Bill Buckner was more than just one bad play.
CLOSECONNECTTWEETLINKEDINCOMMENTEMAILMOREIt’s so grossly unfair, and so cruel, that people actually believed one ground ball in a World Series Game defined Bill Buckner.Buckner died peacefully Monday morning, according to his wife, Jody, from Lewy Body Dementia. He was 69 years old.
Oh, sure, he was the subject of jokes and cruelty. There were Red Sox fans who never forgave him, blaming him for losing the World Series, and extending their drought until finally winning the World Series in 2004.The Red Sox, one out away from winning their first World Series since 1918, had already blown a two-run lead in the 10th inning of that game. It was Mookie Wilson’s grounder that went through Buckner’s legs that scored the winning run.
Buckner never asked those questions. Never passed the blame. If everyone wanted him to be the scapegoat of the entire series, he was fine taking the onus. The man epitomized class, besides being a ferocious competitor, winning the 1980 batting title with the Chicago Cubs, twice leading the National League in doubles in 1981 and 1983, and producing 2,715 hits in his 22-year career.Buckner hit 18 homers and drove in 102 runs that season, including .340 with eight homers and 22 RBI in September.
“I think what bothered me the most,’’ Buckner told the Boston Globe years later, “is the people -- my immediate family and mother, wife, kids -- I think it was unfortunate that they had to endure it, because it was a lot harder on them than on me because they didn't like to see how people were treating me."
Buckner retired baseball after the 1990 season, moved his family to Idaho, where he worked in commercial real estate while investing in car dealerships. He was the Chicago White Sox’s hitting coach in 1996 and 1997. He managed the Brockton Rox of the Can-Am League in 2011, and was the hitting instructor for the Class A Boise Hawks in 2012.
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