Yahoo-
Former Boston Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner died early Monday at the age of 69, per a report by Jeremy Schaap.
Schapp said he spoke with Buckner’s wife, Jody, who shared a statement.
Bill Buckner passed away early the morning of May 27th surrounded by his family. Bill fought with courage and grit as he did all things in life. Our hearts are broken but we are at peace knowing he is in the arms of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Bill was 69.
Let’s not define Buckner because of this moment.
Not as a baseball player (he was one of the greats), or as a man. That’s not fair.
RIP to a great one.
Bart Starr passed away Sunday.
A much greater sports profile.
Just sayin’
I remember his rookie year of 1969 with the Dodgers. Great player. RIP
If he tried to catch a bus it would have driven through his legs.
Memorial Day-Thought of this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrV8QPQAhxo
Dementia is a bastard
Like Kirk Gibson, this former Dodger was the fastest man in baseball before he hurt his leg. Unlike Kirk he continued to play when his leg was hurt. He also could hit, so was valuable as an infielder. He should have retired much sooner! If you saw him with the Dodgers you knew why he was an AllStar. “fast as the wind”!. both he and Kirk had good eye/hand coord. Almost impossible to get a fly hit when they played; before their injuries!
Very sad that a very good outfielder will always be remembered as a bad infielder!
@Gretg. I never tire of watching that. Thanks.
The only non-Atlanta Braves jersey I have is the #6 Boston Red Sox Buckner jersey. He was a great player that had an unfortunate play in 86.
Lazlo, I saw my Aunt go through this – I hope he forgot that pay first.
The Red Sox have exorcised that Demon – Hey Satan! enjoy Hell, You’re there For-Ever! You will miss everything ever hit to you … Workin’ to NOT join him….
Considering how many of us would have liked to have the talent he had he was blessed to overflowing. Over 10,000 plate appearances, over 2700 hits, career .289 hitter. The man made only 128 errors in 22 seasons yet he’s remembered for one.
Go Billy Buck – you’re playing in Heaven tonight.
As a Cubs Fan…I feel the pain…Leon”Bull” Durham had the same thing
happen in 84…But the Cubs imploded after that ..Much like 2003
with the Fan interference call.
Rest in Peace Mr. Buckner..
I think He spoofed Himself on this on a TV Show…Was it Cheers?
Shame that such a great player is remembered mostly for his worst play, which happened because he was heroically playing with knees that were barely functional.
RIP Billy; errors happen, I will not hold it against you. You were one of the greats. Jesus has your back.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyKB0ft9N28
Watched the 6th game of the 1986 Series in a day room on Ft Huachuca. Because we got up at 4:00 AM that day, I feel asleep during the game. Right over me was a portable AC unit that had mold in it, which filtered into my mouth for an hour or so
I woke up just in time to see the Mets score the winning run. The commotion caused by Buckner’s era jolted me awake. The next morning I woke up with a case of severe laryngitis and a physician gave me a “No speaking” profile which lasted three days
Which means I can literally say that Game 6 of the ’86 World Series left me speechless.
That’s a true story, Kay
To BFH, 1minute and 45 seconds to remind everyone that liberals are not funny even when they are paid millions to do so. Sad to See B. Buckner in that skit when you know he was probably already showing symptoms of his dementia then and just wanted to collect a few bills from the jerk of the all time (curb your dog man) for a cameo.
On the bright side, it was that balding Hollowood know nothing who set up Sarah Palin’s true-life joke of the century on Sat. Night Live in 2015 when she smiled and said yeah she might run (from president in 2016) and what if Donald Trump was her running mate? She got the last laugh fer sure! Skip to 6:13 on this youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-jzbKRi7Qc
“Let’s not define Buckner because of this moment.”
Look man, not even Wikipedia is letting go of game 6 in the 86 World Series. It’s his legacy.
Popular lore is that Buckner’s error cost the Red Sox the series. What is forgotten is that the Red Sox gave up the tying run in the 10th on a wild pitch after blowing a 2 run lead with two outs and no one on base, that had Buckner made the play on Wilson at first the game would have remained tied and gone to the 11th inning, and that this was game six and the Red Sox played badly in game seven.
Fans frequently focus on one play as costing their team a playoff series. Cubs fans focus on Steve Bartman reaching for a foul ball thereby supposedly denying Alou from catching the ball. They forget that the Cubs had a three run lead in the inning, and ended up surrendering a total of eight runs. They forget that Gonzales booted a grounder that likely would have been a double play to get the Cubs out of the inning. They forget that the ball was foul and just a strike – no one scored. And they forget that this was game six, and the Cubs lost game seven.
RIP Bill Bucker – your famous error was overblown and overshadowed a great baseball career.
(After seeing a replay of Game 6)
Buckner’s play was more difficult than most realize. It was a slow nubber right on the baseline which took time to get to Buckner. Meanwhile, one of the fastest players in baseball, Mookie Wilson is jetting his way to first. Moreover, the pitcher who is going to get the ball, fat ass Bob Stanley, is an absolute toad. Even if Buckner gloves it, Wilson has a good chance of beating the throw.
And let’s not forget the role that relief pitcher Stanley, a guy Dennis Leary once said “personified Red Sox loserhood” played inthe debacle. Just a few pitches before he throws one past the catcher to let in the tying run. Hell of a time for a wild pitch, Bob
I see no humor in liberal cruelty. They badgered that poor man incessantly. I hate boston fans for that.
I remember going to fenway in the late 80s and the hotel concierge hooked me up with tix 2 rows behind the Red Sox dugout. Clemens, in his prime. I was shocked and horrified by the fans. There is not much foul territory and ugly fans could clearly be heard by the players. The players returned to the dugout heads down and in a hurry.
As for Roger Clemens one fan hollered. Hey roger. You fat fuck. Have another donut. Best pitcher in baseball at the time. Yeah later there was the steroid thing but nobody knew it at the time.
Massholes are ugly miserable ungrateful Shitheads.
Thats how you get Elizabeth Warren, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Edward Markey (maybe edmund).
These are simply miserable british loyalist sympathizers.
I hate Massachusetts. Lived there for several years. Never going back.
I acknowledge Bill Buckner for his game style. But, he was no Bart Starr.
I won’t go into what made Bart so worthy of idolization, you surely know them all, and many have written about those things more eloquently than I could. For me, Starr was the reason I loved the game of football. Where else could it be ok for a man so filled with kindness and love for others, to turn into a cutthroat assassin for 60 minutes? The dichotomy of those two things always fascinated me – the football field was the only place I felt comfortable letting loose and wanting to kick someone’s ass.
Starr could kick your ass on the football field and then be your best friend off of it. And make no mistake, Starr kicked plenty of ass, especially in the postseason. To this day, he still has the best postseason quarterback rating in NFL history. As ESPN’s Mike Greenburg stated yesterday in a video tribute to Starr, Starr was Tom Brady 40 years before there was a Brady.
Sadly, none of Starr’s football accomplishments had any real relevance the last few years. His medical issues (strokes, heart attacks, etc) were the toughest opponent he ever had to go up against. By all accounts, he fought as hard to beat them as he did to win the famous Ice Bowl. But in the end, there was no lunge over the goal line to win this contest.
As Vince would have likely said, Bart didn’t lose this game, he just ran out of time.
Rest in Peace Bart and Bill.