There will be a memorial service for Mets legend Gary Carter tonight in his hometown, Palm Beach Gardens, FL. Many of his former Mets teammates are expected to attend.
I was 13 years-old during the 1986 baseball season, a time when New York’s baseball dynamic was much different from today. Both New York teams ended 1985 in close 2nd place finishes that were improvements over the previous year’s records and standings. New York baseball’s near future was promising and the rivalry was rich and active and fun for the first time since the Mets arrived in Queens.
But in the following season, the Yankees showed the first signs of erosion resulting from the long-term mismanagement of their developing players while the Mets took the big step, bringing another Miracle to Queen. It the toughest World Series not played in The Bronx that Yankees fans have ever had to watch.
From the our perspective, the youth across town that season was a thing to behold. Everywhere you looked, there were players 25-years-old and under performing at high levels; Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, Ron Darling, Roger McDowell, Lenny Dykstra, Sid Fernandez, Kevin Mitchel.
The Yankees had some good young players, too. Despite the neglect of the farm system, they still had some promising young pitching. They had the veteran all-stars that George had brought in.
And they had a pretty good season in 1986, staying in contention through August. But the AL East was tough even in those days and they fell behind in September despite going a solid 16-10 for the month.
But the situation at catcher was a mess all season. Butch Wynegar hated playing in New York and it was showing in his performance on the field. He requested a trade in July but was kept on for the full season. Instead the Yankees traded his platoon-mate Ron Hassey for the second time in two years.
Neither was suited to shepherd Doug Drabek and Bob Tewksberry to anything resembling the early career success of the young arms across town.
When I looked over the 1986 Mets’ starting rotation that season, efficient and polished despite the oldest veteran being 28-year-old Bob Ojeda, as if they were so dominant because they were too green to know any better, I didn’t wish the Yankees had Ojeda or Darling. I’m sure I never admitted it at the time but I wished the Yankees had Gary Carter.
The vocal leadership, the uninhibited excitement that the young players surely identified with, the steady, consistent presence at a position that the Yankees hadn’t shored up since the loss of Thurmon Munson seven years earlier.
More than any other single player, I believe Carter was the difference between the Mets championship and another Yankees finish in second place. Doc Gooden probably would have still been terrific throwing to anyone in those early years, but it was when Carter arrived in 1985 that he had one of the great seasons in modern MLB history.
A career of manning baseball’s most physically taxing position soon began to catch up with Carter, as the free-wheeling ways in the clubhouse (something Carter always stood out from) took it’s toll on the team, and the promise after 1986 became what could have been. But The Kid’s legacy as a Mets and New York City legend is firmly set and well-deserved.
