Classic Baseball Union

Carter - INF

November 18, 2002 – Today Harvey Carter announced that he would be retiring from baseball. Carter the long time Buffalo Wing infielder signed a two-year deal with the Portland Parasites last December. However, he’ll leave baseball with a year left on the deal.

“The chance to go out on top is to tempting. I got close a few times in Buffalo, and then Portland gave me a chance and we survived a tough regular season. The boys came through when it counted.” – Harvey Carter

Harvey Carter was originally drafted by the Sioux Falls Underdogs in the 1994 inaugural draft. After the season ended Carter tested the market after winning the Brooks Robinson award at the short stop position.

“I was 30-years-old, thought that baseball was a game that I’d play to love for a while, then go find a real job. Then Buffalo’s owner Thomas-Michael Kozlowalski took aside at the winter meetings. Told me that he wanted me to shore up the Wings, and offered twice the money any other team had out there. I did not have to think twice about it.” – Carter

The Wings offered a $72,200,000 contract that spread out over 7 years. Carter would not disappoint, proving that the Wings got what they paid for year in and year out. Carter played 150 games or more in each season of that contract except for one, where he still played in 143. Each year carter lead the league in defense, whether it was at 3B or SS, he accumulated 5 Robinson awards in his career.

Carter might have started late in his career to be considered for the hall of fame, but his nine seasons in the league are a worthy argument. Carter finished with 1520 hits, 358 doubles, 34 home runs, 953 walks and a .299 batting average. His career OPS+ was 114 and he was worth 34.1 wins above replacement during his career.

Defense was Carter’s best asset, but his above average bat made him a force to be reckoned with. It’s fitting for a star of the first era in the CBU to go out in top.

1998 Baseball Card