Gary Carter honoured with Montreal street name

The memory of baseball hero Gary Carter will be commemorated by the City of Montreal today with the renaming of a street in Villeray.

A section of Faillon Street will be named after the onetime Expos catcher, whodied from brain cancer in 2012at age 57.

Carter, nicknamed Kid or Kid Carter, was a fan favourite who captured the hearts of many Montrealersduring his 12 yearsas an Expo, before the team was moved to Washington, D.C.

His big-league career began at Montreals Jarry Park, where the Expos played their first few seasons before migrating to Olympic Stadium. The park sits adjacent to the stretch of Faillon Street that will soon honour Carters name.

Jacques Doucet, the French radio broadcaster who followed the Expos games throughout Carters career, says fans were quick to fall in love with the Hall of Fame catcher.

"Gary was here for over 10 years and Gary was synonymous of the Expos the time he was here," Doucet said. "His smile was contagious and he was one heck of a ball player."

Streetname change notaccepted by all

Fan Mathew Ross says he thinks the tribute is long overdue.

"I think it's something that could have been done when Gary was still alive," Ross says. "Gary was such a great ambassador for the city."

While many fans support the commemoration, there are residents who oppose the decision.

"I don't want to go to all the trouble of changing my address it's very complicated," says Sophie Picard, who lives on the stretch of Faillon Street that will soon be renamed.

Close to 2,000 proposalswere submitted to the city after it requested ideas to honour Carter in February 2012, shortly after his death.

There has also been discussion about creating an honour at the site of Olympic Stadium, where the star catcher played for the vast majority of his career in Montreal.

After the 2004 season, Major League Baseballmoved the Expos to Washington, where the team is called the Nationals.