Despite solid career, star-crossed first baseman remembered for World Series gaffe
Baseball lost one of its most infamous figures recently when Bill Buckner passed away due to complications from dementia on May 27.
Buckner first broke in with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1969 and – after some trips back and forth between the majors and the minors – became one of the team’s everyday outfielders by 1971. His time in LA came to an end in 1976 when he suffered an ankle injury and was traded after the season to Chicago, where he became the starting first baseman for the Cubs. Before leaving the Dodgers, however, Buckner helped bring the National League pennant to Tinseltown in 1974. That year, he started in left field and hit .314.
With the Cubs, he continued to put up solid numbers on some pretty bad teams. With their games regularly airing on WGN, he seemed to take on the face of the franchise, and he was a favorite of longtime play-by-play man Jack Brickhouse.
In 1980, Buckner won the batting title, hitting .324, and he developed into a solid defensive performer, as well. He was an All-Star in 1981, but less than three years later, things soured in Chicago when Leon Durham came over from rival St. Louis and won the starting job over Buckner, who feuded with management and was shipped to Boston in exchange for Dennis Eckersley and Mike Brumley.
Playing for the Red Sox in 1986, Buckner made one of the most infamous errors in World Series history. Mookie Wilson of the Mets hit a routine grounder to first, but Buckner allowed the ball to pass through his legs, leading to Ray Knight scoring the winning run in Game 6. New York would win the Series in the seventh game, continuing the Curse of the Bambino and resulting in fans blaming Buckner for the loss. The error haunted the normally reliable player, and he became a tortured soul.
After playing in Boston, Buckner spent time with Kansas City and the Angels, eventually returning to Beantown in 1990 to finish his career. Boston finally embraced Billy Buc when the BoSox won the World Series in 2004.
Buckner was a malcontent in Chicago, and his attitude certainly didn’t help his cause, either. His feuds with managers and front-office personnel were legendary. Onetime Cubs manager Herman Franks once called Buckner “nuts.” But looking at his career numbers, it is clear that he was a good player.
Although his career .289 batting average, 2,715 hits and 174 home runs are not worthy of Hall of Fame consideration, Buckner deserves better than to be remembered only for an error that cost the Red Sox a World Series championship. In his post-playing life, he was forgiven and accepted by the Boston fans, and he seemed to come to terms with the mishap himself, saying that he had moved on from the fallout resulting from the missed play.
Buckner was surrounded by several fa
