Former big league outfielder Chuck Carr passed away yesterday, according to an announcement from his family on Facebook. He was 55 years old.
Selected by the Reds in the ninth round of the 1986 draft, he eventually made his MLB debut with the Mets in 1990. He got very brief chances in New York that year and in 1991, as well as with the Cardinals in 1992. His first real opportunity for an extended look came in 1993, after the Marlins selected him in their expansion draft.
In 142 games in the inaugural Marlins season, he hit .267/.327/330 and stole 58 bases, enough to lead the National League that year. He stayed with the Marlins for the next two seasons, never providing much power but continuing to be a speed-and-defense contributor. He stole another 32 bags in 1994 and 25 in 1995, despite both of those seasons being shortened by the 1994-1995 strike.
He spent the next couple of seasons with the Brewers and Astros, getting to play in the postseason for the first time with the latter club in 1997. In Game 3 of the NLDS against the Braves, he hit a home run off John Smoltz. Atlanta won the game and the series and Carr didn’t play in the bigs again, meaning that home run eventually proved to be the last at-bat of Carr’s MLB career, finishing it off with a bang.
Altogether, Carr got into 507 games over eight seasons, finishing with a .254 batting average, 435 hits, 81 doubles, seven triples and 13 home runs. He crossed the plate 254 times, knocked in 123 runs and swiped 144 bags.
MLBTR sends our condolences to his family, friends, loved ones, former teammates and associates.
Terrible news. RIP Chuck
Greatest live CF I ever got to witness.
Of all the non pitchers from that inaugural Marlins team, he had the highest WAR. RIP
Wow. 55 is so young. It doesn’t seem THAT long ago that Chuckie was tearing up the basepaths in Florida and then taking that well-known “hack on 2-0” as a Brewer.
Condolences to his loved ones and RIP to Chuck, another person gone too soon.
RIP Chuck 🙁
RIP
My favorite Marlin in that inaugural 1993 season. Was a Cub fan, but for us kids in Florida it was so cool to have our own local MLB team. We thought Chuckie Carr was a future superstar. Shame he didn’t get to experience 1997. Regardless… WAY too young. RIP man.
I remember the Marlins inaugural season well. I was 13. Chuckie Carr was everyone’s favorite Marlin. We would mimic his flip of the glove to catch a fly ball off the shoulder in batting practice all the time. RIP Chuckie Carr.
You would probably remember as well the sound guy at the stadium would play a car horn whenever he came to bat. Great stuff:)
We had season tickets. I remember going to the early games and getting autographs from old man Charlie Hough and “Chuckie” before the games. What a bummer. RIP
“2-0, Chucky hacks.”
Inarguably the most beloved post-game interview soundbite in Brewers history. RIP Mr. Carr.
Thanks for sharing that home run story. RIP Mr. Carr
Rest In Peace
In today’s game he might have made a lot of money hitting .254/stealing base like that. Lol
No idea who this dude is since I was ignoring baseball in the 90s.. but damn 55 is far too young.. im almost there, myself. People dying so young lately. I know a few in my personal life.
Same..really makes you think about the why aspect..my buddy from college had a heart attack last week at 47 and passed..scary times..
In the case of people I know who have passed, it was mostly cancer of some sort.
I remember Chuck Carr. He was fun to watch.
A real Gamer. Seemed like a nice guy. He will be missed. RIP Chuck Carr. Thank You For The Memories.
Sad to see this.
My Mom was a Marlins fan, and she loved watching him play…great memories.
Way too young! As a Braves fan, this was my favorite player on those early “Men of Teal” teams.
F
RIP
Sad on so many levels.
Very entertaining Marlin from the early years. Had so much talent, but couldn’t hit his way on, and rarely took pitches. And tremendous defensive skills that were always on the national highlight reels, but his fan-entertaining cockiness rubbed many peers the wrong way, thus costing him a Gold Glove to the very safe-bland defender, Darren Lewis. Even one of his bashing peers, Andy Van Slyke once said something along the lines of Chucky being easily the best defensive CF, but as too cocky and too showy.
Marlins fans loved him. I enjoyed seeing him when he was going good.
And let’s not forget that he had classic moments that spoke to his character in a humorous way:
1) In his first Spring Training game with the Marlins, after a baserunning mishap, he mentioning it’ll all be forgotten when he’s in the Hall of Fame and the All Time SB Champion. (evidently he watched the movie Major League and Willie Mays Hayes too many times).
2) The fact that Chucky often spoke of himself in third person ala some very famous SB King that we all love and respect greatly.
3) He made sure that nearly all of the early years Marlins fans thought of him among the first the correlations to the name “Chucky”.
RIP Chucky! We know that if you have a favorable Afterlife, you will make sure that you’ll let everyone on the baseball team there know, “Chucky is the greatest CF ever.” Brother, you were loved!
BTW, sad to see that the NY journalists show how little ethics they have in referring to Carr as a former Met, then many of them using photos of his Marlins years, and cropping out his cap and jersey. This is one of the many reasons Mets get bashed and why Floridians are among the many other people who have zero respect for that fan base or people from that area or those journalists. Nobody remembers or sees Chucky as a Met…nobody. Heck, even most Mets fans that were there at the time don’t even remember Chucky as a Met.
When Gary Carter passed, our journalists did not crop out the Mets caps and jerseys.
“BTW, sad to see that the NY journalists show how little ethics they have in referring to Carr as a former Met”
I’m not sure if you understand journalism, but local papers make the story local. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinal referred to him as a former Brewer. It’s just what papers do for their readers.
A former MLB-er died far too young, but leave it to a classless idiot like you to still somehow shoehorn in your hatred for the Mets. Just say RIP, keep your dumb complaints to yourself, and move on.
Best post ever. On any message board in the history of the internet.
I remember meeting him as a kid and telling him he was going to be the next Mookie Wilson. A big smile came across his face and he said I’ll do my best. Cancer is such an awful thing. Rest in peace.
RIP CC…..
I don’t know if anyone will remember this this like I do, but I will share this classic Chuck Carr story:
Back in the day there was a weekly show called This Week in Baseball, or TWiB. It often showed funny moments/bloopers which happened during games. One of the best ever was an umpire calling a called 3rd strike against a Marlins hitter cuz he didn’t return to the batter’s box promptly. Carr was on deck and bolted to the batter’s box to avoid the same fate immediately with a huge smile on his face. It was hilarious. Good Guy Mr. Carr.
Odd that he was released the spring after his draft year when he was 9th rd. His numbers weren’t great but his speed would have played on cincy’s turf. Release date was April 1st. He must have gotten too mouthy in spring camp or maybe Marge Schott saw him at he didn’t suit her fancy. Or maybe he kicked her stupid dog. I don’t know but I bet there is a story in there somewhere.
🙁 His 1993 Upper Deck card was one of my favorites as a kid. He’s smiling huge on the back. Think my sister got an autographed baseball of his, too.
Sad.
The guy from @greatestshowondirt on Instagram mentioned this last night. His little essays are wonderful. They’re usually hilarious, but this one was poignant.
“My favorite style of play is hittin’ singles and stealin’ bases. And that’s what Chuck Carr was all about!
“Chuckie was one of the original Marlins, along with Charlie Hough and Benito Santiago. He batted leadoff and had crazy speed. He’d launch off that base like a damn torpedo in that teal Marlins uni! Chuckie also played center field with reckless abandon. One of his coaches said that Chuck would wait a second before running for the ball so that he could dive for it!
“Chuck Carr passed away the other day. He was a fan favorite for the Marlins and was an absolute joy to watch! He’s a dude you may not have heard much about, but he’s worth remembering. He loved the game and always had a smile on his face. And that’s what it’s all about. Even though it’s a kid’s game, you can play it at any age. And when you do, it makes you feel like a kid again. We can play it forever.”
Good stuff.
I think the stolen base is still an exciting part of the game. I have always loved players who could keep the line moving and Chuck Carr was fun to watch. I remember when he was drafted early in the 1992 expansion draft and he led the league in stolen bases the following year. Rest in peace Chuckie. My sympathies to his friends and family.
Very sad, RIP my friend Godspeed to home.