Bill Buckner - R.I.P.

Buckner got far too much blame for '86. He was just one drop of the game 6 debacle. He had a terrific career but all anyone recalls is that one play.

RIP.
 
Buckner got far too much blame for '86. He was just one drop of the game 6 debacle. He had a terrific career but all anyone recalls is that one play.

RIP.

Exactly, the melt down already happened, he was just the final nail. He was mine and my dads favorite player. He was the first name I knew growing up when I started following baseball.
 
I remember reading that Buckner was the left fielder who almost jumped the fence when Hank Aaron hit 715. That clip is so iconic but nobody ever seemed to point out who the LF was until later when Buckner became infamous for soemthing else.
 
This is nice. Very nice. I remember watching it.


<samp class="EmbedCode-container"><code class="EmbedCode-code"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">RIP Bill Buckner. Here's a tear-inducing clip of him returning to Fenway on Opening Day in 2008 to thunderous applause. <a href="https://t.co/MMW78UVk1H">pic.twitter.com/MMW78UVk1H</a></p>— Dan O'Mara (@Dan_OMara) <a href="https://twitter.com/Dan_OMara/status/1133072711654236161?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> </code></samp>
 
I remember reading that Buckner was the left fielder who almost jumped the fence when Hank Aaron hit 715. That clip is so iconic but nobody ever seemed to point out who the LF was until later when Buckner became infamous for soemthing else.

Damn, I had no idea that was Buckner. I remember watching it at the time, I believe it was a special Monday Night baseball broadcast and I watched just to see if Aaron would hit it.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QjqYThEVoSQ" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
That moment when the floorboards fell away was possibly the biggest single mistake in the history of American sport.

But it wasn't Buckner's.

I recall begging the TV....BEGGING for John McNamara to lift Buckner for Dave Stapleton as a defensive replacement. It was extremely clear that Buckner could barely walk or move and McNamara later admitted that he didn't think it was right to pull an honored vet like Bill off the field and it was he that blew that game because he didn't have the balls to do what was necessary. To do what was in the best interests of the team and millions of Red Sox fans.

And Bill Buckner paid a very heavy price for that shitty, gutless decision.
 
That moment when the floorboards fell away was possibly the biggest single mistake in the history of American sport.

But it wasn't Buckner's.

I recall begging the TV....BEGGING for John McNamara to lift Buckner for Dave Stapleton as a defensive replacement. It was extremely clear that Buckner could barely walk or move and McNamara later admitted that he didn't think it was right to pull an honored vet like Bill off the field and it was he that blew that game because he didn't have the balls to do what was necessary. To do what was in the best interests of the team and millions of Red Sox fans.

And Bill Buckner paid a very heavy price for that shitty, gutless decision.



Amen.


It kinda pisses me off seeing folks saying things like "all is forgiven". If anything, it's the idiot fans that should seek forgiveness for the all the crap they foisted on Bill Buckner.

Bill Buckner handled everything with dignity and class, trying to stay in the area until his family couldn't take anymore and even the stuff with Curb Your Enthusiasm and coming back to receive the cheers of the folks who knew that it wasn't his fault for that epic TEAM collapse.

Anyway.... I hope he's in a better place now. Away from idiots who forget that sports are entertainment and for every winner there is a loser and nearly everyone out there is giving it their all and playing through injuries and no one exemplifies that more than Billy Buck.
 
Beating the dead horse, but the game was already tied. If Buckner makes the play, he either may not beat Wilson to the bag because of his bad wheels, and even if he does the Sox losing in extras was definitely on the table. Then they lost Game 7.


I've never seem so much blame leveled at the wrong person by people abetted by the lazy media with no interest in a more complex narrative.
 
I've never seem so much blame leveled at the wrong person by people abetted by the lazy media with no interest in a more complex narrative.

Led primarily by Shank, who profited immensely by making Buckner his whipping boy and then had the audacity to write yesterday that Buckner should not be defined by one play.
 
This is nice. Very nice. I remember watching it.


<SAMP class=EmbedCode-container><CODE class=EmbedCode-code>
RIP Bill Buckner. Here's a tear-inducing clip of him returning to Fenway on Opening Day in 2008 to thunderous applause. pic.twitter.com/MMW78UVk1H
— Dan O'Mara (@Dan_OMara) May 27, 2019
<SCRIPT charset=utf-8 src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async></SCRIPT></CODE></SAMP>

I was at that game. The only Opening Day I've ever been to. My wife (girlfriend at the time) got us 2 tickets as a Bday gift. It was incredible.
 
Damn, I had no idea that was Buckner. I remember watching it at the time, I believe it was a special Monday Night baseball broadcast and I watched just to see if Aaron would hit it.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QjqYThEVoSQ" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

If I remember correctly, regular TV was interrupted every time Hammering Hank came to bat so that we could witness history being made. Maybe I'm wrong about that, but for some reason that's how I remember it. The quest for 715 was the big news story. I did not know/recall that it was Buckner in the OF that day. Buckner was a terrific ball player for the Dodgers, Cubs and Red Sox. He was instrumental in the Sox making to the World Series. So sad that he dies so young and from such a horrible disease. RIP Billy Buck.

Note: Maybe Charlie Sheen can put that infamous ball in Billy's coffin and bury that story forever.
 
Bruckner was a hitting machine. I might be wrong but I think only Pete Rose had more hits than him in the 70's & 80's. More than all time great Rod Carew.

Schiraldi & Stanley blew that game.
 
Never struck out more than 40 times in a year, now days guys strike out 150 and make the all star team. Played forever on bad ankles, yet would hardly ever miss a game. Jim Rice said he used to get to the ball park way early so he could ice his ankles and tape everything together so he could play.

---------- Post added at 06:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:16 PM ----------

Bruckner was a hitting machine. I might be wrong but I think only Pete Rose had more hits than him in the 70's & 80's. More than all time great Rod Carew.

Schiraldi & Stanley blew that game.

This is true
 
That moment when the floorboards fell away was possibly the biggest single mistake in the history of American sport.

But it wasn't Buckner's.

I recall begging the TV....BEGGING for John McNamara to lift Buckner for Dave Stapleton as a defensive replacement. It was extremely clear that Buckner could barely walk or move and McNamara later admitted that he didn't think it was right to pull an honored vet like Bill off the field and it was he that blew that game because he didn't have the balls to do what was necessary. To do what was in the best interests of the team and millions of Red Sox fans.

And Bill Buckner paid a very heavy price for that shitty, gutless decision.



The weird part was they had done that many times over the last couple years. I don't know how many times I heard Stapleton for defensive purposes. It was not like this would have been new or weird to have pulled him. More then that though? Buckner play was just the end of the breakdown, it was already falling.
 
No way?? The guy who let the ball roll behind the bag??

Yup. But it’s unfortunate that he is remembered for this one play. He was a fantastic player. That one play was iconic because it was in a crucial game 6 in the World Series. No need to reflect on that heart break though. I wasn’t alive then, but I’ve seen the replay enough times it feels like I watched the game live lol.
 
I watched the game live... it sucked. We were partying at a rented house in Narragansett. The mood went downhill relatively quickly after that.
 
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