Bill Buckner: Much more than a single play
10/27/2011
There’ve been several stories this week noting the 25th anniversary of Bill Buckner’s infamous missed ground ball in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.
The miscue by the Boston Red Sox first baseman on a weak grounder off the bat of Mookie Wilson allowed the New York Mets to score with two out in the bottom of the 10th inning and take a 6-5 win, keeping the Red Sox from their first world championship since 1918.
Two nights later, the Mets rallied to beat the Red Sox, 8-5, to take the Series, forever lumping Buckner alongside the likes of Fred Merkle, Mickey Owen, Ralph Branca and Mitch Williams.
Labeling Buckner as one of baseball’s greatest goats has always seemed one of sport’s great injustices.
For one thing, by the time he retired in 1990, he’d amassed 2,715 hits over a 22-year career that included a National League batting title.
Beyond that, Buckner was far from the only reason the Sox lost the ’86 series.
