Gary Carter — The Kid — a key component of the Mets’ 1986 world championship team known for his exuberance for life and baseball, died yesterday after a battle with brain cancer. He was 57.
Carter’s daughter, Kimmy Bloemers, made the announcement on a blog she had been keeping that provided updates on her father’s health.
“He is now in God’s Hall of Fame,” Bloemers wrote yesterday after the Hall of Fame catcher died in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Though Carter’s former teammates were aware of his situation had become dire in recent weeks, his death hit the Mets like a bombshell.
“To know Gary Carter was to care deeply for him, and I am deeply saddened,” said former Mets pitcher Ron Darling, now an analyst for SNY.
In a major league career that spanned 19 seasons with the Expos, Mets, Giants and Dodgers, Carter hit .262 with 324 home runs and 1,225 RBIs. An 11-time All-Star, Carter was regarded as the game’s premier catcher of the 1980s. He was inducted into Cooperstown in 2003, after receiving 78 percent of the Hall of Fame vote on his sixth ballot.
Carter had been in declining health since last May, when he was found to have four small brain tumors. In mid-January, Bloemers said more tumors were discovered and Carter had taken a turn for the worse.
A devout Christian, Carter hardly personified the Mets of the mid-to-late 1980s — teams that partied as hard as they played. Carter was resented by many in the game because of his squeaky clean image and willingness to embrace the camera. He was nicknamed “Kid” as a putdown in the minor leagues, because of the youthful exuberance he displayed.
The Mets were on the rise heading into 1985, with young stars Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden leading the charge, when general manager Frank Cashen executed one of the best trades in franchise history by getting Carter, then a star with the Expos, for Hubie Brooks, Mike Fitzgerald, Herm Winningham and Floyd Youmans.
“The genesis of the [Carter] trade was that we wanted to add a big bat to the lineup,” Cashen said. “He did that right away, but perhaps more importantly was the way he handled our young pitchers.”
Carter’s signature moment with the Mets came against the Red Sox in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. The Mets were trailing 5-3 with two outs in the 10th inning and facing elimination, when Carter singled to left field against Calvin Schiraldi. The hit started the fames rally that ended with Mookie Wilson’s grounder through first baseman Bill Buckner’s legs. The Mets then won Game 7 to claim the franchise’s second world championship.
“The greatest thrill of my career was certainly that amazing ’86 World Series,” Carter said in his Hall of Fame induction speech. “Nothing will ever top that, and the memories will last forever.”
Carter had a memorable Mets’ debut on April 9, 1985, when his 10th-inning home run at Shea Stadium led a 6-5 victory over the Cardinals. Carter took his first of numerous Shea curtain calls.
The last call for Carter with the Mets came in 1989, when injuries limited him to 50 games. He was released after the season and then spent his final three years as a player with the Giants, Dodgers and Expos. His best seasons came earlier in Montreal, including a second place finish to Mike Schmidt in the 1980 National League MVP vote. Carter also won three straight Gold Gloves beginning in 1980.
The 6-foot-2, 205 pound Carter was selected by the Expos in the third round of the 1972 amateur draft after a standout career as a pitcher and infielder at Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton, Calif., where he earned All-American honors as quarterback on the football team.
Carter made his major league debut with the Expos two years later and became the team’s starting catcher in 1975.
Carter hoped to land a major league managing job, but never saw that dream fulfilled. He guided the Mets’ rookie league team to the best record in the Gulf Coast League in 2005 and spent the next season managing Single-A St. Lucie.
But Carter declined when the Mets asked him to manage at Double-A Binghamton for the 2007 season. A year later he drew criticism after openly lobbying for manager Willie Randolph’s job with the Mets — before Randolph had been fired. At the time, Carter was managing the independent Orange County Flyers. In 2009, he managed the independent Long Island Ducks.
Carter later spent two seasons as the head baseball coach at Palm Beach Atlantic University, where Bloemers is the softball coach.
Carter’s survivors include his wife, Sandy, and three grown children, Christy, Kimmy and D.J.
“I have always been a fan of the game first and ballplayer second,” Carter said during his Hall of Fame speech. “Maybe that’s why I had the love and passion for this great game so much.”
Leader of 1986 champion Mets n 11-time All-Star Inducted into Hall of Fame in 2003
* Drafted out of high school in Fullerton, Calif., in third round of the 1972 draft by the Expos
* Made major league debut at age 20 in 1974
* Played in first All-Star Game and finished second in rookie of year in 1975
* Finished second in NL MVP race in 1980 and sixth in 1981
* Hit .429 with two homers in 1981 postseason
* Traded to Mets on Dec. 10, 1984, for Hubie Brooks, Floyd Youmans, Mike Fitzgerald and Herm Winningham
* Hit walk-off home run in his Mets debut on April 9, 1985, to beat the Cardinals, 6-5, in 10 innings
* Hit career-high 32 HRs with 100 RBIs in 1985, finishing sixth in MVP voting
Three-time Gold Glove winner Two-time All-Star MVP n 19-year veteran Highlights of a Hall of Fame career
* Drove in 105 runs and hit 24 HRs, hitting .255, to finish third in NL MVP voting in 1986
* Started two-out, 10th-inning rally in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series with a single to left
* Hit two HRs and drove in nine runs in 1986 World Series (left, jumping int Jess Orosco’s arms after winning the franchise’s second title).
* Played in four All-Star Games in five seasons with Mets
* Left the Mets as a free agent after 1989 season and spent single seasons with Giants, Dodgers and Expos before retiring following 1992 season
* Finished career with 324 HRs, 1,225 RBIs and a .262 average
* 298 HRs and 1,110 RBIs as catcher rank seventh and eighth, respectively, all-time
mpuma@nypost.com