57-year old catcher Gary Carter died today as he lost his battle with brain cancer. Carter was elected into Baseball’s Hall of Fame in 2003. He was an 11-time All-Star and he also won 3 Gold Gloves and 5 Silver Slugger Awards in his 19 years in the majors. Carter played in 2,296 games in his 19 years in the show and he was 2,092 of 7,971 (.262 avg, .773 OPS) with 1,025 runs scored, 324 homers, 1,225 RBIs and 39 stolen bases. Carter drove in over 100 runs four times in his career, which is impressive seeing how it was done before the steroids era of baseball. Carter also played well in the post-season. He played in 30 games in three post-seasons and he was 33 for 118 (.280 avg, .786 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 4 homers and 21 RBIs. Carter was a member of the 1986 World Series Champion New York Mets. He played in 7 games in the 1986 World Series and he was 8 for 29 (.276 avg, .818 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 2 homers and 9 RBIs. Gary “The Kid” Carter was one of the best catchers in major league history. Thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family.

The NFL has inducted six players into the Hall of Fame.  RB Curtis Martin, DT Cortez Kennedy, C Dermontti Dawson, DE Chris Doleman, OT Willie Roaf and DB Jack Butler have been elected to Pro Football’s Hall of Fame.  39-year old Curtis Martin finished his NFL career #4 in rushing yards (14,101) and tied for 12th in rushing TDs  (90) with Eric Dickerson.  Martin played in 168 games (166 starts) in his 11 years in the NFL and he carried the ball 3,518 times for 14,101 yards (4.0 ypc) with 90 TD runs.  He also caught 484 passes for 3,329 yards (6.9 avg) with 10 TD grabs in his NFL career.  Martin led the NFL in rushing one time (2004) with 1,697 yards.

43-year old DT Cortez Kennedy was a force on the inside for the Seattle Seahawks.  He played in 167 games in his 11 years with the Seahawks and he had 58 sacks, 6 forced fumbles, 5 fumble recoveries and 3 interceptions.  Kennedy was one of the best defensive tackles in NFL history and he’s getting his just reward now.

46-year old C Dermontti Dawson played 13 years for the Steelers appearing in 185 games.  He was the rock in the middle of the Steelers’ offensive line for a very long time.  Dawson definitely deserves this honor.

50-year old DE Chris Doleman should have been in the Hall of Fame already.  He played in 232 games in his 15 year NFL career and he had 150.5 sacks, 18 forced fumbles, 16 fumble recoveries and 8 interceptions (2 returned for TDs).  Doleman is #4 in NFL history with his 150.5 sacks.

41-year old OT Willie Roaf was one of the best offensive tackles in NFL history.  He played in 189 games (all starts) in his 13 years with the New Orleans Saints.  He is one of he best players in Saints’ franchise history and he belongs in the Hall of Fame.

84-year old CB Jack Butler was put in by the veteran’s committee.  He played 9 years for the Pittsburgh Steelers appearing in 103 games in which he had 52 interceptions that he returned for 827 combined yards and 4 TDs.

47-year old former Reds’ shortstop Barry Larkin has been elected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame.  He got 86% of the vote from the Baseball Writers and he will be inducted along with Ron Santo who was elected by the Veteran’s Committee.  Larkin played all 19 of his seasons with the Cincinnati Reds.  He played in 2,180 games for the Reds in which he was 2,340 of 7,937 (.295 avg, .815 OPS) with 1,329 runs scored, 198 homers, 960 RBIs and 379 stolen bases.  Larkin was the MVP of the National League back in 1995.  He played in 131 games in 1995 for the Reds and he was 158 of 496 (.319 avg, .886 OPS) with 98 runs scored, 15 homers, 66 RBIs and 51 stolen bases.  Larkin was a 12-time N.L. All-Star.  He also won six Silver Slugger Awards and 3 Gold Gloves in his 19 years in the majors.  Larkin is deserving of his election to the Hall of Fame, but his overall numbers are not that much better than Tim Raines or Alan Trammell’s.

50-year old Dan Marino saw his once NFL record 5,084 passing yards record broke last night by Drew Brees of the Saints.  The record stood for 27 years, but records are made to be broken.  I hear a lot of people saying that Dan Marino is the best QB to never win a Super Bowl.  That’s a bunch of crap as he was a lot better than a lot of QBs that won the Super Bowl (Doug Williams, Jeff Hostetler and Trent Dilfer come to mind).  In his historic season of 1984, Marino played in 16 games (all starts) for the Dolphins and he completed 362 of 564 passes (64.2%) for 5,084 yards with 48 TD passes (#3 all-time) and 17 interceptions (108.9 QB Rating).  His Dolphins were 14-2 during the regular season in 1984 and they lost the Super Bowl 38-16 to Joe Montana’s 49ers.  Marino played 17 seasons (all with the Dolphins) and he played in 242 games (240 starts) in which he completed 4,967 of 8,358 passes (59.4%) for 61,361 (#2 all-time) with 420 TD passes (#2 all-time) and 252 interceptions (86.4 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 301 times for 87 yards (0.3 ypc) with 9 TD runs.  Marino was elected into Pro Football’s Hall of Fame in 2005.  Marino played in 9 Pro Bowls in his career and he compiled a 147-93 (61.3%) as the Dolphins’ starting QB.  His records might be starting to fall, but Dan Marino was one of the 5-10 best QBs in NFL history.

3B Ron Santo has been elected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame by the Veteran’s Committee.  Unfortunately, they waited too long for him to enjoy it, as he died at the age of 70 in 2010, due to complications from diabetes.  Santo played 15 years in the majors leagues (14 with the Cubs, 1 with the White Sox).  He played in 2,243 games in his major league career and he was 2,254 of 8,143 (.277 avg, .826 OPS) with 1,138 runs scored, 342 homers, 1,331 RBIs and 35 stolen bases.  Santo played in 9 All-Star Games with the Cubbies and he won 5 Gold Gloves at the hot corner.  Santo was a good all-around player, and he deserves his place in Cooperstown, New York, where he will live forever.