28 May Getting to Know Baseball Great Bill Buckner
Veteran first baseman Bill
Buckner, whose career
spanned four decades and
who collected over 2,700
hits in the major leagues,
died this past Monday at
the age of 69.
Buckner played for five different
MLB teams, including
eight seasons each with the Los Angeles
Dodgers and Chicago Cubs, in a career that spanned
22 years from 1969 through 1990.
He will be remembered most as a member of the Boston
Red Sox for the ground ball that went between
his legs in the 10th inning of Game 6 against the
New York Mets in the 1986 World Series. The error allowed
the winning run to score in a devastating 6-5
loss. The Mets would go on
to win Game 7 and extend
the Red Sox’s infamous
title drought dating back
to 1918.
Name:
William Joseph Buckner
Born:
December 14, 1949 in
Vallejo, California
Died:
May 27, 2019 (aged 69)
in Boise, Idaho
MLB Debut: September
21, 1969, for the
Los Angeles Dodgers
MLB statistics:
Batting average: 289
Hits: 2,715
Home runs: 174
RBI’s: 1,208
Teams: Los Angeles
Dodgers (1969–1976)
Chicago Cubs (1977–1984)
Boston Red Sox (1984–1987)
California Angels (1987–1988)
Kansas City Royals (1988–1989)
Boston Red Sox (1990)
What’s your favorite memory from your playing
career? I’ve got several, my first big league at bat,
first time reaching the
100 RBI mark, playing in
two World Series. That’s
an opportunity that not
everyone gets to enjoy.
Could have won a World
Series one time, that
would have put a cherry
on top of the ice cream.
Have you gotten past
the Mookie Wilson
ground ball? You can
never really forget it because
it comes up all the time. I’m a competitive
guy, so it’s something I didn’t enjoy. But for some
reason, the stars were all lined up just right for the
Mets that year, and here we are, all these years
later, still talking about it.
How did you deal with what happened in the
1986 World Series? That’s life you know. Everybody
has things they deal with. When you think
of a baseball game, compared to someone having
cancer, what is more important? Everybody has
something to deal with in their family, their kids
or whatever. Life deals some tough hands sometimes,
but god also gives you the ability to deal
with those things.
Who was your favorite baseball player while
you were playing? Probably George Brett. He
was a great teammate, a great leader and a great
player.
Do you think you should have been a Hall of
Famer? I was a pretty good line-drive hitter and
R.B.I. guy, but the ticket to the Hall is usually 3,000
hits, so I came up a little bit short there.