Bill Buckner R.I.P.

[a700hitter]

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/26832836/bill-buckner-dies-69-battling-dementia

[Bellhorn04]

RIP Bill

[cp176]

RIP Billy Buck. Gone way too soon.

[jacksonianmarch]

Died of Lewy Body dementia, the end stage of Parkinson’s. RIP. 69 years old

[Bellhorn04]

This is the third thread started.

[jad]

Really tough player--I love the story about his AB in the Angels series in game 5, unleashing a stream of obscenities against (I looked it up--Witt), who had been complaining about Buckner's efforts to rattle him. It worked. Buckner singled, starting the 9th inning rally that put them in the WS. No one paid as dearly as he did demonstrating what complete a-holes sports fans can be. RIP.

 

(couldn't find the other two threads, btw.)

[mvp 78]

Great player. Loved him.

[Slasher9]

Rest In Peace

[Jasonbay44]

Pretty lame of ESPN when announcing he died to include a note about the error he made in the world series. They couldn't of mentioned that he was an all star, batting champ, good guy and great player?

 

Rest in Peace Bill.

[YastrzemskI]

Yeah.. it’s pathetic. I stopped watching ESPN a long time ago. They’re just a bunch of gossipy b!tches and have been for quite some time.

 

The Jon Miller & Joe Morgan baseball games were good but when those two left it was all down hill for baseball... much less everything else. In a word, they’re trash now.

[jad]

Pretty lame of ESPN when announcing he died to include a note about the error he made in the world series. They couldn't of mentioned that he was an all star, batting champ, good guy and great player?

 

Rest in Peace Bill.

 

In all fairness to ESPN and other outlets, they mention that because that's his legacy, and it's an indictment of sports fans who (as one writer said), treated him as if he had done that to them personally. (There's a movie--Buffalo 69--which deals w/ the same thing, on the Bills kicker who missed the field goal in the Super Bowl).

[Larry33]

Pretty lame of ESPN when announcing he died to include a note about the error he made in the world series. They couldn't of mentioned that he was an all star, batting champ, good guy and great player?

 

Rest in Peace Bill.

 

Not as lame or shameful as how some Boston fans and media treated him after no one deserve such a hateful environment accompanied by death threat because a game. What's the first thing that come to mind for Red Sox fans when his name is mentioned his career was much bigger than just that one play and most true baseball fans knows it. Unfortunately it's still a part of baseball history.

 

There's a fine line that sport fans should never cross given toward the treatment of a professional athlete and it happened in this case.

[Thunder]

I didn't realize how amazing a person he was. Real class act. Somehow, I found myself watching the Marlins-Nationals game on ESPN yesterday, and Dan Shulman was talking about how after game 6, he sat there and answered every question from reporters. If that happened to a player today, there would be absolutely no way he would talk to the media. Of course, the media landscape is much different today, but I was still blown away by that

[notin]

The amazing thing was Buckner was hardly alone in this type of play, but even with his great career, nothing he did outshined it.

 

Chris Webber isn’t remembered solely for his phantom timeout in the NCAA title game that likely cost Michigan the title. Mariano Rivera isn’t remembered for throwing away Jay Bell’s sacrifice bunt and probably costing the Yankees the 2001 World Series. Tony Fernandez isn’t remembered for his extremely costly error in the 11th inning of game 7 of the 1997 World Series. The closest comp is the aforementioned Scott Norwood’s missed field goal (which was a 47 yard attempt. When did that become a given?)

[Slasher9]

steve bartman

[notin]

steve bartman

 

Another undeserving scapegoat.

 

The funny thing is, since I’m in Chicago, I did ask numerous Cub fans what they would have done in the same situation. Universally and without hesitation, every single one answered “I would NEVER go for that ball.” Yet in the picture in every newspaper, all the fans around Bartman were doing exactly what he did.

 

Bartman wasn’t the problem. Dusty Baker made every wrong decision...

[dgalehouse]

R.I.P. Buckner . Can you imagine if there was a Sox forum back in 1986 ? A game thread ? Can you imagine the brutal treatment he would have received from Sox fans ? Now , we get all of the obligatory statements about what a great player he was , how his career shouldn't be defined by one play and how that play really wasn't the reason the Sox lost the Series anyway .

[Bellhorn04]

The amazing thing was Buckner was hardly alone in this type of play, but even with his great career, nothing he did outshined it.

 

Chris Webber isn’t remembered solely for his phantom timeout in the NCAA title game that likely cost Michigan the title. Mariano Rivera isn’t remembered for throwing away Jay Bell’s sacrifice bunt and probably costing the Yankees the 2001 World Series. Tony Fernandez isn’t remembered for his extremely costly error in the 11th inning of game 7 of the 1997 World Series. The closest comp is the aforementioned Scott Norwood’s missed field goal (which was a 47 yard attempt. When did that become a given?)

 

Jackie Smith was another one.

 

And Donnie Moore.

[Bellhorn04]

R.I.P. Buckner . Can you imagine if there was a Sox forum back in 1986 ? A game thread ? Can you imagine the brutal treatment he would have received from Sox fans ? Now , we get all of the obligatory statements about what a great player he was , how his career shouldn't be defined by one play and how that play really wasn't the reason the Sox lost the Series anyway .

 

Well, we saw what happened with Kinsler when he made the error in Game 3 of last year's WS. Fortunately for him it became a footnote.

[Slasher9]

god tossed him a key to open the pearly gates.

some say hell isn't too terrible.....

[vegasbob]

Jackie Smith was another one.

 

And Donnie Moore.

 

Excellent "catch" on remembering Jackie Smith. A man went his entire HS, College, Pro career for that one memorable moment and then completely failed to execute his reason for being on the team. It led Donnie Moore to an untimely end.

[cp176]

R.I.P. Buckner . Can you imagine if there was a Sox forum back in 1986 ? A game thread ? Can you imagine the brutal treatment he would have received from Sox fans ? Now , we get all of the obligatory statements about what a great player he was , how his career shouldn't be defined by one play and how that play really wasn't the reason the Sox lost the Series anyway .

 

It can be a nasty slimy world don't you think. Adding to it is the fact that everybody gets to voice an opinion without hesitation these days. For those of us who were around when Buckner broke in and were still aware of his accomplishments 20+ years later, there has likely been no question that without Buckner in "86 doing his thing, we would have been ultra longshots just to get to the World Series.

On a different note, I have read that there are some who think that Pedroia could be considered as a HOF candidate. Regardless of what he did for us, I still just don't see that. Now if your talking about Buckner, I feel a little differently. With his 2700 and some hits, he has to at least be worthy of mention. Unlikely that he would ever get in, but what a great career over a long period of time.

[moonslav59]

Excellent "catch" on remembering Jackie Smith. A man went his entire HS, College, Pro career for that one memorable moment and then completely failed to execute his reason for being on the team. It led Donnie Moore to an untimely end.

 

How about Dave Henderson saving himself from the same fate?

 

He flubbed a catch into a HR, then hit one of the biggest HRs in Sox history (off Moore) to redeem himself.

[Bellhorn04]

How about Dave Henderson saving himself from the same fate?

 

He flubbed a catch into a HR, then hit one of the biggest HRs in Sox history (off Moore) to redeem himself.

 

Hendu also knocked in the winning run in that Game 5 on a sac fly. And then hit what would have been one of the other biggest HR in Sox history if we had won WS Game 6.

[moonslav59]

Hendu also knocked in the winning run in that Game 5 on a sac fly. And then hit what would have been one of the other biggest HR in Sox history if we had won WS Game 6.

 

Thanks for reminding me. I had forgotten the SF.

 

I loved his HR trot with the one flap down. Classic.

[YastrzemskI]

Well, we saw what happened with Kinsler when he made the error in Game 3 of last year's WS. Fortunately for him it became a footnote.

 

Still.. one of the worst plays in Red Sox history. Daniel Murphy made a few terrible errors for the Mets that cost them dearly.. so many over the years.. obviously Leon Durham, Tony Fernandez.. heck I remember Mariano Rivera throwing a ball away that allowed the D-Backs to win game 7 of the World Series. But nobody talks about THAT.

[notin]

heck I remember Mariano Rivera throwing a ball away that allowed the D-Backs to win game 7 of the World Series. But nobody talks about THAT.

 

I did earlier on this thread...

[notin]

Jackie Smith was another one.

 

And Donnie Moore.

 

Tony Romo dropping the snap on a game-winning field goal attempt in the 2006 NFC wild card game against Seattle.

 

Gary Anderson missing a 39 yard field goal that would have put the Vikings in the Super Bowl. It was Anderson’s first missed field goal in two seasons.

 

But Buckner is the one who got remembered...

[Slasher9]

2004 alcs

[mvp 78]

 

I also remember a quote from him that said something to the effect of "I cared more about protecting the plate and not striking out than hitting home runs." It just showed me how unselfish of a player he was. He didn't care about the big contract, he just wanted to win.