OK, I will break down the New Yorker article later on. Wow I bet they really wished that article came on a day when people would have to talk about a game. One other quick thought. On Friday every caller on WFAN or on ESPN radio who claimed to be a Mets fan said they would be ok with “1 out of 3.” We got that and we need to march on.
So Saturday night I was running around and I heard a news tease about a former Mets star with a very seriously affliction. But I never heard the end of it, later on that evening I read that former Mets catcher Gary Carter has several tumors on his brain. Holy Crap. He is going for tests this week and hopefully he will survive this. I thought this would be a great opportunity to tell a little story about Gary Carter.
Gary Carter was not my favorite Met of the mid to late 80s, that was of course Keith Hernandez, he was my brother's favorite player. He hit his 300th home run on my brother’s birthday one summer, my brother had a little plush bear with a Mets shirt that he called Gary. Its not that I didn’t like him, but he wasn’t my favorite.
Fast forward a several years, and I hear on the morning news that he will be at Grand Central Station signing autographs. You could bring your own item, or you can try to throw a baseball 50mph and he’d sign that ball as well as any other item. I had a really crappy job at the time and they were very loose with hours. So I went over. My heater topped out at 43 mph so I went on the slower non-50mph line. Gary signed everything anyone brought in front of him and spent a moment or two with each person, smiling for photos whatever. When I got there I said to him, “wow your ring is huge,” He was wearing his 86 championship ring. I had recently been to Cooperstown and saw a more normal sized 86 ring. He says yeah I’ve got pretty big hands, and then asked if I’d like to try it on. “Really?” And then he is handing me his championship ring. I put it on and it was enormous, probably would have fit on my thumb more comfortably. I looked at my hand with the ring and thought to my self wow.
Not wanting to linger I took it off and handed it back to him. I thanked him and shook his gigantic hand. The encounter probably took less than a minute but nearly nine years later I can still think how heavy, shiny and warm the ring was. I hope that he pulls through , because he was a great ball player and a really nice guy.
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