Bill Buckner with the Cubs
Its been a tough week. First, Bart Starr, one of the heroes of my coming of age era dies, and now I note the passing of Bill Buckner at age 69. He is, of course, known for one play; or rather, is known for not making one play. That’s a great shame. He had good years with the Dodgers, coming up as an outfielder/first baseman and moving almost entirely to the outfield to accommodate Steve Garvey.
Traded to the Cubs, he won a batting title (1980), made his only All-Star team the following season, and moved on to Boston in 1984, just as the Cubs finally won a pennant. He remained in Boston into 1987, appearing in the 1986 World Series, and making one of the more famous errors in baseball history. It was his second Series (1974). He finished up with the Angels and Royals, before going back to Boston for a final 22 games in 1990.
For his career his triple slash line read 289/321/408/729 (OPS+ of 100) with 2715 hits, 1077 runs scored, 498 doubles, 174 home runs, 1208 RBIs, 3833 total bases, and 15.1 WAR; a nice solid career. He got a couple of votes for the Hall of Fame in 1996.
Apparently he was fighting dementia in his final years and died yesterday. RIP Bill Buckner.
Tags: Bill Buckner
Verdun2's Blog 
May 28, 2019 at 9:53 am
After being booed by Red Sox fans for years, Buckner was celebrated as a hero more recently in his returns to Fenway Park. I’m thinking every time since the 2004 title, though I can’t swear to that. RIP, Buck.
May 28, 2019 at 6:20 pm
I wonder, though, if the Red Sox organization would have risked having Buckner throw out the first ball if the Red Sox hadn’t already not won their first world series since 1918.