by apbastrat » Fri Feb 17, 2012 2:32 am
In 1987 my wife and I went to Florida to catch as many spring training games as we could. We would always go very early to the complexes to the practice diamonds to watch the workouts, usually populated with minor leaguers and guys not slated to play in that days game. I have no idea why, but Carter was shagging balls in left field along with a couple other guys I didn't know. He was joking around and having a grand old time by the look of things. A batter hit a foul ball that landed right next to me. I picked it up, was about to put it in my pocket when Carter motioned to me to throw it to him. I thought to myself, what a jerk, what does he care about me taking this foul ball? But, I threw it to him. He looked at the ball, threw it back into the infield, then walked over to the base of the wall and picked up another ball. He said "heads up" and lobbed it my way. He yelled over, "look at it" - I picked it up, and it was a World Series ball from 1986. He said, "that's a keeper!" and went about his business. I gotta believe he happened across this ball among all the others and set it aside just to make someone's day.
Needless to say, he had made a fan for life with this simple kindness.