The story
Why Gary Carter?
When I was growing up, my uncle had an enormous influence on me. He was only seven years older, played catcher in Little League, and chose Gary Carter as his favorite player. Since I wanted to do just about everything he did, I chose Gary too.
From that point on, whichever team Gary played for became my team. I started as a Montreal Expos fan and was heartbroken when he was traded to the Mets. But I followed him to New York, adopted the Mets, and experienced the unforgettable playoff run and World Series championship of 1986. As I got older, Gary did too. His career gradually wound down, and after he left the Mets I became a Giants fan, but I continued following him through the end of his playing days.
One of my favorite childhood memories came at Candlestick Park while Gary was with the Mets. He was injured and did not play that day, but we arrived early and went down near the dugout. I managed to get him to sign my Mets hat. I still have it.
I collected Gary Carter cards the same way many kids collected their favorite player: I wanted one of everything. Mainstream releases, regional issues, oddballs—if Gary was pictured on it, I wanted it. They all went into a shoebox, raw and ungraded. I still have that box today, although most of the cards show just how much they were handled and enjoyed.
In the early 2000s, I discovered card grading and the PSA Set Registry. The idea of rebuilding my childhood collection in graded form was intriguing enough, but once I saw that the Registry could track the set and rank it against other collections, I was hooked. The Gary Carter Master Set was essentially the collection I had already been building for years—only now it was organized, graded, measurable, and competitive.
More than twenty years later, I am still working on it. Certain cards stand out for different reasons. The 1975 O-Pee-Chee reflects my love of alternate versions, while the scarce 1992 Stadium Club National Convention card checks nearly every box for me: an alternate issue, a great photograph, extreme rarity, and Gary near the twilight of his career.
The collection has also taken me well beyond the cards themselves. I made the cross-country trip to Cooperstown to watch Gary Carter be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame—an experience that felt like the culmination of a fandom that began simply because I wanted to be like my uncle. When Gary passed away in 2012, I was genuinely heartbroken. He had been part of my life since childhood, and his death felt like losing a connection to that part of myself.
Today, my set ranks fifth on the PSA Set Registry. When I tell people how much time I have spent building a Gary Carter collection, the reaction is often, “Gary Carter? Really?” I understand the question—but to me, it could never have been anyone else. And I still find it amazing that there are four collectors out there even more dedicated than I am.
It could never have been anyone else.