What Was Gary Carter's Net Worth and Salary?
Gary Carter was an American former professional baseball player who had a net worth of $8 million at the time of his death in 2012. Gary Carter died on February 16, 2012, at 57 years old, from brain cancer.
Gary was a catcher who batted and threw right-handed. He played quarterback in high school and signed a letter of intent to play quarterback for the UCLA Bruins before he was drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 1972 Major League Baseball Draft.
Carter made his MLB debut for the Expos in 1974 and played for Montreal until 1984. He then played for the New York Mets from 1985 to 1989 and the San Francisco Giants in 1990. Gary finished his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1991 and the Expos in 1992. He won a World Series championship in 1985 with the Mets and was an 11-time MLB All-Star. Carter was a three-time Gold Glove Award winner and a five-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He was twice named the MLB All-Star Game MVP and won the Roberto Clemente Award in 1989 and the NL RBI championship in 1984. Carter's #8 jersey was retired by the Montreal Expos, and he was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame. In 2003, he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Salary and Career Earnings
During his major league career, Gary earned $13 million in salary. That's worth around twice as much when you take inflation into account. His highest-earning season was 1989, when he earned $2.2 million.
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Early Life
Gary Carter was born on April 8, 1954, in Culver City, California. He was the son of Jim and Inge Carter, and his father was an aircraft worker. A month after Carter turned 12 in 1966, his mother died of leukemia. Gary attended Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton, where he played football as a quarterback and baseball as an infielder. He also played American Legion Baseball and was named the 1971 American Legion Graduate of the Year.
After graduating from high school in 1972, Carter received more than one hundred athletic scholarship offers. He signed a letter of intent to play football for the UCLA Bruins as a quarterback. However, he then signed with the Montreal Expos after they selected him in the third round of the 1972 Major League Baseball draft.
Career
After being drafted in 1972, Carter attended his first spring training camp with the Expos in 1974. At training camp, he earned his nickname "the Kid" due to his youthful exuberance and way of playing. That year, the Expos converted Gary to a catcher in the minor leagues. While playing for the Expos' Triple-A affiliate, the Memphis Blues, Carter hit 23 home runs and drove 83 runs. In September, he made his major league debut in Jarry Park in Montreal in the second game of a doubleheader against the New York Mets. Though he did not play particularly well, he finished the season batting a .407. His first home run in the major leagues came in a game against the Philadelphia Phillies.
During his rookie season in 1975, Carter split his time between right field and catching. He was selected for the National League All-Star team as a right fielder. He also received the Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award and finished second in line for the National League Rookie of the Year award. The same year, he was also voted the Expos Player of the Year. He won the award again in 1977, 1980, and 1984.
In 1976, Carter again split his time between the outfield and behind the plate. After the Expos' catcher was traded, he began playing in that position frequently. In 1980, Gary earned the first of three consecutive Gold Glove Awards. In 1981, Carter played in the All-Star Game, his first. He hit two home runs in the game and earned the MVP award and became the fifth player to hit two home runs in the All-Star Game. Gary continued playing well over the next few years. He played in the 1984 All-Star Game and earned his second All-Star Game MVP award. At the end of the season, the Expos were unable to meet Carter's salary demands, so they traded him in December to the Mets.
In his first game with New York on April 9, 1985, Gary hit a tenth-inning home run to give the Mets an Opening Day victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. The Mets went on to have a successful season, with three players, including Carter, to finish in the top ten in the MVP balloting that season. In 1986, the Mets won the World Series in seven games over the Boston Red Sox. In game four of the series, Gary hit two home runs over Fenway Park. He is the only player to hit two home runs in both an All-Star Game and a World Series game. Carter remained with the Mets through the 1989 season.
After being released by the Mets after the 1989 season, Carter subsequently joined the San Francisco Giants. He then played with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1991. At the end of the season, Gary returned to Montreal for his final season after obtaining a waiver from the Dodgers. In his last at-bat in September 1992, he hit a double in a game against the Chicago Cubs, allowing Larry Walker to run home and score, ending the game in a win for the Expos. After the hit, Carter was given a standing ovation.
Over the course of his 19-year career, Carter was an eleven-time All-Star, and he won three Gold Glove Awards and five Silver Sluggers. After his retirement as a player, Gary served as an analyst for the Florida Marlins television broadcasts from 1993 to 1996. In 2003, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 2001 and into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame the same year.
Beginning in the mid-2000s, Carter worked as a coach. He spent 2005 as a manager for the Gulf Coast Mets. He also coached the St. Lucie Mets and later managed the Orange County Flyers of the Golden Baseball League. In 2009, he managed the Long Island Ducks and was named the head baseball coach for the NCAA Division II Palm Beach Atlantic University Sailfish.
Personal Life and Death
Gary met his wife, Sandy, when she was a student at Fullerton College. They married in 1975 and had three children together. Carter was an active philanthropist throughout his life. He started the Gary Carter Foundation, which supports Title I schools in Palm Beach County whose students live in poverty. The Foundation focuses on literacy efforts and reading programs.
In May 2011, Carter was diagnosed with four malignant tumors in his brain after experiencing headaches and forgetfulness. It was confirmed that he had a grade IV primary brain tumor and that his aggressive cancer was inoperable. Despite his illness, he did not miss opening day for the college baseball team he coached.
Carter died on February 16, 2012, at the age of 57. Nine days later, the Mets announced that they were adding a memorial patch to their uniforms in Carter's honor for the entire 2012 season.
Real Estate
At the time of his death, Gary lived in an 8,000-square-foot waterfront mansion in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. In February 2016, Gary's heirs put the home on the market for $1.795 million. They accepted $1.485 million in November 2016.
