MONTREAL - City authorities hit a homer, according to many Montreal baseball fans, with their decision to name a part of Faillon street after Expos baseball great Gary Carter.
“You could feel his joy of life, joy of the game, just joy and you could feel him loving the game and it's something you don't see all that much today,” said fan Chris Chartier at an official ceremony Tuesday.
Baseball fans might have more motivation to update their GPS units now that they can hear -- possibly while chugging towards home -- a name that customarily been spoken by announcers while describing a double or homer off the bat of the Hall of Famer affectionately known as “The Kid.”
“To me he was one of the best, if not the best player to go through Montreal,” said longtime Expos broadcaster Jacques Doucet.
Fellow broadcaster Rodger Brulotte also shared an elegy to the beloved baseball great. “When we signed him, he became the image of the Expos, our gladiator and our gladiator left us for another world. Gladiators aren't supposed to die.”
Carter, who caught for the Expos from1974 to 1984, died of brain cancer on February 16, 2012.
Some residents of the Villeray-Saint-Michel-Park-Extension borough expressed hesitation last year upon news of the name switch last year. But local Mayor Anie Samson was able to explain the depth of passion many held towards the icon who excelled at Jarry Park, the stretch of road upon which the newly-named street sits.
One longtime fan articulated that sentiment when he described the beloved Expos as “family.”
Meanwhile Dany Gauthier said that the street renaming is the least the city could do to give back to someone who brought so many smiles to Montrealers.
“It's a small gesture for me because he brought so much happiness,” said Dany Gauthier.
