New York Mets great and former catcher, Gary Carter, passed away Thursday, after a long battle with brain cancer. The news was delivered by Carter's daughter almost nine years after Carter was enshrined into the Baseball Hall Of Fame as a member of the class of 2003, which also included Eddie Murray.
Carter entered Cooperstown as a Montreal Expo, a team he spent 11 seasons with, but "The Kid" will be remembered in New York as a Met and the man who helped the 1986 Amazins win the World Series crown over the Boston Red Sox.
"The greatest thrill of my career, certainly was that amazing '86 World Series," Carter said in his Hall of Fame speech in '03. "Nothing will ever ever top that, and the memories will last forever."
"All of you that were there, everybody, will remember that dramatic Game 6 and certainly the way we came back in that series. So, all you Mets fans out there, god bless you! '86!"
The way Carter played can be easily summed up in the first few paragraph of his speech:
"I had a dream as a young boy, like all these Hall of Famers up here, to be a professional athlete," said Carter. "You see, I've always been a fan of the game first and a ball player second," Carter said. "Maybe, that's why, I had the love and passion for this great game so much."
Below is the full length video of Carter's '03 Hall Of Fame speech.
Baseball Hall of Fame - Gary Carter: Speech 2003 (via TheBaseballHall)
For more on the death of Gary Carter, check back to this SB Nation New York StoryStream. To discuss the career of "The Kid: visit the SB Nation blog Amazin' Ave.