RIP: Bill Buckner

[clydepepper]

He deserved better.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Awful. Jesus.

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

A ton of good memories watching this guy in the 80s when I was growing up. RIP...

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[barrysloate]

A great baseball player who finished 66th on the career hit list, won a batting title, and never struck out three times in a game. But sadly best remembered for one terrible moment in an otherwise accomplished career.

I was fortunate to be at game 6, still and forever more the best baseball game I will ever see in person, and saw the ball go through his legs from behind-my seats were in short right field so I saw only his back when he leaned over to field it. That's an angle you never see on tape.

A decent man who deserved better. RIP

[Snapolit1]

Yeah, terrible but he handled it very classy. Wasn't tormented by it. Nice example of how to deal with adversity in life.
Bottom line was he was probably not beating Mookie to the bag anyway.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Yeah, terrible but he handled it very classy. Wasn't tormented by it. Nice example of how to deal with adversity in life.
Bottom line was he was probably not beating Mookie to the bag anyway.

He shouldn't have been in the game at that point even. Poor managing.

Did the Red Sox just need one more strike twice, or was it three times, I've repressed it.

[clydepepper]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

He shouldn't have been in the game at that point even. Poor managing.

Did the Red Sox just need one more strike twice, or was it three times, I've repressed it.

It was...one more strike

I have two books on it, 'One Strike Away' and 'One Pitch Away'.

I guess I should read them eventually.

[nolemmings]

It was one more strike...multiple times. Several on Mookie Wilson alone, although at some point in his AB the game had tied on that botched pitch. As one whose hatred of the Red Sox has always been palpable, I enjoyed the end of that game with unimaginable joy (but convinced my hopes would be crushed in Game 7). Was tickled further hearing that Stanley and Gedman "disagreed" as to who was responsible for what was scored as a wild pitch.

I always liked Buckner before he got to Boston. The game was not managed well by either skipper, but Peter, how do you not have Billy Buck out there for the wrap-up and celebration?

[Cliff Bowman]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Did the Red Sox just need one more strike twice, or was it three times, I've repressed it.

The answer is four. I watched the unedited top of the 10th inning on YouTube, after two outs Gary Carter and Kevin Mitchell didn't get to two strikes, Ray Knight singled on the first pitch once he got to two strikes, Mookie Wilson fouled off two straight pitches once he got to two strikes, and then on the following third pitch Bob Stanley threw the wild pitch to tie the game. ETA: oops, I mean the bottom of the 10th inning.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by nolemmings

It was one more strike...multiple times. Several on Mookie Wilson alone, although at some point in his AB the game had tied on that botched pitch. As one whose hatred of the Red Sox has always been palpable, I enjoyed the end of that game with unimaginable joy (but convinced my hopes would be crushed in Game 7). Was tickled further hearing that Stanley and Gedman "disagreed" as to who was responsible for what was scored as a wild pitch.

I always liked Buckner before he got to Boston. The game was not managed well by either skipper, but Peter, how do you not have Billy Buck out there for the wrap-up and celebration?

I was the opposite, after game 6 and even with the lead in game 7 I had zero hope. Fate had shown its hand. The wild pitch and the Buckner error in that quick succession, that was Fate.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Yeah, terrible but he handled it very classy. Wasn't tormented by it. Nice example of how to deal with adversity in life.
Bottom line was he was probably not beating Mookie to the bag anyway.

He was for a while. He moved out of the area because of how it affected his family.
But he never really let that show publicly.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I was the opposite, after game 6 and even with the lead in game 7 I had zero hope. Fate had shown its hand. The wild pitch and the Buckner error in that quick succession, that was Fate.

That fatalism is a great way to spot a long time Boston sports fan. Especially fans of the Sox. And I think a couple of the players from 2004 were right, that attitude soaked into everywhere and caused loads of trouble.
After all, it wasn't if something would go wrong, it was wondering exactly what would go wrong.

When they beat NY in 04, the announcer said it was the worst collapse in sports history. I turned to my wife and not even joking said "well, that's one more thing they've taken from us"
A week later everything changed.