Update: 10:28 PM
Adam Dicomo of MLB.com reported that Carter’s wife and daughter took the field before tonight’s Mets and Blue Jays exhibition game to a standing ovation at Olympic Stadium, where Carter played the first 11 years and the final season of his 19-year career.
Sandy Carter shared her feeling about the ceremony and video tribute that included Carter’s former teammates.
“It was emotional.” She continues, “It was beautiful. It was even more special than I thought it would be, and I had high expectations. We just felt so much love from everyone. The city always embraced Gary and embraced us as a family, and I just really felt that tonight.”
Kimmy, Carter’s daughter spoke about what he meant to her and everyone he came in contact with.
“I just feel so honored to be Gary Carter’s daughter, not because of the fame — it’s not that at all. It’s because he treated people like people and knew how to love people.” She continues, “I know he was on this earth for a short time, but he was here to impact and he was here to love people, and basically teach all of us a lesson on how to treat people and how to live life, and to live with a lot of joy. He played this game with a lot of joy. How can you not love baseball when you see somebody like that play the way that they do?”
Dicomo adds that toward the end of the ceremony, stadium officials unveiled a banner on the right-field wall, featuring Carter’s No. 8 and the words “Merci! Thank you!” The crowd roared, continuing its serenade as Carter’s wife and daughter walked off the field.
“Thank you so much, Merci beaucoup, ” says Sandy Carter’s before leaving the field.
11:00 AM
Kristie Ackert of the NY Daily News wrote on Thursday that Gary Carter will be remembered and honored before tonight’s game when the Mets play against the Toronto Blue Jays at Olympic Stadium. Carter’s wife Sandy and daughter Kimmy will be on hand to represent the late catcher, who died in 2012 of brain cancer.
Baseball will return to Olympic Stadium for the first time since 2004. Carter’s last season in an Expos uniform was in 1992 and with the Mets in 1989. He also made brief stops with the San Francisco Giants in 1990 and the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1991.
Carter actually played in Montreal for more seasons (12) than he did with the Mets (5), but he will always be remembered as one of the great pieces added to the Mets squad during the 1980’s, that brought a championship back to the franchise. The “Kid” as we all called him will forever be an icon in the eyes of Mets fans.
“It is going to be hard. It hasn’t been two years yet, but I knew we had to be there,” Sandy Carter shares about the upcoming series. “I agreed when I heard there would be a game at the old park and then when I heard it was the Mets, I knew it was right.
“It’s like two pieces of our hearts joining together that night.”
Ackert adds that the two-game exhibition series at Olympic Stadium has already sold more than 75,000 tickets and is being used as a rallying point for the supporters who want to bring a team back to Montreal.
Tonight will be a night of remembrance for a man that brought so much joy to everyone that he came in contact with and he played the game the way it was meant to be played. The “Kid” was a true icon and this tribute is a true testament to what his presence meant to the game. Cudos to both franchises for making this meaningless spring game, more about a man that changed two cities.
