R.I.P., Gary Carter

The  Kid in 1987 at age 33,
already on the downside of his career.

Gary Carter died Thursday. That he was dying was no surprise; the prognosis from the time his brain tumors became public knowledge last summer was never good.

Still, he was only 57.

Carter is deservedly in the Hall of Fame; indeed, it was an indictment of the writers that it took six years for Carter to win induction.

It probably didn't help Carter that he spent his prime years in the obscurity of Montreal; that he was, in his early years, a direct contemporary of the great Johnny Bench and the overlooked Ted Simmons; or that the last four years of his career were spent bouncing around the National League as a part-time player.

I have a great deal of respect for the great players who are willing to stick around even after their days of stardom are over. There are always broadcasters and writers who'll bleat about how this somehow tarnishes the athlete's "legacy," but my view of it is this: The Dodgers, the Giants, the Expos all figured that the aging Carter could still help their team. He couldn't catch 120 or 140 games anymore, he didn't belong in the middle of the lineup anymore, but he could still help.

Why should he step away?

Carter, as I chronicled in my 2010 catcher project (a detailed examination of the aging patterns of outstanding offensive catchers, prompted by the then-looming contract extension for Joe Mauer), was used hard in his 20s and fell apart in his early 30s. This is a common pattern for catchers who can hit. The position takes a lot out of its practitioners.

The Catcher Project: Gary Carter

Born: 4-8-54

Career: 1974-1992

Hall of Fame: Yes

Career highlights: Led National League in RBIs, 1984. Named to 11 All-Star teams, won three Gold Gloves. Four seasons of 100-plus RBIs, nine seasons of at least 20 home runs. Four times in top six in MVP balloting. Regular catcher on one World Series champ.

Career slash line: .262/.335/.439

See his stats here.

Games caught after age 30 season: 799. Age last season as regular catcher: 34. Win shares after age 30 season: 105. Win shares after age 33 season: 49

Gary Carter wasn't always a catcher. In his rookie season (1975), he played 92 games in right field for Montreal, 66 games behind the plate — and finished second in the Rookie of the Year balloting (behind a pitcher named John Montefusco). The next season, he again caught just 60 times.

Then he went behind the dish for good, at age 23. In the next eight seasons, only once did he catch less than 138 games. The Expos used him hard, then shipped him off to the Mets after his age 30 season.

Which was close to the point where The Kid's offense went south. He had a good year with the Mets in 1985, dropped a bit in '86 — the World Series year — dropped a bit more in '87 and became a half-time player for the last four seasons of his career.

Seeing a pattern here? Young catcher shows he can play a key offensive role, his team keeps him in the lineup day after day, and his bat goes early in his 30s.

Which isn't to say it's the wrong way to exploit the talent. In truth, it's the right way — if, like the Expos, you trade him after his age 30 season. The Expos got the best out of him, and then got more talent in exchange.

Why Pudge won't budge

Ivan Rodriguez is clearly in the nomad stage of his career. He was traded in midseason last year (Detroit to Yankees), after which he went deep into spring training before finding a team to sign with (Houston). And he was traded again this week, this time to his original team, the Texas Rangers.

If you take Pudge's career at face value, he has a real strong case for the title of greatest catcher ever. A lifetime .300 hitter with more than 300 home runs; 13 Gold Gloves; an MVP Award (1999); 14 All-Star teams ...

But this isn't so much about where he ranks among the all time greats, but about what he is now — which is a backup.

Consider this paragraph from the Fort Worth paper's game story from Wednesday's game with the Twins:

Despite (Rodriguez's) exploits Wednesday, Taylor Teagarden is still the No. 1 catcher. Rodriguez will be back on the bench for today’s series finale. (Manager Ron) Washington started him with Kevin Millwood because Millwood calls his own pitches and is a veteran.

What an indictment. Pudge has caught more than 2,200 major league games — more than anybody in history. Teagarden is a rookie with 51 games caught. But the Rangers trust Teagarden's calls more.

Rodriguez is not the first great catcher to decide it's worth it to hang on as a No. 2. Gary Carter stuck around for four years as a reserve, Ted Simmons for three years. I suspect the writers held their hang-around years against them when the Hall of Fame balloting rolled around for each (Carter eventually got in, Simmons not).

I wonder if Rodriguez has his eye on what would be a unique accomplishment: 3,000 hits. Nobody who spent the bulk of his career as a catcher ever reached that milestone. (Craig Biggio was a catcher for four seasons at the start of his career, 428 games total.) Pudge needs 310 hits to get there. It won't be easy, but he's "only" 37.

A hard-used 37.