it came to boxes of wax packs. While Keith Hernandez (1985 Topps), Dwight Gooden (1986 Fleer), and Darryl Strawberry (1990 Score) would all have their cards featured on a wax box, Carter’s smiling face took up most of the space on the top of the boxes and sets of 1989 Fleer. He was such a dominant baseball figure in that day and continued to have a strong presence in the baseball card hobby right up to his death and hopefully well beyond.
Alpha to Omega: Carter’s rookie card and the final card released in his lifetime
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