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Several years after the 1986 World Series, in a reception suite at a post-season event, Bobby Valentine introduced a friend to Frank Cashen. For Cashen, who built the Mets team that beat the Boston Red Sox in this memorable series, Valentine's guest was a legend.
"Oh, wow, Bill Buckner!", Exclaims Cashen, according to Valentine, the former head of the major leagues. "You are my favorite Red Sox player of all time!"
Valentine, a confidant of Buckner until the day of his death, Monday at the age of 69, was mortified. How did Buckner react?
"Buck wanted to kill him," Valentine said Monday. "But he's gone, you know. He went away.
Without his fatal mistake in this 1986 world series, Buckner – who was suffering from Lewy body dementia, a degenerative brain disease – would have been considered one of the best hitters of his generation. Instead, his legacy includes very gaudy statistics and a terribly regrettable mistake, but also the proof that there are opportunities for real grace even after a really bad night.
In a career that lasted From 1969 to 1990, Buckner compiled 2,715 results, won a batting title, formed a star team and was never removed three times in a match, which 16 great players did on Sunday. .
Buckner even stole 31 bases in 1974, helping to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to the National League pennant. But it was before a serious ankle injury, and by the time he returned to the World Series, with Boston in 1986, he had become a symbol of courage, a disabled hero with cleats that required nine shots of cortisone only to get through this season.
And he was there, playing the first goal at Shea Stadium in the 10th round of Game 6, as the Red Sox were about to win their first title since 1918. At the end of every win in Boston, the Red manager Sox, John McNamara, had used a more mobile first baseman, Dave Stapleton. But this time, he let Buckner play on the field.
With two outs and empty bases, trailing by two points, the Mets waved: Three singles gave Calvin Schiraldi a point, leading Mookie Wilson to face another reliever, Bob Stanley. A title shot, Stanley's wild pitch evaded receiver Rich Gedman, tied for 5-5.
In an interview with the New York Times in 2011, McNamara stated that he did not regret leaving Buckner in the game.
"If the ball was hit either side of him and he could not stand in front, yes, I would have questioned myself," McNamara said. "But he got to the ball."
Even if Buckner had propelled the ball cleanly, Wilson could have beat him or Stanley to the bag. And as scapegoats, Schiraldi or Stanley deserve the most reproach: according to Baseball Reference, the Mets had a 1% chance of winning before the first of their three singles in two selections and 60% after Stanley's wild pitch.
The Red Sox also had another game with the Mets, but they lost a three-point lead in the sixth inning of the seventh game. In fact, Stapleton would never play in the majors again and Buckner would have trouble coming out of the shadows. of his mistake.
"He handled the situation very well, but it killed him," said Valentine, speaking metaphorically, of course. Valentine shared Buckner's room with the miners and played with him on the Dodgers. "There were probably 50 interviews where he could have blamed McNamara, or said something about Stanley throwing the wild pitch, or anything else about match 6. He did not even never said anything about that. "
The Red Sox released Buckner in July 1987, but fans applauded him on his return to the team in 1990. They did it again in 2008, when Buckner launched the first ceremonial game at Fenway Park the day the players received their ring of champions for winning the World Series last October, their second title of this decade.
At a press conference following his speech, Buckner emphasized the importance of his mistake as "the worst part of sport" and added, "I do not think in society at large, it's this way we should work. What do you teach children? Do not try because if you do not succeed, you will be buried, so do not try?
Buckner has tremendous success in his playing career – only 65 players have accumulated more hits – and then worked as a coach-striker for the Chicago White Sox and in real estate in Idaho, where he was an outdoor enthusiast.
Buckner also did autographs with Wilson and appeared himself in an episode of Larry David's HBO series, "Curb Your Enthusiasm."
Was it a long-delayed redemption? It sounded like that, but Valentine says it was not Buckner's motivation to take on this role. The reason, he said, is that Buckner's daughter was an aspiring actress and was offered a role in the series, and wanted to help her in her career.
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