Gary Carter Head Coach of the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League

As weird as this may seem, I am a Gary Carter fan. Yes I’ve been following and loving the Red Sox for a very long time, but some players you just like and follow. For instance, I bet no one knew I liked watching Steve Carlton pitch. I’m not a huge Phillies fan, but I liked watching him pitch, especially the intensity in which he had during the game. Another player I liked watching was Rickey Henderson. He signed with the Red Sox in 2002, but only played in 4 games. That was awesome, he was one of the oldest players playing and it was for the team I liked watching. Unfortunately it was the end of his career so he wasn’t the dynamic base stealing threat he used to be, but still thrilling nonetheless. And one of my favorite players is Curt Schilling. I really enjoyed watching him pitch and play the game. I still have most of his cards from back when he was a rookie with Baltimore up until his retirement with Boston. I’d love to get an autograph of his live in person rather than online.

Tonight I am going to the Lancaster Barnstormers game with some friends and I get to see Gary Carter coach for the Long Island Ducks. Gary Carter is one of those guys I liked watching play the game. From 1982 when I really started collecting cards to around 1995 when I stopped, by basement was full of baseball and football cards. I would buy random packs of cards all the time in hopes of completing my sets. It’s not like today when the biggest reason for buying a pack of cards is the hope of pulling a rookie autographed jersey card to sell on eBay. Back then it was for the love of the game, the players and the thrill of completing a set.

There are some cards that you remember as a kid when you got them and they stick on your mind. For instance, the 1983 Topps Porfi Altamirano card sticks in my mind. Also, the 1984 Topps Wade Boggs and Don Mattingly cards. Oh, and how can you forget the 1982 Topps Rickey Henderson? Anyway, the point is that two of those cards I remember that I had were the 1980 and 1982 Topps Gary Carter cards. I just liked them for some reason and this lead me to watching him when I could.

I’m hoping to get his autograph tonight at the game, and it’s not because I want to sell it on eBay. It’s because I want to put it in my memorabilia case with the Rickey Henderson Autographed ball, the Jim Rice autographed ball, the Dustin Pedroia Autographed ball and the two Curt Schilling balls. So this posting is just my way of saying I think it’s cool that I can see one of the players I liked watching as a kid up close and personal as a manager.