A man plays 2,541 games in the major leagues, including an All-Star Game and 23 postseason games. He deserves to be remembered for more than one play.
William Joseph Buckner was born on December 14, 1949, in Vallejo, California, the East Bay town that was already home to actor Raymond Burr, disc jockeys turned singers Johnny Otis and Sly Stone, baseball player Ping Bodie and football player Dick Bass; and would later be home to baseball stars Tug McGraw and CC Sabathia, University of Texas baseball coach Augie Garrido, football stars Mike Merriweather and Rashad Ross, basketball star DeMarcus Nelson, and Olympic swimmer Natalie Coughlin.
He grew up north of San Francisco, in American Canyon, California. He was an All-State receiver at Napa High School, but it became clear that his best sport was baseball. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1968, and made his major league debut with them on September 21, 1969, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Wearing Number 38, he pinch-hit for pitcher Jim Brewer, against future Hall-of-Famer Gaylord Perry, in the top of the 9th inning, and popped up to 2nd base. The Dodgers lost 4-3 to their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants, in 10 innings, due to 3 walks and an error.
That would be his only appearance in 1969. He played 28 games in 1970, and made the majors for good in 1971, wearing Number 22, and playing 1st base, left field and right field. He batted .319 in 1972, and .314 in 1974. He also stole 31 bases that year.
That 1974 season would be memorable, both at the beginning and at the end. At the beginning, on April 8, he was playing left field for the Dodgers, and a home run went over his head, uncatchable. It was the 715th career home run for Hank Aaron, breaking Babe Ruth's record. Remember this point for later.
At the end, the Dodgers won the National League Pennant, their 1st since 1966 and the team of Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale and Maury Wills. This was the beginning of their era of Don Sutton, Tommy John, Steve Garvey and Reggie Smith. In the 8th inning of Game 3 of the World Series against the Oakland Athletics, he hit a home run off Jim "Catfish" Hunter. But the A's won the game and the Series anyway.
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He batted .301 in 1976, but he injured his ankle, which would bother him for the rest of his career. The Dodgers traded him, Ivan DeJesus and Jeff Albert to the Chicago Cubs for Rick Monday and Mike Garman. This was a good trade for both teams. Monday became the Dodgers' center fielder on their Pennant-winning teams of 1977, '78 and '81; while Buckner, moved to 1st base, and DeJesus, at shortstop, were big upgrades over what the Cubs had.
Buckner batted .323 in 1978, and won the NL batting title with .324 in 1980. In 1981, he batted .311, led the NL with 35 doubles, and made his only All-Star Game. In 1982, he batted .306, his 7th and .300+ season, had his 1st 100+ RBI season with 105, and again led the NL in doubles, with 38.
Unfortunately, these were bad years for the Cubs, made all the worse by one of the worst uniforms in baseball history: Poweder-blue road uniforms, with white "reverse pinstripes."
The Seventies were over,
but Buckner still had the Tony Orlando mustache.
Then came a stroke of bad luck: On May 25, 1984, the Cubs traded Buckner to the Boston Red Sox for Dennis Eckersley and Mike Brumley. The trade paid immediate dividends for the Cubs, and Eckersley helped them win the NL Eastern Division title.
The Red Sox, at that point, were in a transition period: While they still had Jim Rice, Dwight Evans and Bob Stanley from their hard-hitting but near-missing late 1970s team, Carl Yastrzemski, Carlton Fisk and Fred Lynn were gone. But new players were coming up: Roger Clemens, Bruce Hurst, Mike Greenwell, Marty Barrett.
The change of scenery from Wrigley Field to Fenway Park, and a switch to uniform Number 6, helped Buckner: In 1985, he batted .299, and reached career highs 46 doubles, 16 home runs and 110 RBIs. In 1986, at age 36, he tailed off a little, partly due to injuries, and batted only .267. But he hit a new career high with 18 homers, and had 102 RBIs. He hit .340 in September, helping the Red Sox outrun the New York Yankees and win the American League Eastern Division title. His 3 RBIs in the AL Championship Series helped the Sox beat the California Angels for the Pennant.
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This is the nightmare scenario for a Yankee Fan: A World Series between the New York Mets and the Boston Red Sox. The Other Team vs. The Scum.
I was rooting for the Red Sox. Why? Well, it was 1986. This was before Big Papi and Manny Being Manny and all the other steroid cheats. This was before Pedro the Punk and Varitek the Coward and Crybaby Curt. This was before Papelbum and Youkilis wiggling his ass at the plate. Not only weren't the Sox "The Scum" yet, but it didn't occur to me to call them that until I got into English soccer in 2008, and I found out that fans from Newcastle in the north to Southampton in the south called their team's arch-rivals "The Scum."
Yes, it was a rough Pennant race that year, and the Sox beat the Yanks out. Yes, I remembered the battles of the late 1970s -- well, maybe not 1975 or '76, as I was not quite old enough to watch baseball on TV yet; but definitely '77 and '78. I knew the battles. Thurman Munson vs. Carlton Fisk. Reggie Jackson vs. Jim Rice. Ron Guidry vs. Dennis Eckersley. Bill Lee vs., well, every Yankee. Bucky Dent vs. Mike Torrez. And, ultimately, Carl Yastrzemski vs. Rich Gossage -- Yaz vs. the Goose.
But, to me, then, the Mets were The Enemy. I didn't have to live in New England, surrounded by Sox fans. I had to live in Central Jersey, surrounded by Met fans, people with all the arrogance of Yankee Fans but having earned none of it. (This was also shown in hockey, as Ranger fans hated Islander fans for the same reason, until the Isles did earn it.)
And while I may have hated Rice and Fisk and Eck and Lee and, especially, Jerry Remy, who always seemed to do well against the Yankees, before becoming the Sox' broadcaster, their Phil Rizzuto or Richie Ashburn, I didn't hate Yaz. Or Dwight Evans. And, on the current team, I didn't hate Buckner, or Wade Boggs, or Mike Greenwell, or Bruce Hurst. I kind of liked them. Certainly, I respected them. I even liked Roger Clemens -- for the moment. That would change. And change back. And change back and forth a few times.
I had no problem rooting for the Red Sox against the Mets. The fact that the Sox were the American League team had nothing to do with it. Met fans will always root for the National League Champions in the World Series. Even if it's the Philadelphia Phillies or the Atlanta Braves. Even if it's one of the teams that abandoned New York after the 1957 season, the Los Angeles Dodgers or the San Francisco Giants.
Yankee Fans don't think that way: We might root for the American League Champions in the World Series, but not because they're the American League team.
So, yeah, I wanted the Red Sox to win the 1986 World Series. As had been sung in The Sound of Music, I was 16 going on 17. As would later be said in politics, "It was as youthful indiscretion."
Going into the World Series, both of Buckner's ankles were injured. Sox manager John McNamara had been replacing him for defensive purposes, with Dave Stapleton. The Red Sox took the 1st 2 games of the World Series against the Mets, but the Mets won the next 2. The Sox won Game 5, and needed just 1 more win for their 1st World Championship in 68 years.
It was October 25, 1986, at Shea Stadium in Flushing Meadow, Queens, New York, New York. The Sox were leading Game 6 5-3 in the 10th inning, putting them 3 outs away. Buckner was 0-for-5, and should have been taken out for defensive purposes one more time. But McNamara wanted him to be on the field for the celebration.
Sox pitcher Calvin Schiraldi got the 1st 2 outs. Then he began one of the worst meltdowns in baseball history. He allowed a single to Gary Garter. He allowed a single to Kevin Mitchell. He allowed a single to Ray Knight, scoring Carter and making it 5-4.
McNamara took him out, replacing him with Stanley. Buckner remained at 1st base, instead of Stapleton being sent out there.
Stanley pitched to Mookie Wilson. He got 2 strikes on him, but Mookie fouled some pitches off. Between Schiraldi and Stanley, there were 13 separate pitches that could have been the last out for the Sox.
Finally, Stanley threw a wild pitch that nearly hit Wilson, and Mitchell scored. 5-5. Tie ballgame. Someone did the math, and determined that, before Stanley threw that pitch, the odds were 320-1 against the Mets winning the Series. Now, the lead was blown.
And Buckner had nothing to do with it.
Stanley pitched to Wilson again. Wilson swung awkwardly. Under ordinary conditions, this would have been an easy play: Ground ball to the 1st baseman, who would flip to the pitcher, who would step on 1st for the out, ending the inning.
These were not ordinary conditions. Stanley did not run to cover 1st. And Buckner was playing hurt. He bent over to pick up the ball, and, well...
When I saw it, I said, "He's not gonna get it." But what that meant didn't quite register. Then, when my prediction came true, it registered, and I yelled, "Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh... my... God!"
Three and two to Mookie Wilson. Little roller up along first, behind the bag! It gets through Buckner! Here comes Knight, and the Mets win it! (After letting the roar of the crowd tell the story for a minute) If one picture is worth a thousand words, you have seen about a million words. But, more than that, you have seen an absolutely bizarre finish to Game 6 of the World Series. The Mets are not only alive, they are well, and they will play the Red Sox in Game 7 tomorrow!
"A picture is worth a thousand words." -- Arthur Brisbane,
American newspaper editor, 1864-1936
Jack Buck, on CBS radio:
Here's the pitch to Mookie Wilson. Winning run at second. Ground ball to first, it is a run... an error! An error by Buckner! The winning run scores! The Mets win it, 6-5 with 3 in the 10th! The ball went right through the legs of Buckner, and the Mets, with 2 men out and nobody on, have scored 3 times to bring about a 7th game, which will be played here tomorrow night. Folks, it was unbelievable.
Bob Murphy, on the Mets' station, WHN, AM 1050, soon to become the original WFAN:
Three and two the count. And the pitch by Stanley. And a ground ball, trickling, it is a fair ball! Gets by Buckner! Rounding 3rd, Knight! The Mets will win the ballgame! The Mets win! They win!
(No, he didn't say, "The Mets win the damn thing!" He did say that, but not on this occasion.)
Ken Coleman, on the Red Sox' station, WRKO, AM 680:
Ground ball to 1st base, Buckner, it gets by him! And here comes the winning run!
Mets 6, Red Sox 5. World Series tied, 3-3. Game 7 was postponed a night by rain. But the idea that "The Red Sox were doomed," or "There was no way they were going to win Game 7" is ludicrous. They had their chances: They took a 2-0 lead in the top of the 2nd inning, still held that lead going into the bottom of the 6th, and closed to within 6-5 in the top of the 8th. It didn't truly become hopeless until Darryl Strawberry's home run and seemingly endless home run trot in the bottom of the 8th. Mets 8, Red Sox 5. Mets win Series.
It was almost the ultimate nightmare scenario for Yankee Fans: Thinking the Red Sox had won the World Series, and then, less than 24 hours later, seeing the Mets win it. It was as if they'd both won it.
Of course, the Red Sox had lost it.
Even though the Yankees had nothing to do with this -- although a New York team did -- Buckner's error became the culmination of the myth of "The Curse of the Bambino." When Dan Shaughnessy, columnist for The Boston Globe, wrote his book with that title, publishing it in 1990, he brought up all kinds of weird things, and connected them to the Sox' sale of Babe Ruth to the Yankees in the 1919-20 off-season, as the explanation for why the Sox hadn't won the World Series since 1918.
He mentioned the Sox' retired numbers on the right field roof at Fenway Park, reading "9 4 1 8," suggesting September 4, 1918, the day before the last World Series the Sox won. He mentioned the fact that Bruce Hurst, who stood be named Most Valuable Player of the Series before Schiraldi and Stanley blew it, could have his name rearranged: "BRUCE HURST" to "B. RUTH CURSE."
But somebody pointed out something else to him: When Hank Aaron hit his 715th career home run, to break Ruth's all-time record, the Dodger left fielder it went over was Bill Buckner. It was as if Ruth was punishing the Sox in general, and Buckner in particular. Well, what was Buckner supposed to do? Fly, to catch the ball? He wasn't Superman. (Clearly, as he was injured in the '86 Series, and Superman is invulnerable.)
Buckner was assigned the blame by Red Sox fans. He was harassed at home during the off-season. Someone threw garbage on his lawn. He got death threats in the mail and on the phone. If there had been an Internet at the time, it would have been even uglier.
During the 1986 World Series between the Red Sox and the Mets, Bud Collins, NBC Sports' tennis maven, and a huge Red Sox fan, was covering a tennis tournament in Japan. When he boarded his plane in Tokyo, he had just seen, on TV in the airport lounge, Dave Henderson hit a home run that gave the Sox the lead in the 10th inning in Game 6. Now, they were going to win the World Series for the 1st time since 1918, and he was going to miss it. Forget not being in the stadium: He wasn't on the right side of the world. He wasn't even going to see it, because he was going to be on the plane!
When the plane landed at Los Angeles hours later, he expected to find people talking about it. Oh, they were talking about it all right, but, knowing who Bud was and where he was from, they kept coming up to him and telling him how sorry they were. He'd been in the air, without today's laptops and smartphones, and he had no idea of what they were talking about. A quick trip to the airport lounge and a look at a TV showed him the collapse, and its exclamation-point error by Bill Buckner.
Collins would later say, "He was driven out of New England, because, to New England, Bill Buckner was like Rasputin. He'd done evil, wicked things. We all make mistakes, but that was a mistake that will haunt him for the rest of his life."
In 2005, ESPN launched its series
The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame... Host Brian Kenny said that Buckner could have been the show's patron saint. Here were the network's...
Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame Bill Buckner for the Boston Red Sox Losing the 1986 World Series
First, The Best of the Rest:
Missed Opportunities. For example, the Sox left 14 runners on base in Game 6.
Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd. The Sox pitcher celebrated too soon, opening one of the bottles of champagne that had been brought into the clubhouse.
The Shea Stadium Scoreboard. Whoever was operating it put up a premature message that congratulated the Sox for winning.
Pictured: A real image that actually happened,
not "Alternate History."
5. Roger Clemens' Exit. Did John McNamara take him out too soon, or did he really have a blister, like McNamara said? Clemens is a known liar, but he has always stuck to his story that he could have pitched longer.
4. Calvin Schiraldi. All he needed was one more out. He blew Game 6, and blew Game 7, too. In the 33 years since, he's been said to have a "deer in the headlights" look. The experience left him so scarred (How scarred was he, Uncle Mike?), when he was interviewed for that ESPN show, the former Met and former Red Sock wasn't wearing Met gear, or Sox gear, but a jersey and a cap from his alma mater, Mississippi State University. (A very good baseball program, then and now.)
3. Rich Gedman and Bob Stanley. If Stanley hadn't thrown that wild pitch... if Gedman had blocked it... if either of those things had happened, it might not have mattered whether Buckner had gotten the ball and Stanley had covered 1st base.
2. Mookie Wilson. He hit the ball, so give him credit. He was one of the fastest guys in baseball at the time. Buckner, with his injured ankles, was never going to beat him to the bag. Even if Buckner had gotten to the ball, and Stanley had covered 1st, Mookie still might have beaten it out.
Then it would have been bases loaded, and the next batter would have been Howard Johnson, not a good hitter for average at the time, but with some pop in his bat. The Sox would hardly have been out of the woods.
1. John McNamara. The Boston manager had screwed the pooch in any number of ways, including not replacing Buckner with the fully-fit, better-fielding Dave Stapleton.
Throw in the fact that the Sox led Game 7 from innings 2 through 6, and anybody who blamed Buckner for losing the Series was an idiot.
But then, we are talking about Red Sox fans.
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Buckner was treated decently at every American League ballpark in 1987 -- except Fenway Park, his home park. On July 23, despite having a decent .273 batting average and a solid 42 RBIs, the Sox released him. He was quickly picked up by the Angels, and he batted .306 the rest of the way, finishing at .286, with 5 homers and 74 RBIs -- not bad for a player in pitcher's parks (as Fenway is for lefthanded hitters, and Angel Stadium is for any hitter), and especially for a 37-year-old player with nagging injuries.
Still, the Angels released him early in the 1988 season, and was picked up by the Kansas City Royals, playing with them through the 1989 season.
In 1990, the Red Sox signed him again, making him 1 of what's now 29 players who played in the major leagues in 4 different decades -- 5 of them in the 1960s, '70s, '80s and '90s: Buckner, Nolan Ryan, Carlton Fisk, Jerry Reuss and Rick Dempsey.
He wasn't in the starting lineup on Opening Day, so he was introduced with all the nonstarters, as is Opening Day custom throughout baseball. And he received a standing ovation. But he was 40 years old, and done. He had a .186 batting average when he was released on June 5, and retired.
He finished his career with a .289 lifetime batting average, a .321 on-base percentage, a .408 slugging percentage, and an OPS+ of exactly 100 -- in other words, exactly average. Maybe this stat doesn't always tell the truth: He was a better hitter than that, topping 110 5 times, reaching a high of 130 in 1981. He collected 2,715 hits. Only 174 of them were home runs, but 498 of them were doubles.
Here is a list of all players eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame, but not yet in, and not under a cloud of steroid suspicion, with more career hits than Bill Buckner:
1. Omar Vizquel 2,877
2. Johnny Damon 2,769
3. Vada Pinson 2,757
4. Al Oliver 2,743
5. Rusty Staub 2,716
6. Bill Buckner 2,715
That's it. Vizquel will almost certainly get in, but that's because of his glove. Of the other 4, Buckner was, prior to his 1986 injuries, a better fielder than any of them.
Here is a list of all players eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame, but not yet in, and not under a cloud of steroid suspicion, with more career doubles than Bill Buckner:
1. Todd Helton 592
2. Jeff Kent 560
3. Al Oliver 529
4. Dave Parker 526
5. Garret Anderson 522
Tie. Johnny Damon 522
7. Scott Rolen 517
8. Mark Grace 511
9. John Olerud 500
10. Rusty Staub 499
11. Bill Buckner 498
Tie. Torii Hunter 498
Again, pretty good company.
Am I saying that Buckner belongs in the Hall of Fame? No, I'm not. Am I saying he deserves more respect than he's gotten? You bet your sweet bippy.
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After retiring, Buckner moved to the Boise, Idaho area with his wife Jody, and his 3 children, daughters Brittany and Christen, and son Bobby. He invested in real estate, and made a lot of money. He owned an auto dealership, and lost money. In 2011, he returned to Massachusetts to manage the Brockton Rox of the Can-Am League, and took them to a winning record. For the next 2 seasons, he served as the hitting instructor for the Boise Hawks, a Cubs farm team.
But that one play wouldn't go away. It was mentioned in the Boston-based movies Celtic Pride, Rounders, and the U.S. version of Fever Pitch. It was mentioned on an episode of The Simpsons. Buckner agreed to appear in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, where he again mishandled a baseball, but made up for it by catching a falling baby.
In 2004, the Red Sox finally won the World Series. Many Sox fans began to talk about "forgiving" Buckner. Forgive him? For what? When he made his error, the damage had already been done.
On Opening Day 2008, when the Sox got their World Series ring, Buckner was invited to throw out the ceremonial first ball. He got a standing ovation. He got another at Fenway's 100th Anniversary celebration in 2012. He also appeared at the 50th Anniversary celebration for Dodger Stadium that year, and the 100th Anniversary celebration for Wrigley Field in 2014.
But he developed Lewy body dementia, which produces symptoms similar to Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and schizophrenia. Yes, all three. It's a hell of a way to live, and to die. Comedian Robin Williams committed suicide because he couldn't handle living with the symptoms. His widow wrote an article titled "The Terrorist in My Husband's Brain."
It also slowly killed actress Estelle Getty, disc jockey Casey Kasem, and 1950s Yankee 3rd baseman Andy Carey. Former Atlanta Braves and Hawks owner, and CNN founder, Ted Turner has it. Buckner isn't even the 1st former Chicago sports star to develop it: It killed Blackhawks Hall-of-Famer Stan Mikita, and former Bulls star and Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan has it.
Bill Buckner died yesterday, May 27, 2019, at his home outside Boise. He was 69 years old.
Let him be remembered for a good baseball career that included over 2,700 hits, an All-Star berth, and 2 Pennants. And let him be remembered for the standing ovations he received in his retirement.
That's what we need to remember about him. Not one play, but 22 seasons and a good life.
UPDATE: His final resting place is not publicly, known.
