By Chris Olds| Beckett Baseball Editor

Baseball Hall of Famer Gary Carter, a member of the 1986 World Series champion New York Mets, lost his battle with cancer on Thursday. He was 57.

“The Kid” played 19 seasons in the majors for the Expos, Mets, Giants and Dodgers, hitting .262 with 324 home runs and 1,225 RBI. He was an 11-time All-Star, twice the MVP of the Midsummer Classic, and a three-time Gold Glove winner behind the plate. He retired in 1992 and was inducted into Cooperstown in 2003 on his sixth try.

On cardboard, Carter appears on 2,746 different cards in the Beckett.com database with his Rookie Cards coming in the 1975 Topps and 1975 O-Pee-Chee sets. Before the news, his Topps RC commonly sold for $15 or less, while his OPC card topped out at $25 — both bargains within the era.

Once a reluctant signer of cards — at least with in-person autograph seekers as he preferred to sign cards only for charitable donations — Carter signed 858 different certified cards through the years and appeared on 1,126 memorabilia cards. In all, his cards that aren’t too rare to price total more than $21,850. Donruss/Playoff produced the most Carter cards with more than 1,200, while his entire career was captured by Topps on just 729.

Carter’s most recent autographed cards can be found in 2011 Topps Tribute as he signed 10 different cards in that product. His only other autographs released last year were in the 2011 Topps Topps 60 autographs and Relics sets and the 2011 Topps Diamond Anniversary autographs.

MLB commissioner Bud Selig praised Carter for his play in a statement.

“Driven by a remarkable enthusiasm for the game, Gary Carter became one of the elite catchers of all-time,” Selig said. “‘The Kid’ was an 11-time All-Star and a durable, consistent slugger for the Montreal Expos and the New York Mets, and he ranks among the most beloved players in the history of both of those franchises. Like all baseball fans, I will always remember his leadership for the ’86 Mets and his pivotal role in one of the greatest World Series ever played.

“On behalf of Major League Baseball, I extend my deepest condolences to Gary’s wife Sandy, their daughters Christy and Kimmy, their son D.J., their grandchildren, his friends and his many fans.”

Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball magazine. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.

Join Beckett Baseball’s Chris Olds and Brian Fleischer as they rip some 2011 Leaf Pete Rose Legacy boxes along with Leaf’s Brian Gray in this latest edition of Box Busters.

What will they find inside? What won’t they find inside? Watch and find out …

By Chris Olds | Beckett Baseball Editor

Baseball’s career hits leader is one of the sports world’s most polarizing — and, yet in some areas, beloved — figures.

And that enigma that is Pete Rose not lost on Leaf as the company is readying a Pete Rose Legacy set coming in November, which will apparently be chock-full of autographs, memorabilia and more. The high-end offering will include signatures, game-used pieces (a bat and a game-used Montreal Expos jersey were used) and inscriptions … lots of inscriptions.

Because he was banned from baseball for betting on the game, Rose has not appeared on an MLB-approved trading card in a standard set since 1989. That has made his releases since then — there have been plenty from companies that are not MLB-approved — of interest to collectors who prefer to remember Rose for his achievements on the field, not his failures off of it.

Click on the images for a full view of the cards below if it shows a thumbnail.

Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball magazine. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.