I remember an interview in 2004 brought up how Red Sox fans had been going "all's forgiven, Bill" and his answer basically "Let me get this straight. You have made me and my family's lives a living hell for 18 years for one stupid error and YOU'RE forgiving ME?"
I question the validity of this quote. I’m a lifelong Red Sox fan, and live n an adjoining town to where Buckner lived when he played here. I remember vividly the game (game 6) of that Series. I have long been of the opinion (long before 2004), that Buckner should be in the Hall of Fame. He has more career hits than Ted Williams! And he was an excellent contact hitter, rarely striking out. As for his injuries, I can tell you that the normal practice for all of the 1986 season was that Buckner started at first base, but late in the game, the Sox would substitute Dave Stapleton (not known for his hitting) for defensive purposes, something that didn’t happen in that World Series game, which left Sox fans wondering why. So the fans in Boston, who understand the game, were blaming then manager John McNamara for leaving Buckner out there. As for the Sox fan’s attitude towards Buckner? Well, long before 2004, this happened. Buckner left the team in 1987. But in 1990, in what turned out to be Buckner’s last year, he was given a chance to make the team in spring training. He did, despite all the pain in that ankle, make the team. The sports media wondered what kind of a reception Buckner would get when he was announced during the ceremony of Opening Day, when the players and coaches would all line up on the baselines. When Buckner’s name was called, (again, in 1990), he got a long standing ovation from the fans, which surprised the media, and was emotional for Buckner. You see, we KNEW what a painful grind it was for Bill to have to endure every day he played. He could have retired, but he loved the game- his only request when the Sox were on the road was the hotel room nearest the ice machine. Sox fans really appreciate that kind of dedication in a player, and respected him for it. Contrary to media reports, he wasn’t despised in the region, quite the reverse. As for how he and his family were treated, I can’t answer for every fan’s behavior, but I remember his wife saying, in an interview, that it WASN’T true that their family was driven out of the area. She said that all along, their family was going to move to a ranch in Idaho (the land was already bought) after Bill’s playing career was over. So THAT was the REAL story. A LOT of things happened in that bottom of the 10th inning in that game 6. The pitching (Calvin Schiraldi and Bob Stanley) had just fallen apart. And Roger Clemens couldn’t finish the game. Clemens was never what you would call a”money pitcher”- he was never at his best in important games.
Clemens can be rightfully blamed for quite a few moral and serious ethical failings while in Boston and elsewhere during his legendary, yet troubled career, but he can't and shouldn't be blamed for any responsibility for losing Game 6 of the 1986 World Series for any Red Sox fan logical and old enough to have watched it or who are aware of the present circumstances of what happened that night. Clemens pitched a great game but was taken out by McNamara with only one out left in the bottom of the 9th when Clemens was begging and literally pleading with Mac not to take him out. I understand McNamara's reasoning strictly from a managerial perspective but my God, Clemens had pitched such a good game and had gotten Boston SO CLOSE for the first time in 68 years. Let him stay in and see if he can indeed pull it off because relievers who followed (particularly Shiraldi) blew that lead, the game and essentially the World Series. Clemens can't be blamed at least in any major way for losing that fateful Game 6 all those years ago no more really than Buckner can. It's funny but decades later on an ESPN Classic, the late Gary Carter remarked that based on Shiraldi's short stint with the Mets early in 1986 season, he could tell that man was nervous and scared as hell in the moment and Carter explained any reliever/closer that's scared in these types of tense, high-drama moments is going to fail terribly. Just like a cocky NFL PK who can make every single shot effortlessly during the regular-season and it goes to their heads, in potential game-tying/GW post-season moments, they always have a tendency to choke. The intense pressure, excitement of the moment coalesces and their mental edge just slips.
Sadly because he was mostly remembered for that one error it was tough to get around him. The problem after 86 it was tough to put that World Series and his career in proper prospective. Like he said "The nightmare scenario I will lose the WS by having a baseball roll between my legs". So prophetic, plus its one of the worst fears of any player, especially when your playing for a fanbase who haven't seen a championship for years.
Im 40. I played a mens league wooden bat baseball season this year where we play one game a week. Almost every game, my back would be aching by the end of each game and it took almost the whole week to recover. I get why older ballplayers have issues moving around
Buckner himself would admit that he made a bad error but that play overshadows the fact that his team already blew this game with a 2 run lead with 2 outs and the bases empty. What the Sox did before that was way worse than what Buckner did
The closer Calvin Schiraldi, and Bob Stanley were far more to blame than Buckner. I think they lose that game even if Buckner makes that play. Their bullpen was sketchy, and used up.
Buckner is also attached to another moment in baseball history. When Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run against the Dodgers, Buckner was playing left field and scaled the fence to try and catch the ball.
This kind of reads like you’re trying to point out that his attempt to make a play on that ball was some sort of faux pas. (I’m aware that this might be the most qualifier-laden sentence anyone’s ever written)
@@tim.noonan apologies if so. He had no chance at making it. Just pointing out that he was playing in that game. Much more attention is paid to Aaron and rightfully so. Just a fun anecdote.
@@HankThe_Tank Nah you’re good. It’s kinda like how Dave Stieb, sitting in the Jays’ bullpen in the last (or one of the last) game of his career, caught the home run that killed Roy Halladay’s no-hitter attempt, after Stieb had the same done to him nearly a decade before. Someone had to be there to make a play, but it’s definitely noteworthy that it was that particular guy.
@@jaydub2971That number is a little deceptive, as DiMaggio and Williams lost almost 3 years b/c of military service. That being said, Bill was an above average ball player.
@@jaydub2971As posted above, losing 3 years to military service in their prime should be considered when you post something like that. I’m a Buckner fan and know he was a very good ballplayer and hitter but you can’t compare him to Williams or DiMaggio.
I have never understood why Buckner is the guy people scapegoated. He didn't blow the lead, he just happened to be the cherry on top of the choke-sundae. How Calvin Schiraldi and/or Bob Stanley/Rich Gedman didn't become the fall-guys is inexplicable.
Optics. A dribbling ground ball going through the legs is the perfect encapsulation of what happened in visual form. The wild pitch looks bad too, but you need to watch the whole clip for context. You don't even need the whole video to tell what happened with Buckner. A single second-long clip tells the whole story. His body language makes it truly cinematic. It's like Lebron's rejection against the glass. It wasn't exactly the literal series clincher, but it's such a perfect visual symbol of what happened, it's the moment that gets remembered as the final nail in the coffin.
As a diehard Mets fan I really didn't know too much about the specifics of this until I read The Bad Guys Won by Jeff Pearlman, which is an incredible book You can place blame on Calvin Schiraldi and his pitching, but nobody deserves more blame than John McNamara. The length he left Schiraldi out, and keeping Buckner out... What a fool
Actually, John McNamara went to one of his bullpen aces in Bob Stanley when Schiraldi allowed one run. Stanley normally was able to close things out. Had Stanley not thrown a wild pitch, it's very possible Boston would have won.
@@docadams7099 Schiraldi allowed the tying run in the 8th which is what sent them to the 10th in the first place. Then after getting 2 outs in the 10th he allowed a run and put the tying and winning runs on base You can say it's just yet another terrible decision, sending Schiraldi out for the 10th, place blame on Stanley for letting inherited runners score, but I just can't say that a pitcher with a blown save, 2.2 ip, 3 ER, 4 R, pitched well
I was 21 when the Red Sox won it all in 2004... Buckner was fighting words to my generation... so much so September 2004, start of my senior year of college, one of my roommates spray painted 'ITS BEHIND THE BAG! BEHIND THE BAG! on the wall of our basement to mess with me. The Baseball gods made that a source of happy a few weeks later.
The worst error in WS history?!?! That is an incredible overstatement. Stanley's WP had more to do with the running run scoring than Wilson's ground ball. Buckner handled the aftermath with a lot of class and was always extremely forthcoming when asked about the play
Well I guest 24 Yankee's first basemen will feel the same heat as the 86 Red Sox, but probably not as bad as Buckner due to 68 years of pain, which was prolong for another 18 years.
Why they were so fixated on him? 3 hits back to back to back. A wild pitch. This were compounding issues that somehow are forgotten. He makes the catch, they are still tie. In a game 6 extra inning. The story has always sounded so bizarre to me. But again, I wasn't part of that history. I was born much later.
It's much easier to fixate on a single blown play than an entire series of events. Look at Fred Snodgrass in the World Series, or Fred Merkle in the playoff with the Cubs.
Buckner and Schiraldi and Gedman were stand up about it. Faced and answered every question. Stanley threw them under the bus. When your team loses a game it should have won it's not a matter of who made what error. It's a matter of accountability. Ballplayers make errors, all of them and have to own up to it. Schiraldi and Buckner and Gedman did. They earned my respect.
I was a little kid in '86 and didn't understand. But when the second edition of the Thorn/Palmer Total Baseball encyclopedia came out in 1991, my local library bought a copy. I looked up his stats figuring he was some piker, but I read them and I remember thinking "wait, this guy was a really good hitter." No one deserves to be remembered for his worst moment rather than for 2,700+ hits and some great years and dozens of huge clutch hits, including a great regular season in '86.
I always feel bad for players who are blamed for one play. It’s like blaming the kicker in a football game for missing a field goal. Red Sox were choking as a whole. Buckner didn’t deserve the backlash.
I hope Aaron Judge learns from Buckner's experience -- Judge exponentially outdid Buckner with his muffed fly ball -- after his home run and circus catch -- the most anticlimatic game in World Series history.
He manifested his own worst nightmare. Too often we will fear something of happening so much that we manifest it into happening in reality. I am always worried about seeing spiders in my house and the only place I ever see them is in my bedroom...not the livingroom, bathroom, or my kids rooms....just my bedroom. I believe its because I always think about it happening so they are drawn to me.
Thank you! This was a great story and a great video about a stellar ball player who was done wrong for far too long. I am glad Buckner was able to make peace before he passed.
Loved the video. I hate that Buckner gets the blame. They ALL got nervous, and I get it. I've set a few world records on Pinball FX, and if I *know* I'm on pace for a record, even something stupid that nobody but me cares about, my heart starts racing. Just yesterday I threw away a record. It's not hard to imagine how much worse it is for the WORLD SERIES. And in team sports, one guy getting nervous gets almost everyone nervous. It's contagious. Look at ANY historic collapse and it's never one guy. It's the team. When Chris Webber called a time out that they didn't have, Michigan had thrown multiple pull-away opportunities away leading to that moment. Bad communication. Bad coaching decisions. Inevitable given the circumstances. That was certainly the case with the Red Sox. The structure of sports inevitably puts it on one guy to make the final whatever (basket, out, field goal, save, etc), a systematic collapse is hung on one person. Look at the Buffalo Bills. They played a terrible Super Bowl with some of football's most mind-boggling choices, and a game of systematic failure is dumped on Scott Norwood and the words "wide right" for all eternity, when they should have been running out the clock with a 14 to 21 point lead. That's the Red Sox of 1986. As soon as they took the field, the manager started a chain of events that started the march to doom. Didn't swap out the ailing Buckner for sentimental reasons. WTF?! Didn't pull a pitcher who, judging by the video, was scared sh*tless. It's in the eyes. It's ALWAYS in the eyes. The pitcher let the game get away, and his nervousness spread to everyone. Buckner was just the exclamation point. It's not like they were snake bitten, like arguably the Cubs were. The inciting incident with the Cubs was a fan catching the ball, something out of the players' hands. Even then, they threw the game away, not the guy who caught the ball. Championships are won by making the fewest mistakes, and it's not a race. The Mets winning that series feels inevitable when you have a manager who bases decisions on who deserves to be on the field for a championship you haven't even won yet.
A very underrated player. I always think about how Boston treated Bill Buckner/Chicago treated Steve Bartman versus how Buffalo treated Scott Norwood after he missed the kick in the Giants-Bills Super Bowl. The latter is how Bartman/Buckner should've been treated.
I agree that Bartman shouldn't have been blamed or vilified but I also don't think he and other Cubs fans near the side outfield should've interfered or messed up Moises Alou concentration or gotten in his way to make a damn catch when he had a good, realistic shot at making that out. Go back and watch that video. This isn't a scenario where Alou had no shot at making the 2nd out in the 8th inning of Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS. Because of the old, weird dimensions of Wrigley Field, their was a clear, substantiative case of fan interference. I don't think Steve Batman should particularly be blamed, but their were a group of Cubs fans seated in that section who interfered with Alou's line-of-sight to make a catch of that foul ball.
I actually became a little emotional while watching this video. I was unaware of his homecoming in 1990. Thank you for producing this amazing video. Buckner was a classy guy and so were the Red Sox fans. (I am actually a Cleveland INDIANS fan)
Another tragedy that year Donnie moore, the man who gave up a home run in game 5 alcs angels vs red Sox, man never recovered and took his life a few years later
It wasn't all his fault. The mess got started when Calvin Schiraldi couldn't get that last strike and it didn't get any better when Bob Stanley came in.
Seeing how the ball went through the legs of Bull first after Buckner got traded... .... that ball between the legs is like Bill Buckner's own personal log through the windshield from "Final Destination 2". The moment was coming for him, like an entity similar to actual death in "Final Destination", and he couldn't get away from it.
Ppl will forget that Bob Stanley threw a wild pitch that forced in the tying run, take that away and Buckner makes the error okay the game is tied but the Sox could easily have won in more extra innings
He started the rally in the ALCS that brought the Red Sox back to win the series. Sadly had the Red Sox won that series he would be less known than he is for the loss. But they wouldn’t have gotten there without him
Excellent video! I studied this issue extensively. Let's rehighlight what you said: 1. Stapleton should have been in. 2. Boggs should have barehanded Knight's grounded and gunned him out (this never get talked about, but Boggs let's it roll foul), 3. The Sox had a complete meltdown. 4. Wilson may have beaten out the play (had it been cleanly fielded). And 5, everyone in the working world or military should learn that even though you share partial blame, you may be stuck holding the entire bag of shit.
Here's why I never understood about this yes Buckner made an error in game 6 but did we all forget to mention there was a game 7 you're telling me the Boston Red Sox were too lazy to win game 7? Very similar to what happened in 2003 with the Cubs well let's come out and say if the Cubs were just nowhere near the same level as the Florida Marlins
My grandfather was one of those diehard Sox fans who was born, lived his entire life, and died without ever seeing them win. They DID win it the year he was born, but does it really count when he was about 9 months old at the time? And when they finally did it in 2004, my mother was watching the game (and she's not a sports fan AT ALL) and she looked up at the sky with tears in her eyes and said, "They finally did it, Dad."
Playing in Boston NY is tough and a double edge sword. The same passion you get within those type fan bases can turn on you if make an error on Mookie's grounder!!!
Bottom line: The error did not cost them series. Had he made the play, they do not WIN the series. And even if Wilson does beat him to the bag, fine, Knight won't score from second. And the fact that Mac had subbed in Stapleton in the 9th in the previous 7 Post Season Games when the Sox were leading blows away any claim he would go on to make that he thought Buckner was the best choice. MAC blew that series in SO MANY ways. Terrible managing. Personally I never blamed him. Not even as a 13 years old. Not when it happened, not the next day. For me it was alwasy CALVIN SCHIRALDI and BOB STANLEY who blew it. And too much later I came to appreciate the full depth of John McNamara's incompetence. Maybe a little on Gedman as well. (Wild Pitch or Passed Ball?) Very little of it was on Buckner.
It says a ton about his level of commitment and professionalism that even though he was going through to your rending pain, he's still continued to play for 22 years when he could have easily retired before that
Baseball fans, perhaps more than any other, tend to attribute the whole of something to one instance. My team, the Royals, benefited from this in Game 6 of the 1985 WS with the blown call at first. Say all you want about momentum, but it wasn’t that umpire’s fault the Royals won 11-0 the next night
I was at Game 6 in 1986.. Buckner didn't lose that game. Schiraldi, Stanley and McNamara did more to lose that game for the Red Sox than Buckner did. Gary Carter had 2 strikes on him when he got his single.. And the wild pitch that tied the game came on a 2-2 pitch (after Mookie fouled off like 4 pitches in a row)... They were a strike away from winning the Series TWICE in that inning! FUN FACT: A man parachuted into the stadium during the first inning of this game.. landing between the mound and home plate... and guess who was in the batter's box when this happened... Yup.. Bill Buckner
Lol. Dude was a below average hitter over his career and a terrible fielder for most of it. He spent most of his career as a below average player. Dude wasn't even close to the Hall of Average.
I saw a mock sports news website, which had a "This Day in History" feature. They would have the date, and name an event, then put a parodic spin on the event. In this case, it was "On this date, in 1986, the NY Mets defeated the Boston Red Sox in Game 7 of the World Series 8-5. The Red Sox lost, because staring pitcher, Bill Buckner, gave up 8 runs."
Red Sox fans don't have enough appreciation for what really cost us that game: John McNamara's garbage managerial decisions. Buckner should have been pulled from the game already - not because of his fielding, but because there was a golden chance to pinch-hit Don Baylor for him in a critical rally situation that could have seen the Sox lead by several runs more.
Bill Buckner never deserved the blame he got for the Red Sox losing the 1986 WS. For one thing, there was some really lazy play allowing one or two balls to drop for hits. And there was a wild pitch allowing the tying run to score. Plus, there was a rainout, giving Boston an extra day to regroup. Even with losing Game 6, they had every chance to win Game 7. I seem to remember the Reds being able to do that very thing 11 years earlier.
Once Bob Stanley threw that wild pitch which tied the game, it was over for the Red Sox. Buckner's error was the exclamation point at the end of Game 6, but not the primary reason they lost the Series.
Billy Bucks was a gamer, always was. It's such a cruel twist of fate that he mishandled that grounder because he actually had very good hands. What he lacked (as the video clearly highlights) was his range. Even if Buckner made that play, the game was still tied, so it's not a guaranteed win. The Bosox would not have made it to the playoffs without Buckner's season long contributions. I put it on McNamara. The moment was too big for him. McNamara made a LOT of questionable decisions during the World Series.
It is a good tribute that Catching Hell did mention this play and compare it to the Steve Bartman play, yep, he was just a scapegoat, this wouldn't be remembered if the Red Sox won Game 7.
And just like me as a Rangers fan really want to question why Wash didn't sub out Nelson Cruz in Bot 9th Game 6 in 2011, Buckner should've been defensively subbed in that inning, he was hurt, and all the blame should've gone to the manager.
I'm a dieheart Yankee fan from the Netherlands 🇳🇱 But oh man.... I realy felt a tear rolling down my cheeks... Bill didn't deserve this. All that hate for years and years. Of course a mistake will hurt the fans but.... walk a mile in his shoes... Bill didn't do it on purpose! Still there are fans with 1% brain capacity who even use that 1%. Not only Red Sox fans but all sport fans over the world have #$@%&*^! fans. Thank you for this video... From the Netherlands I'm hoping for a spectacular world series starting tomorrow ! Go Yankees.! 🇳🇱 ⚾️ 🇺🇲
You missed the fact that Bob Stanley wasn't even backing up first. Buckner couldn't have made the play so it was on the pitcher to be there for the toss. Stanley just gave up.
Without Buckner's 102 RBIs and clutch hitting in the regular season, Boston would never had made it into the post-season -- to say nothing of the World Series. Bill Buckner was one of the Red Sox heros that year. He should have been removed in the last inning for a better fielder. It was the manager who failed -- not Bill Buckner -- and the real culprit was Calvin Schiraldi, who had a great season as a reliever, but failed in that historic moment.
here in Chicago, back in the day. my boy Buckner was just as popular as Walter Payton. Buckner wasn't a good ball player. he was a GREAT one. that boy has MORE hits than 70% of the players in the hall. in the 1970's and 80's. there is only ONE other player that has MORE hits than Buckner doing that time. his name is Pete Rose...let that sink in folks. Buckner was headed to the hall. I am still mad at the Cubs trading him in 1984. you DON'T get ball players like him often. just imagine, the numbers he would have put up playing on BETTER Cub teams. and NOT injured his ankles...scarier numbers.
100% facts! There are WAY MORE reasons it wasn't his fault!!! Even if he caught it there was nobody to throw it to!!! Not to mention the next game entirely
It's not hard to come up with a list of 10 reasons why you should NOT blame Buckner for the Red Sox losing the 1986 World Series. Unfortunately, the misconception that he was at fault has persisted because of the media distortion -- the way his misplay has been overplayed.
This get all the press because it lost the game, but not the series. I would argue Tony Fernandez error, bottom of the 11 one out, tied game should have been two outs runner on second but became 1 and 3rd 1 out, winning run 90 feet away. Much worse. If you look after the Buckner error the Red Sox still had probably a 40% chance to win the series. I’ll bet the Indians went from 40% chance to win the series to 5% chance to win the series on that one play.
people also forget that Calvin Schiraldi blew both games 6 and 7. Buckner's error wouldn't be remembered if Schiraldi didn't fucked up 2 games in a row
Gerritt Cole not covering first base is many levels of magnitude times worse than Bill Buckner’s ‘86 error. Buckner missed the ball despite trying. Cole didn’t even bother to play fundamental baseball-he didn’t even TRY. Buckner’s error is no longer the gold standard of baseball errors-Gerritt Cole not covering first is so, so much worse. And I LOVE that a Yankee is now the King of Errors. Dodgers won-YANKEES LOST!!! It is always a good day when the New York Yankees lose.
The narrative is that the error lost the series. It's portrayed as if Buckner fields it, the games over & the Sox win it all... Just would have forced Extra Innings because of 2 men (neither of whom are Buckner) It was ALL the fault Bob Stanley & John McNamara Stanley throws the wild pitch that tied the game & isn't covering first base for Bill even if he did field it And Buckner shouldn't have been out there for the 9th anyway & that's on McNamara How Buckner was treated by a large number of "fans" always sickened me. And I'm a diehard member of Sox Nation. The ending of this game is my first memory at 4yrs old
Bob Stanley? I've watched the replay 1000 times and Rich Gedman made almost no effort to catch that "wild pitch". Any good catcher should have caught or blocked that ball.
Another case of media hyperbole and blowing things out of proportion. Buckner came back to the Sox in 1990. A long shot in Spring Training. And he was welcomed back with open arms. Sox fans can be mean, horrible, very ugly at times. But we are also very astute about the game and knowledgeable. Any real Sox fan knows there are many more places of blame for game 6 than Buckner. To start off with the game was already tied when the error happened. The Sox had already blown a two run lead with 2 outs a two strikes to the last 5 batters of the game. Stanley's wild pitch/ passed ball, Shiraldi, melting down with 2 outs, NcNamara not using Stapleton, Clemens asking out early. Fact is Mookie beats Bill to the bag anyway if he fields it cleanly. Plus the Sox blew a 3 run 5th inning lead in game 7. Where McNamara got to greedy with Hurst. The Sox pulled to within a run in the 8th thanks to Dewey Evans, only for Nipper to meatball Darryl Strawberry for a 3 run homer. A great Sox Team. Henderson almost won it twice for us. The Mets won a lot of games that year. But I believe the Sox were the better team. It just didnt happen. Billy Buck will always be a legend in Boston.
I remember an interview in 2004 brought up how Red Sox fans had been going "all's forgiven, Bill" and his answer basically "Let me get this straight. You have made me and my family's lives a living hell for 18 years for one stupid error and YOU'RE forgiving ME?"
I question the validity of this quote. I’m a lifelong Red Sox fan, and live n an adjoining town to where Buckner lived when he played here. I remember vividly the game (game 6) of that Series. I have long been of the opinion (long before 2004), that Buckner should be in the Hall of Fame. He has more career hits than Ted Williams! And he was an excellent contact hitter, rarely striking out.
As for his injuries, I can tell you that the normal practice for all of the 1986 season was that Buckner started at first base, but late in the game, the Sox would substitute Dave Stapleton (not known for his hitting) for defensive purposes, something that didn’t happen in that World Series game, which left Sox fans wondering why. So the fans in Boston, who understand the game, were blaming then manager John McNamara for leaving Buckner out there.
As for the Sox fan’s attitude towards Buckner? Well, long before 2004, this happened. Buckner left the team in 1987. But in 1990, in what turned out to be Buckner’s last year, he was given a chance to make the team in spring training. He did, despite all the pain in that ankle, make the team. The sports media wondered what kind of a reception Buckner would get when he was announced during the ceremony of Opening Day, when the players and coaches would all line up on the baselines.
When Buckner’s name was called, (again, in 1990), he got a long standing ovation from the fans, which surprised the media, and was emotional for Buckner. You see, we KNEW what a painful grind it was for Bill to have to endure every day he played. He could have retired, but he loved the game- his only request when the Sox were on the road was the hotel room nearest the ice machine.
Sox fans really appreciate that kind of dedication in a player, and respected him for it. Contrary to media reports, he wasn’t despised in the region, quite the reverse. As for how he and his family were treated, I can’t answer for every fan’s behavior, but I remember his wife saying, in an interview, that it WASN’T true that their family was driven out of the area. She said that all along, their family was going to move to a ranch in Idaho (the land was already bought) after Bill’s playing career was over.
So THAT was the REAL story. A LOT of things happened in that bottom of the 10th inning in that game 6. The pitching (Calvin Schiraldi and Bob Stanley) had just fallen apart. And Roger Clemens couldn’t finish the game. Clemens was never what you would call a”money pitcher”- he was never at his best in important games.
Yeah. "We're sorry, Bill" should have been the sign that day.
Clemens can be rightfully blamed for quite a few moral and serious ethical failings while in Boston and elsewhere during his legendary, yet troubled career, but he can't and shouldn't be blamed for any responsibility for losing Game 6 of the 1986 World Series for any Red Sox fan logical and old enough to have watched it or who are aware of the present circumstances of what happened that night.
Clemens pitched a great game but was taken out by McNamara with only one out left in the bottom of the 9th when Clemens was begging and literally pleading with Mac not to take him out. I understand McNamara's reasoning strictly from a managerial perspective but my God, Clemens had pitched such a good game and had gotten Boston SO CLOSE for the first time in 68 years. Let him stay in and see if he can indeed pull it off because relievers who followed (particularly Shiraldi) blew that lead, the game and essentially the World Series. Clemens can't be blamed at least in any major way for losing that fateful Game 6 all those years ago no more really than Buckner can.
It's funny but decades later on an ESPN Classic, the late Gary Carter remarked that based on Shiraldi's short stint with the Mets early in 1986 season, he could tell that man was nervous and scared as hell in the moment and Carter explained any reliever/closer that's scared in these types of tense, high-drama moments is going to fail terribly. Just like a cocky NFL PK who can make every single shot effortlessly during the regular-season and it goes to their heads, in potential game-tying/GW post-season moments, they always have a tendency to choke. The intense pressure, excitement of the moment coalesces and their mental edge just slips.
@@johncronin9540Shut up
Sadly because he was mostly remembered for that one error it was tough to get around him. The problem after 86 it was tough to put that World Series and his career in proper prospective. Like he said "The nightmare scenario I will lose the WS by having a baseball roll between my legs". So prophetic, plus its one of the worst fears of any player, especially when your playing for a fanbase who haven't seen a championship for years.
Im 40. I played a mens league wooden bat baseball season this year where we play one game a week. Almost every game, my back would be aching by the end of each game and it took almost the whole week to recover. I get why older ballplayers have issues moving around
Buckner coming out to throw the first pitch in 08 on the day they raised the banner for the 07 WS still gives me chills.
The Sox finally winning it all in 2004 was really the moment that fans finally forgave Buckner.
@@psychorabbittMost real fans had forgiven him long before that. It was the press-Dan Shaughnessy especially that kept that story going.
The Sox might not have made the World Series without him. Drove in over a 100 rbi in 86
Buckner himself would admit that he made a bad error but that play overshadows the fact that his team already blew this game with a 2 run lead with 2 outs and the bases empty. What the Sox did before that was way worse than what Buckner did
Or the fact there was a game 7 they could have won
@@derekleblanc9717 yes and I recall the Sox took a 3-0 lead in game 7
@hipstereagle6050 I was about to.turn 2 so cant say I remember lol
The closer Calvin Schiraldi, and Bob Stanley were far more to blame than Buckner. I think they lose that game even if Buckner makes that play. Their bullpen was sketchy, and used up.
@@derekleblanc9717Everybody knew that wasn't going to happen.
this was a GREAT video; very inspiring. also, i never realized that wasn't a do-or-die game.
If the Red Sox won Game 7 nobody would be talking about this play.
RIP, what Bill went through now, he took to his GRAVE.
Buckner is also attached to another moment in baseball history. When Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run against the Dodgers, Buckner was playing left field and scaled the fence to try and catch the ball.
This kind of reads like you’re trying to point out that his attempt to make a play on that ball was some sort of faux pas.
(I’m aware that this might be the most qualifier-laden sentence anyone’s ever written)
@@tim.noonan apologies if so. He had no chance at making it. Just pointing out that he was playing in that game. Much more attention is paid to Aaron and rightfully so. Just a fun anecdote.
@@HankThe_Tank Nah you’re good. It’s kinda like how Dave Stieb, sitting in the Jays’ bullpen in the last (or one of the last) game of his career, caught the home run that killed Roy Halladay’s no-hitter attempt, after Stieb had the same done to him nearly a decade before. Someone had to be there to make a play, but it’s definitely noteworthy that it was that particular guy.
@@tim.noonanthat’s a great anecdote, the secret base video on Dave Stieb is a roller coaster
@@HankThe_Tank Lol... Had the same thought... "AND HE MISSED THAT ONE TOO!" Lol.
People forget he was a pretty good player too. He deserves better than to be known for his boot
More hits than Joe DiMaggio or Ted Williams. Just saying.
@@jaydub2971That number is a little deceptive, as DiMaggio and Williams lost almost 3 years b/c of military service. That being said, Bill was an above average ball player.
@@Captain_AAhab_ _'People forget..'_ ? No, morons forget.
@@jaydub2971As posted above, losing 3 years to military service in their prime should be considered when you post something like that.
I’m a Buckner fan and know he was a very good ballplayer and hitter but you can’t compare him to Williams or DiMaggio.
People forget it wasn't all his fault. Calvin Schiraldi and Bob Stanley were the real screw ups.
I have never understood why Buckner is the guy people scapegoated. He didn't blow the lead, he just happened to be the cherry on top of the choke-sundae. How Calvin Schiraldi and/or Bob Stanley/Rich Gedman didn't become the fall-guys is inexplicable.
Schiraldi entered games 6 & 7 with a lead and left both with an L.
Yup I don’t get it either.
The Sox pitcher at the time set it all up with fielding mistake as bad as Buckner's.
Optics.
A dribbling ground ball going through the legs is the perfect encapsulation of what happened in visual form. The wild pitch looks bad too, but you need to watch the whole clip for context. You don't even need the whole video to tell what happened with Buckner. A single second-long clip tells the whole story. His body language makes it truly cinematic.
It's like Lebron's rejection against the glass. It wasn't exactly the literal series clincher, but it's such a perfect visual symbol of what happened, it's the moment that gets remembered as the final nail in the coffin.
Him foreshadowing his own failure is so eerie
As a diehard Mets fan I really didn't know too much about the specifics of this until I read The Bad Guys Won by Jeff Pearlman, which is an incredible book
You can place blame on Calvin Schiraldi and his pitching, but nobody deserves more blame than John McNamara. The length he left Schiraldi out, and keeping Buckner out... What a fool
Actually, John McNamara went to one of his bullpen aces in Bob Stanley when Schiraldi allowed one run. Stanley normally was able to close things out. Had Stanley not thrown a wild pitch, it's very possible Boston would have won.
@@docadams7099 Schiraldi allowed the tying run in the 8th which is what sent them to the 10th in the first place. Then after getting 2 outs in the 10th he allowed a run and put the tying and winning runs on base
You can say it's just yet another terrible decision, sending Schiraldi out for the 10th, place blame on Stanley for letting inherited runners score, but I just can't say that a pitcher with a blown save, 2.2 ip, 3 ER, 4 R, pitched well
Bob Stanley, too.
I was 21 when the Red Sox won it all in 2004... Buckner was fighting words to my generation... so much so September 2004, start of my senior year of college, one of my roommates spray painted 'ITS BEHIND THE BAG! BEHIND THE BAG! on the wall of our basement to mess with me. The Baseball gods made that a source of happy a few weeks later.
Amazing video. I was well aware of Buckner and his redemption arc but you made it fresh somehow and had a cool take on it. Thank you.
The worst error in WS history?!?! That is an incredible overstatement. Stanley's WP had more to do with the running run scoring than Wilson's ground ball. Buckner handled the aftermath with a lot of class and was always extremely forthcoming when asked about the play
Well I guest 24 Yankee's first basemen will feel the same heat as the 86 Red Sox, but probably not as bad as Buckner due to 68 years of pain, which was prolong for another 18 years.
Why they were so fixated on him?
3 hits back to back to back.
A wild pitch.
This were compounding issues that somehow are forgotten. He makes the catch, they are still tie. In a game 6 extra inning. The story has always sounded so bizarre to me. But again, I wasn't part of that history. I was born much later.
it was the last play and thus stuck in most peoples head but overall it was the press, they ran with it.
And at least one of those hits should have been caught.
It's because sports fans are nothing but a bunch of judgment assholes who have to blame someone for their misery.
It's much easier to fixate on a single blown play than an entire series of events. Look at Fred Snodgrass in the World Series, or Fred Merkle in the playoff with the Cubs.
Everyone needs a scapegoat, look at the poor kid in Chicago.
Buckner and Schiraldi and Gedman were stand up about it. Faced and answered every question. Stanley threw them under the bus.
When your team loses a game it should have won it's not a matter of who made what error. It's a matter of accountability. Ballplayers make errors, all of them and have to own up to it. Schiraldi and Buckner and Gedman did. They earned my respect.
I was a little kid in '86 and didn't understand. But when the second edition of the Thorn/Palmer Total Baseball encyclopedia came out in 1991, my local library bought a copy. I looked up his stats figuring he was some piker, but I read them and I remember thinking "wait, this guy was a really good hitter." No one deserves to be remembered for his worst moment rather than for 2,700+ hits and some great years and dozens of huge clutch hits, including a great regular season in '86.
Baseball is a team game played by nine individuals.
You win as a team, you lose as a team.
I always feel bad for players who are blamed for one play. It’s like blaming the kicker in a football game for missing a field goal. Red Sox were choking as a whole. Buckner didn’t deserve the backlash.
Like blaming that bartman over a foul ball, Who isn’t even playing the game
The real tragedy here was Keith Hernandez won and Bill didn't. Keith was in the upper echelon of 80s baseball pornstaches but Bill was the GOAT.
I hope Aaron Judge learns from Buckner's experience -- Judge exponentially outdid Buckner with his muffed fly ball -- after his home run and circus catch -- the most anticlimatic game in World Series history.
That Bucky McBadbat reference made me so happy 😂
He manifested his own worst nightmare. Too often we will fear something of happening so much that we manifest it into happening in reality. I am always worried about seeing spiders in my house and the only place I ever see them is in my bedroom...not the livingroom, bathroom, or my kids rooms....just my bedroom. I believe its because I always think about it happening so they are drawn to me.
Red Sox also blew a 3-0 lead in game 7!
Thank you! This was a great story and a great video about a stellar ball player who was done wrong for far too long. I am glad Buckner was able to make peace before he passed.
Loved the video. I hate that Buckner gets the blame. They ALL got nervous, and I get it. I've set a few world records on Pinball FX, and if I *know* I'm on pace for a record, even something stupid that nobody but me cares about, my heart starts racing. Just yesterday I threw away a record. It's not hard to imagine how much worse it is for the WORLD SERIES. And in team sports, one guy getting nervous gets almost everyone nervous. It's contagious. Look at ANY historic collapse and it's never one guy. It's the team. When Chris Webber called a time out that they didn't have, Michigan had thrown multiple pull-away opportunities away leading to that moment. Bad communication. Bad coaching decisions. Inevitable given the circumstances. That was certainly the case with the Red Sox. The structure of sports inevitably puts it on one guy to make the final whatever (basket, out, field goal, save, etc), a systematic collapse is hung on one person. Look at the Buffalo Bills. They played a terrible Super Bowl with some of football's most mind-boggling choices, and a game of systematic failure is dumped on Scott Norwood and the words "wide right" for all eternity, when they should have been running out the clock with a 14 to 21 point lead. That's the Red Sox of 1986. As soon as they took the field, the manager started a chain of events that started the march to doom. Didn't swap out the ailing Buckner for sentimental reasons. WTF?! Didn't pull a pitcher who, judging by the video, was scared sh*tless. It's in the eyes. It's ALWAYS in the eyes. The pitcher let the game get away, and his nervousness spread to everyone. Buckner was just the exclamation point. It's not like they were snake bitten, like arguably the Cubs were. The inciting incident with the Cubs was a fan catching the ball, something out of the players' hands. Even then, they threw the game away, not the guy who caught the ball. Championships are won by making the fewest mistakes, and it's not a race. The Mets winning that series feels inevitable when you have a manager who bases decisions on who deserves to be on the field for a championship you haven't even won yet.
I love that Boston fans cheered for him when he came back in 1990 season. Thats awesome, especially after the harrassment he endured.
A very underrated player. I always think about how Boston treated Bill Buckner/Chicago treated Steve Bartman versus how Buffalo treated Scott Norwood after he missed the kick in the Giants-Bills Super Bowl. The latter is how Bartman/Buckner should've been treated.
I agree that Bartman shouldn't have been blamed or vilified but I also don't think he and other Cubs fans near the side outfield should've interfered or messed up Moises Alou concentration or gotten in his way to make a damn catch when he had a good, realistic shot at making that out.
Go back and watch that video. This isn't a scenario where Alou had no shot at making the 2nd out in the 8th inning of Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS. Because of the old, weird dimensions of Wrigley Field, their was a clear, substantiative case of fan interference. I don't think Steve Batman should particularly be blamed, but their were a group of Cubs fans seated in that section who interfered with Alou's line-of-sight to make a catch of that foul ball.
I actually became a little emotional while watching this video. I was unaware of his homecoming in 1990.
Thank you for producing this amazing video. Buckner was a classy guy and so were the Red Sox fans. (I am actually a Cleveland INDIANS fan)
Good vibes! RIP Bill. Thanks for the memories.
Another tragedy that year Donnie moore, the man who gave up a home run in game 5 alcs angels vs red Sox, man never recovered and took his life a few years later
He shot his wife 3 times before that though, so he becomes less sympathetic.
It wasn't all his fault. The mess got started when Calvin Schiraldi couldn't get that last strike and it didn't get any better when Bob Stanley came in.
I’m a lifelong Red Sox fan and I never blamed Bill Buckner! He was a great player and never deserved the treatment he received!
Seeing how the ball went through the legs of Bull first after Buckner got traded...
.... that ball between the legs is like Bill Buckner's own personal log through the windshield from "Final Destination 2". The moment was coming for him, like an entity similar to actual death in "Final Destination", and he couldn't get away from it.
Ppl will forget that Bob Stanley threw a wild pitch that forced in the tying run, take that away and Buckner makes the error okay the game is tied but the Sox could easily have won in more extra innings
Calvin Schiraldi couldn't get that last strike after two fly outs.
Watching this hoping it ends differently than I know it will…
BB showed grace & class during his life & his career...he was a good man who hit adversity head on & did it with style & fortitude....RIP....
He started the rally in the ALCS that brought the Red Sox back to win the series.
Sadly had the Red Sox won that series he would be less known than he is for the loss.
But they wouldn’t have gotten there without him
Excellent video! I studied this issue extensively. Let's rehighlight what you said: 1. Stapleton should have been in. 2. Boggs should have barehanded Knight's grounded and gunned him out (this never get talked about, but Boggs let's it roll foul), 3. The Sox had a complete meltdown. 4. Wilson may have beaten out the play (had it been cleanly fielded). And 5, everyone in the working world or military should learn that even though you share partial blame, you may be stuck holding the entire bag of shit.
Here's why I never understood about this yes Buckner made an error in game 6 but did we all forget to mention there was a game 7 you're telling me the Boston Red Sox were too lazy to win game 7?
Very similar to what happened in 2003 with the Cubs well let's come out and say if the Cubs were just nowhere near the same level as the Florida Marlins
My grandfather was one of those diehard Sox fans who was born, lived his entire life, and died without ever seeing them win. They DID win it the year he was born, but does it really count when he was about 9 months old at the time?
And when they finally did it in 2004, my mother was watching the game (and she's not a sports fan AT ALL) and she looked up at the sky with tears in her eyes and said, "They finally did it, Dad."
I honestly didn't even realize it wasn't the final game of the series until this video.
I've been an Angelino my whole life. I remember Bill Buckner when he was a Dodger. I was a kid in the 1970s. I truly felt bad for him in 1986.
That standing ovation for Buckner by the Red Sox fans on opening day in 1990 brought me to tears.
Playing in Boston NY is tough and a double edge sword. The same passion you get within those type fan bases can turn on you if make an error on Mookie's grounder!!!
Shoutout to the Arkham City music in the background!
glad somebody caught that
Great vid. Any video with "Isn't She Lovely" playing in the background gets a thumbs up.
Bottom line: The error did not cost them series. Had he made the play, they do not WIN the series. And even if Wilson does beat him to the bag, fine, Knight won't score from second. And the fact that Mac had subbed in Stapleton in the 9th in the previous 7 Post Season Games when the Sox were leading blows away any claim he would go on to make that he thought Buckner was the best choice. MAC blew that series in SO MANY ways. Terrible managing.
Personally I never blamed him. Not even as a 13 years old. Not when it happened, not the next day. For me it was alwasy CALVIN SCHIRALDI and BOB STANLEY who blew it. And too much later I came to appreciate the full depth of John McNamara's incompetence. Maybe a little on Gedman as well. (Wild Pitch or Passed Ball?) Very little of it was on Buckner.
It says a ton about his level of commitment and professionalism that even though he was going through to your rending pain, he's still continued to play for 22 years when he could have easily retired before that
I met him in 2004 in a small town in Idaho. Guy loved baseball with all he had
RIP Bill Buckner, you never deserved all that backlash for that series ❤
Another one already yes!
Baseball fans, perhaps more than any other, tend to attribute the whole of something to one instance. My team, the Royals, benefited from this in Game 6 of the 1985 WS with the blown call at first. Say all you want about momentum, but it wasn’t that umpire’s fault the Royals won 11-0 the next night
I was at Game 6 in 1986.. Buckner didn't lose that game. Schiraldi, Stanley and McNamara did more to lose that game for the Red Sox than Buckner did. Gary Carter had 2 strikes on him when he got his single.. And the wild pitch that tied the game came on a 2-2 pitch (after Mookie fouled off like 4 pitches in a row)... They were a strike away from winning the Series TWICE in that inning!
FUN FACT: A man parachuted into the stadium during the first inning of this game.. landing between the mound and home plate... and guess who was in the batter's box when this happened...
Yup.. Bill Buckner
Excellent video. His life didn't revolve around that play in game 6
Dang, nice video! I learned a lot from it, a great example of sport being a metaphor for some greater truth.
he was pretty good! and during his return back to fenway before he passed he got a standing ovation from the crowd
If it weren't for injuries (and the infamous error)he had a shot at the HOF(IF he'd made it to 3,000 hits). A good/very good player
Lol.
Dude was a below average hitter over his career and a terrible fielder for most of it. He spent most of his career as a below average player. Dude wasn't even close to the Hall of Average.
RIP Bill! You're one of just 3 players (Pete Rose & Ken Griffey, Jr. being the other 2) who got me into baseball, and I'm a football head.
Yeah I'd definitely blame it on Schiraldi, he couldn't locate for crap when it mattered
I remember Buckner when he was with the Cubs. He was an excellent fielder. It's sad that the only thing he's remembered for is this error
I saw a mock sports news website, which had a "This Day in History" feature. They would have the date, and name an event, then put a parodic spin on the event. In this case, it was "On this date, in 1986, the NY Mets defeated the Boston Red Sox in Game 7 of the World Series 8-5. The Red Sox lost, because staring pitcher, Bill Buckner, gave up 8 runs."
Steve Bartman had even less to do with the Cubs blowing it in 2003, and just like with this game there was a game 7 the Cubs lost.
Fantastic video!
Bill Buckner is my all-time favorite Mets player
😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁
"Behiiiind the baaaagg" 🤦🏻♂️. Poor guy.
Funny enough, he also a bad blooper for the Dodgers where he tried to stretch a double into a triple during the last game of the 74 World Series.
Red Sox fans don't have enough appreciation for what really cost us that game: John McNamara's garbage managerial decisions. Buckner should have been pulled from the game already - not because of his fielding, but because there was a golden chance to pinch-hit Don Baylor for him in a critical rally situation that could have seen the Sox lead by several runs more.
Don't forget his 1985 Fleer card predicting his infamous blunder!
Bill Buckner never deserved the blame he got for the Red Sox losing the 1986 WS. For one thing, there was some really lazy play allowing one or two balls to drop for hits. And there was a wild pitch allowing the tying run to score. Plus, there was a rainout, giving Boston an extra day to regroup. Even with losing Game 6, they had every chance to win Game 7. I seem to remember the Reds being able to do that very thing 11 years earlier.
Once Bob Stanley threw that wild pitch which tied the game, it was over for the Red Sox. Buckner's error was the exclamation point at the end of Game 6, but not the primary reason they lost the Series.
"Little roller up along first ..BEHIND THE BAG IT GETS THRU BUCKNER HERE COMES KNIGHT AND THE METS WIN IT!" Vin Scully
Billy Bucks was a gamer, always was. It's such a cruel twist of fate that he mishandled that grounder because he actually had very good hands. What he lacked (as the video clearly highlights) was his range. Even if Buckner made that play, the game was still tied, so it's not a guaranteed win. The Bosox would not have made it to the playoffs without Buckner's season long contributions. I put it on McNamara. The moment was too big for him. McNamara made a LOT of questionable decisions during the World Series.
I’m not crying, there’s dust in the air!
Great work, TH-cam content doesn't generally move me, yours did.
Dodgers fan, saw that play, Buckner was a great player.
It is a good tribute that Catching Hell did mention this play and compare it to the Steve Bartman play, yep, he was just a scapegoat, this wouldn't be remembered if the Red Sox won Game 7.
And just like me as a Rangers fan really want to question why Wash didn't sub out Nelson Cruz in Bot 9th Game 6 in 2011, Buckner should've been defensively subbed in that inning, he was hurt, and all the blame should've gone to the manager.
I'm a dieheart Yankee fan from the Netherlands 🇳🇱
But oh man.... I realy felt a tear rolling down my cheeks... Bill didn't deserve this. All that hate for years and years. Of course a mistake will hurt the fans but.... walk a mile in his shoes... Bill didn't do it on purpose! Still there are fans with 1% brain capacity who even use that 1%. Not only Red Sox fans but all sport fans over the world have #$@%&*^! fans.
Thank you for this video...
From the Netherlands I'm hoping for a spectacular world series starting tomorrow !
Go Yankees.!
🇳🇱 ⚾️ 🇺🇲
You missed the fact that Bob Stanley wasn't even backing up first. Buckner couldn't have made the play so it was on the pitcher to be there for the toss. Stanley just gave up.
The crazy thing is he did something similar with the cubs AND NOBODY RAISED HELL
Without Buckner's 102 RBIs and clutch hitting in the regular season, Boston would never had made it into the post-season -- to say nothing of the World Series. Bill Buckner was one of the Red Sox heros that year. He should have been removed in the last inning for a better fielder. It was the manager who failed -- not Bill Buckner -- and the real culprit was Calvin Schiraldi, who had a great season as a reliever, but failed in that historic moment.
here in Chicago, back in the day. my boy Buckner was just as popular as Walter Payton. Buckner wasn't a good ball player. he was a GREAT one. that boy has MORE hits than 70% of the players in the hall. in the 1970's and 80's. there is only ONE other player that has MORE hits than Buckner doing that time. his name is Pete Rose...let that sink in folks. Buckner was headed to the hall. I am still mad at the Cubs trading him in 1984. you DON'T get ball players like him often. just imagine, the numbers he would have put up playing on BETTER Cub teams. and NOT injured his ankles...scarier numbers.
THANKS for doing this on my boy. for 8 seasons Buckner put A LOT of Fannies in the seats at Wrigley.
100% facts! There are WAY MORE reasons it wasn't his fault!!! Even if he caught it there was nobody to throw it to!!! Not to mention the next game entirely
Bill Buckner’s play will no longer be the worst gaffe in World Series history. That honor now goes to Aaron Judge missing the routine fly ball.
theyre all very good players thats why theyre there
He was also part of history in that he was in the outfield over whom Hank Aaron hit homer 715
Beautiful.
Dude nailed it
That wild pitch that scored the tying run was not his fault... Boston pitching was the real reason for the game 6 loss.
It's not hard to come up with a list of 10 reasons why you should NOT blame Buckner for the Red Sox losing the 1986 World Series. Unfortunately, the misconception that he was at fault has persisted because of the media distortion -- the way his misplay has been overplayed.
This get all the press because it lost the game, but not the series. I would argue Tony Fernandez error, bottom of the 11 one out, tied game should have been two outs runner on second but became 1 and 3rd 1 out, winning run 90 feet away. Much worse. If you look after the Buckner error the Red Sox still had probably a 40% chance to win the series. I’ll bet the Indians went from 40% chance to win the series to 5% chance to win the series on that one play.
You got injured at a Killers concert? Jesus, thaaaaat's embarrassing.
Who's here after game 5 - Yankees vs. Dodgers?
Was gonna say, that opening line aged like milk
Perhaps, there will be segments titled
"Tyrique Stevenson Didn't Deserve This..." and
"Gerrit Cole Didn't Deserve This..."!!
people also forget that Calvin Schiraldi blew both games 6 and 7. Buckner's error wouldn't be remembered if Schiraldi didn't fucked up 2 games in a row
Calvin Shiraldi and Macnamara are way more responsible for that loss. Not to mention Clemens was dealing and pulled from the game
Gerritt Cole not covering first base is many levels of magnitude times worse than Bill Buckner’s ‘86 error. Buckner missed the ball despite trying. Cole didn’t even bother to play fundamental baseball-he didn’t even TRY. Buckner’s error is no longer the gold standard of baseball errors-Gerritt Cole not covering first is so, so much worse. And I LOVE that a Yankee is now the King of Errors. Dodgers won-YANKEES LOST!!! It is always a good day when the New York Yankees lose.
The narrative is that the error lost the series. It's portrayed as if Buckner fields it, the games over & the Sox win it all... Just would have forced Extra Innings because of 2 men (neither of whom are Buckner)
It was ALL the fault Bob Stanley & John McNamara
Stanley throws the wild pitch that tied the game & isn't covering first base for Bill even if he did field it
And Buckner shouldn't have been out there for the 9th anyway & that's on McNamara
How Buckner was treated by a large number of "fans" always sickened me. And I'm a diehard member of Sox Nation. The ending of this game is my first memory at 4yrs old
Bob Stanley? I've watched the replay 1000 times and Rich Gedman made almost no effort to catch that "wild pitch". Any good catcher should have caught or blocked that ball.
Another case of media hyperbole and blowing things out of proportion. Buckner came back to the Sox in 1990. A long shot in Spring Training. And he was welcomed back with open arms. Sox fans can be mean, horrible, very ugly at times. But we are also very astute about the game and knowledgeable. Any real Sox fan knows there are many more places of blame for game 6 than Buckner. To start off with the game was already tied when the error happened. The Sox had already blown a two run lead with 2 outs a two strikes to the last 5 batters of the game. Stanley's wild pitch/ passed ball, Shiraldi, melting down with 2 outs, NcNamara not using Stapleton, Clemens asking out early. Fact is Mookie beats Bill to the bag anyway if he fields it cleanly. Plus the Sox blew a 3 run 5th inning lead in game 7. Where McNamara got to greedy with Hurst. The Sox pulled to within a run in the 8th thanks to Dewey Evans, only for Nipper to meatball Darryl Strawberry for a 3 run homer. A great Sox Team. Henderson almost won it twice for us. The Mets won a lot of games that year. But I believe the Sox were the better team. It just didnt happen. Billy Buck will always be a legend in Boston.
Same with Nelson Cruz. He shouldn’t have been in right field bottom 9th WS 2011
Maybe if they had closed it out the second time