If the Montreal Expos are eliminated by contraction, former Expos star Gary Carter says he'd be less inclined to don the team's cap should he be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

	Gary Carter isn't sure if he would want to be the only player wearing an Expos cap in the Hall of Fame.

"If they are contracted, why would I want to have an association with a defunct team?" said Carter, an All-Star catcher who played with the Expos from 1974-84 and again during the 1992 season. "So people can walk through the Hall of Fame in the future and ask, 'Who are the Montreal Expos?' "

The Montreal Expos, one of two teams likely for elimination should Major League Baseball make good on its threat of contraction, are also one of nine current major-league teams that do not have a player wearing its cap in a Hall of Fame plaque. With the team's future now uncertain, perhaps the best chance of its logo being etched in bronze on the head of a Hall of Famer's likeness lie with Carter and Andre Dawson. Both are on the Class of 2002 ballot, the results of which will be announced Jan. 8.

Carter, who is in his second year of Hall of Fame eligibility, played 1,513 games over his 11 seasons with the Expos and another 620 games over five seasons with the Mets, where he was the catcher for the 1986 World Series champions. He was an 11-time All-Star, a three-time Gold Glove winner and had 324 home runs and 1,225 RBI during his career.

The Expos inducted Carter into their Hall of Fame in 1993, eight years before the Mets gave him the honor. Carter also spent the 1997-99 seasons as an Expos broadcaster with TSN.

But Carter said the network's director of Expos broadcasting didn't take a liking to him, and the Expos seem to have alienated themselves from him last season.

"They called me to throw out the first pitch of the first game this year and then I didn't hear anything from them for most of the year," said Carter, now a roving minor-league catching instructor for the Mets. "They were supposed to attend my induction into the Canadian Hall of Fame this year and all they did was make excuses. For (the Hall of Fame) to recognize me and for there to be no Expos representatives there is ... that doesn't look good."

Dawson, Carter's teammate for nine seasons with the Expos who is in his first year of Hall of Fame eligibility, said he hadn't really given much thought as to what hat he would wear should he be inducted. The decision, he said, likely would come down between the Expos and Chicago Cubs.

	“	If they are contracted, why would I want to have an association with a defunct team? So people can walk through the Hall of Fame in the future and ask, 'Who are the Montreal Expos?' ”
		— Gary Carter

"I got my start in Montreal and I owe a great deal of gratitude to the organization for them thinking to draft me and giving me the chance. In Chicago, I owe a great deal to the fans who allowed me to enjoy the game again and have some fun," Dawson said. "I also left both organizations on bitter terms."

Dawson, who won the 1977 National League Rookie of the Year, played 1,453 games with the Expos, then played 872 games and won the 1988 National League MVP award while with the Cubs. Throughout his 21-season career, which included seasons with the Boston Red Sox and Florida Marlins, Dawson hit 438 home runs and won eight gold gloves.

The choice of Hall of Fame hat to be represented on the plaque has caused a stir in recent years. In 1999, it was questioned whether Nolan Ryan was correctly represented with a Texas Rangers cap. In 2000, there was debate over Carlton Fisk's decision to go in as a Boston Red Sox player instead of as a Chicago White Sox. And earlier this past year, Dave Winfield denied a report that he chose to wear a San Diego Padres cap instead of a New York Yankees because he had been paid off by the Padres. Winfield played 1,172 games for the Yankees and 1,117 games with the Padres.

A team offering a cushy consulting job with the intent of wooing him to wear its cap in the Hall of Fame could be a factor, but since the Hall of Fame is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, museum officials can veto decisions they believe lack historical accuracy, according to Jeff Idelson, the Hall of Fame's vice president of communications and education.

Such would be the case with Wade Boggs, who has considered going into the Hall as a Tampa Bay Devil Rays player. After winning five batting titles in 11 seasons with the Red Sox and winning a World Series title in five years with the Yankees, Boggs played the final two seasons of his career with the Devil Rays and was the team's special assistant to the general manager in 2000 and its batting coach last season.

Dawson has been the special assistant to the general manager for the Florida Marlins since January 2000. He said he doubted that he would go into the Hall as a Marlins player because of the relatively short period of time he played with the team. Still, he said, "I'll never say never."

"I really didn't play a great deal in Florida," Dawson said. "I was more or less a mentor and a veteran in the clubhouse. I'm inclined to lean more toward the Expos and the Cubs where I had my impact years."

Carter said that money won't buy his choice of hat and, at least for now, Carter has a favorite. "I think I'm really known as a Mets player."

Only one current Hall of Famer has played on the Expos. Tony Perez was a teammate of both Dawson and Carter on the Expos teams from 1977-1979. Perez was inducted with a Cincinnati Reds hat.

Darren Rovell, who covers sports business for ESPN.com, can be reached at darren.rovell@espn.com