| DATE SHOT: 1978 SUBJECT: Gary Carter APPROXIMATE SIZE: 3-1/2"x5-1/2" MARKS / STAMPING: Blank-backed postcard remains postally unused. Hand-signed by Gary Carter and personalized 'Bob, Best of luck & God Bless always' ORIGINAL or REPRINT: Signature is original, Photo is Modern - A modern printed image produced through non-photographic processes SIGNER: Gary Carter COMMENTS / CONDITION: As with all of my signed items, the signature is guaranteed to pass further inspection by any major authenticator, or your money back. See scans for signature quality and photo condition. BIO: Gary Edmund Carter (Kid) was born in 1954 in Culver City, CA and died in 2012 in West Palm Beach, FL. He played major league baseball from 1974 to 1992 as catcher, outfielder and infielder for the Montreal Expos, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, and the Los Angeles Dodgers, appeared in the 1986 World Series, was selected 11 times as an All-Star, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003. He attended Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton, California, where he was a three sport star in baseball, basketball and football. He signed a letter of intent to play football at UCLA before signing with the Montreal Expos. Carter made his major league debut with the Expos on September 16, 1974, going 0 for 4 against the New York Mets. He hit .270 with 17 home runs and 68 RBI in 1975, his first full season, making the All-Star team and receiving The Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award. Carter recalled how he got his nickname, saying "I got that nickname my first spring training camp with the Expos in 1974. Tim Foli, Ken Singleton and Mike Jorgensen started calling me Kid because I was trying to win every sprint. I was trying to hit every pitch out of the park." After his retirement, Carter served as an analyst for Florida Marlins television broadcasts from 1993-1996. He appeared in the movie The Last Home Run which was filmed in 1996 and released in 1998. In 2003, his sixth year on the ballot, Gary Carter was selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, with the cap on his plaque an Expos cap. Carter had originally requested if he could have the plaque as half an Expo and half a Met (Dave Winfield chose San Diego over the New York Yankees), and though the media took it as one of his jokes, it was a legitimate debate as to which team he would be associated with. Carter himself had expressed a preference to be inducted as a Met, winning his only World Series title with the Mets, having worked for the Mets organization since retiring as a player, and because it was his stint in New York that made Carter a media celebrity. As well, some columnists from the New York area had pointed out that the Expos franchise would likely move or be folded. However, Carter played 12 seasons in Montreal, as opposed to only five in New York. The final decision rested with the Hall of Fame, and Hall president Dale Petroskey declared that Carter's achievements with the Expos had earned his induction, whereas his play with the Mets by itself would not have. At the induction ceremony, Carter spoke a few words of French, thanking fans in Montreal for the great honour and pleasure of playing in that city. Carter is so far the only Expo to be inducted into Cooperstown. Carter was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 2001. Also in 2003, Carter was elected into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame along with Kirk McCaskill. His number 8 was retired by the Montreal Expos. Carter was the manager of the Gulf Coast Mets minor league team in 2005 before being promoted to the A-level St. Lucie Mets for 2006. In recent years Carter has been criticised for twice openly campaigning for the Mets' managerial position while it was still occupied by incumbents Art Howe in 2004, and in 2008 Willie Randolph. He managed the Orange County Flyers of the Golden Baseball League, a team he guided to the GBL Championship in 2008. In November 2008, Carter was named the manager of the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League. SKU: L14746
Item: L14746
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