4. New York steals "The Kid"...(and now Gary Carter is remembered by most, but not all, as a Met).

     On December 24, 1984 the Montreal Expos traded catcher Gary Carter to the New York Mets in return for Hubie Brooks, Mike Fitzgerald, Herm Winningham and Floyd Youmans. Gary Edmund "Kid" Carter, the right-handed throwing, hard-hitting catcher out of of Culver City, California was an Expos draft pick in 1972 and debuted with the team two years later on September 16, 1974.

     Gary Carter went on to hit .272 with 215 HR's and 794 RBI's in 11 seasons in Montreal. In his first game in New York, Carter hit a game-winning walk-off home run. Carter connected for a career-high 32 HR's along with 100 RBI's and a .281 AVG in his first season in NY. In his second season, Carter hit .255, but the power-hitting catcher drove in 104 RBI's and hit 25 HR's to help lead the Mets to their 1986 World Series win, hitting .276 with 2 doubles, 2 home runs and 9 RBI's in NY's seven-game win over Boston.

     The players that Montreal acquired for Gary Carter enjoyed some success with the Expos. Hubie Brooks hit .272 with 75 HR's and 390 RBI's in five seasons with Montreal before leaving as a free agent. Mike Fitzgerald played seven seasons as a part-time player, Herm Winningham played parts of three and a half seasons before being traded to Cincinnati, and pitcher Floyd Youmans went (29-29) in four seasons before being traded to Philadelphia.

     Gary Carter played six more Major League seasons after 1986, and even returned to the Expos for his final MLB season in 1992. The majority of Carter's success in the Majors came with the Expos, but Mets fans have adopted Carter as their own for his part in bringing New York their first World Series win since the so-called "Miracle-Mets" of 1969.

     Luckily the Baseball Hall of Fame set the record straight, inducting Carter as an Expo, and stating that it was his time with Montreal that earned the catcher his spot, though his years in New York earned him most of his notoriety. Carter himself was quoted at the time saying that he wished he could go in as a member of both franchises.

     The Montreal/Washington franchise may have finally taken a measure of revenge on the Mets for taking the franchise's best catcher, when the Nationals chose New York catching prospect Jesus Flores in the Rule 5 Draft of 2006. Flores hit .244 with 4 HR's and 25 RBI's in his first season above the Class-A level, and emerged as a potential future replacement for Nationals catcher Brian Schneider.

     The Mets take Gary Carter from the Expos and "The Kid" leads New York to a World Series win while earning a place in NY baseball lore, and the Expos/Nationals franchise has to wait twenty-two years to gain even a chance at revenge. Another reason you can STILL Hate the METS!!!