Former major league first baseman and outfielder Bill Buckner, who won a batting title with the Chicago Cubs in 1980 but was best remembered for the error he committed in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series while playing for the Boston Red Sox, died Monday at 69 after battling dementia.
ESPN reporter Jeremy Schaap confirmed the news after speaking with Buckner’s wife, Jody, who issued the following statement: “After battling the disease of Lewy Body Dementia, Bill Buckner passed away early the morning of May 27th surrounded by his family. Bill fought with courage and grit as he did all things in life. Our hearts are broken but we are at peace knowing he is in the arms of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Buckner, a second-round selection by the Dodgers in the 1968 MLB draft out of Napa High School, enjoyed a 22-season major league career with the Dodgers, Cubs, Red Sox, Royals and Angels. He led the National League in batting in 1980 with a .324 average and was selected to his only All-Star Game the following year.
In May 1984, the Cubs traded Buckner to the Red Sox for pitcher Dennis Eckersley and infielder Mike Brumley. Two seasons later, on Oct. 25, 1986, the Red Sox took a 5-3 lead into the 10th inning of Game 6 of the World Series at Shea Stadium needing three outs to clinch their first championship since 1918.
With two outs and nobody on, the Mets managed to tie the game. Then, with Ray Knight on second base, Mookie Wilson hit a groundball off Red Sox reliever Bob Stanley down the first base line. It was a routine play that should have ended the inning, but the ball went through Buckner’s legs, allowing Knight to score the winning run. The Mets won Game 7 to extend Boston’s World Series championship drought.
The Red Sox released Buckner, who received death threats after his gaffe, the following July.
‘He did a great job,” Red Sox general manager Lou Gorman said of Buckner after his release. “He drove in 102 runs last year, and if he wasn’t playing first base for us, we wouldn’t have been in the World Series.”
After finishing the 1987 season with the Angels, Buckner played parts of three more seasons in the major leagues before retiring in 1990. In part to escape the taunts of Boston fans who blamed him for the Red Sox’ loss in the 1986 World Series, Buckner moved his family to a 2,000-acre ranch in Idaho.
The Red Sox finally won a World Series in 2004. After Boston won another title in 2007, Red Sox executive Dick Bresciani called Bucker to invite him to throw the ceremonial first pitch at Fenway Park at the team’s home opener the following year. Bucker almost declined the offer.
“I just didn’t think I was going to do it,” Buckner, who had 2,715 hits, including 174 home runs, in his career, told the Boston Globe. “I told Dick I’d think about it, but I made up my mind. I wasn’t going to come. Then I prayed about it a little, and here I am. Glad I came.”
The Fenway Park crowd gave Buckner a lengthy, standing ovation as he threw a strike to his former Red Sox teammate, Dwight Evans.
“Just seeing him walk out, I couldn’t have been happier for him,” Evans said. “This guy had tremendous numbers, total stats, and I don’t even know if he got a couple votes for the Hall of Fame, which I really think is a shame. No one played harder than Bill. No one prepared themselves as well as Bill Buckner did, and no one wanted to win as much as Bill Buckner.”