There are certain dates on the calendar that stand out for whatever reason.

Birthdays, anniversaries, holidays…but then there are actual dates that stand out.

I have no reason for this one, but March 25th is one. Each year that date rolls around and it feels significant but it’s not, really. (I know some people with that birthday but it’s no one that would make it a date I need to set aside.)

And then there’s April 8th.

It’s a date that shouldn’t really mean anything to me personally, but it turns out that it means a lot.

April 8th was my favorite baseball player’s birthday.

I became a Gary Carter fan at about age 7. It was my first year of Little League and I was playing catcher (because I volunteered - I had no idea what I was doing) and while I was waiting for my turn to hit I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to take off the gear and the coach told me to fold down the chest protector without taking it all the way off and he said, “There you go - you look like Gary Carter!”

And thus a connection was born.

The Mets won the World Series, Gary Carter was still an All Star for a few more years, and then the decline started, until his playing career ended in 1992. I thought I’d had a lifetime of seeing Carter coach, maybe manage, maybe broadcast, maybe meet him at an event some day, but then he died in 2012.

I always thought it was weird that the guy my dad loved to root for as a kid - Bobby Richardson - is still alive (he’s pushing 90), and my favorite ballplayer died too young.

But the point of this piece is that Gary Carter meant a lot to me and we always recognized his birthday.

My brother will still text me, angry that he knows Gary Carter’s birthday, because April 8th certainly shouldn’t mean anything to him.

But it’s kind of nice that it does.

Now April 8th has more significance to me - it’s also my friend Dave’s birthday, so I always think of him on this day.

But it’s kind of nice that even though Gary Carter is no longer with us, a lot of people reach out to me on April 8th and still remember his birthday.