Bill Buckner Has Odd Anniversary
Former Red Sox first baseman had famous World Series error 20 years ago
Say what you want about Bill Buckner, but this guy is one of the classiest men in the history of baseball and maybe all of sports. Twenty years ago, Buckner had a perfect opportunity to run and hide. If he had slunk into the shadows far, far away from the media and the tormented Boston Red Sox fans, it would have been forgivable.
Buckner, though, stood fast. Unlike most of his peers, the man, who booted away a chance at a World Series victory on a fateful day in 1986, answered his accusers with courage and dignity. After allowing a grounder by New York Mets outfielder, Mookie Wilson, to dribble through his legs in game six and watching helplessly as the winning run crossed home plate, Buckner faced reporters and left the apologies for lesser men. “It’s part of the game,” he said on that day. He wished vehemently that it hadn’t happened, but he refused to allow this one moment to define him.
Buckner, after all, had a brilliant career that included over 2,700 hits and many great, game-saving catches. He was truly a fine baseball player. Many Boston fans, though, only remember one play.
Often vilified, Buckner faces ignorance from both fans and media regularly. As he did on that day two decades ago, Buckner remains steadfast.
Twenty years later, Bill Buckner is far removed from both Boston and New York. He lives on a ranch in Idaho, rides horses and soaks every drop from life. Buckner still isn’t hiding, though. In fact, he returned to New York, twenty years after that horrifying error, sat alongside Wilson and signed pictures of himself and the baseball trickling beneath his glove.
During this odd event, he smiles, he shakes hands and he shrugs at the notion that someone would want a picture of him making an error.
Then, Bill Buckner returns to Idaho and remembers a brilliant career – not a mistake on one fateful play.
If only fans and media could do the same.
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