Ex-mates have warm thoughts of Carter

When Gary Carter appeared at a dinner for his foundation Jan. 15 in West Palm Beach, Fla., the Hall of Fame catcher gave a heartfelt speech that one former Mets teammate described as "Lou Gehrig-ish."

Carter, whose bout with brain cancer recently took a turn for the worse, spoke that day about all the good things in his life, from his family to his time in baseball, according to Tim Teufel.

"You can tell he's resigned to the fact that the cancer is getting to him and even though he is fighting, that he can only do so much," Teufel said before a fundraising dinner for Baseball Assistance Team in Manhattan on Tuesday. "Right now, he's in God's hands, and he's very thankful for what he's had in his life."

Former Mets manager Davey Johnson said he also was at the Jan. 15 dinner, where Carter spoke and described the former Mets catcher as "in high spirits" considering the circumstances.

Last week, Carter's daughter, Kimmy Bloemers, wrote on the family's website that an MRI showed Carter had more tumors on his brain and that doctors were discussing the next step. Carter was first diagnosed with brain cancer in May.

"I know it's taken a lot out of him, and he's really weak," said Johnson, now the manager of the Washington Nationals. "All the treatments have really beat up on him. But he's a fighter, and I look for him to fight through it. He was in good humor, but he couldn't even get out of his chair, so all of your prayers would be welcome."

Former Mets pitcher Sid Fernandez said he had been told not too long ago that Carter's tumors had shrunk "and there was hope," which made it all the harder to grasp the gravity of the most recent medical update.

"It hit me hard, very hard . . . It was like someone punched me in the chest."

Fernandez described Carter as a father figure because of the way Carter always looked after the younger players and preached positive thoughts.

"He's the reason I threw well in the World Series," Fernandez said. "He calmed me down, told me to relax and be yourself. You don't realize how, in a game like that, how calming a comment like that is."

Along those lines, former Mets pitcher Randy Myers said he'll always remember that a perennial All-Star in Carter made a point of catching his first-ever bullpen session in a big-league spring-training camp setting. And former Mets catcher Mackey Sasser said Carter took time with him, too.

"I've always looked up to Gary because he taught me a lot as a catcher, about growing up in the major leagues, and really about life," Sasser said. "Gary is a great, strong, faithful man and I know where he's headed. He's a great guy."

Gary Sheffield, also on hand at Tuesday night's fundraising dinner, said he saw the caring way Carter dealt with Sheffield's uncle, Dwight Gooden, in the mid-1980s, trying to keep him in line and always respected him for that.

Sheffield said he took part in a charity event in Toronto with Carter last spring. They played several games of softball together during the day and then enjoyed dinner and drinks, Sheffield said. Then, just a few weeks later, Carter's diagnosis sent shockwaves through the baseball community.

"One day we're out to dinner, he's having wine and then the next I'm hearing this," Sheffield said. "It's like a tragedy . . . All I do is say prayers for him every day."