Gary Carter Loves Game; In Turn Fans Love Him

Gary Carter has a simple recipe for being popular with fans.

Start with a large helping of a love for baseball. Sprinkle in 11 1/2 seasons of success on the field. Finally, top it off with 210 pounds of Gary Carter.

“I love the game. I love the game of baseball,” says Carter, who drew 1,476,141 votes to lead the balloting for the National League’s starting catcher in the All-Star Game in Houston Tuesday night. “I enjoy coming out and being part of a fun atmosphere because baseball, in that sense, is that way.”

Carter was voted onto the team for the sixth consecutive year and also made the squad three times as a non-starter. His first seven All-Star appearances were as a member of the Montreal Expos.

In 1981, his first year as a starter, he blasted two home runs in the National League’s 5-4 victory and earned MVP honors. The following year, he won the Gillette Trophy as the leading vote-getter.

“I’m very excited about it,” Carter says about this year’s classic. “It’s certainly an honor, not only to represent the Mets team, but the National League. As far as fans voting me in, it’s a wonderful feeling to be thought of.”

Carter has accumulated numbers on the field that deem him worthy of All-Star nomination. Entering this year, he had a career average of .273 with 247 career homers. He has driven in over 100 runs in three seasons, including the past two. This year, he was batting .241 with 13 homers and 57 RBI through Tuesday’s games.