Sports can be a cruel business.
Kids dream of playing in the World Series, stepping onto the largest stage, and getting the game-winning, big strikeout, or simply leaving a dent against the best of the best. They don't even think about making a crucial error and being remembered for just that one gaffe.
In Game 6 of the 1986 World Series between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Mets, a groundball was hit towards Bill Buckner at first base. In Little League and instructional leagues across the world, this groundball is seen as routine and an easy out. The first baseman scoops it up, either telling the pitcher he's got it or tossing to the covering teammate. Done.
This groundball got through Buckner's legs and led to a big Mets inning. They would go on to win the World Series, and Buckner would be reviled in Boston and across the sports universe. Everybody chimed in. People still believed that the Red Sox trading Babe Ruth to New York for reasons that had nothing to do with baseball had cursed the Bean Town baseball team. They piled on Buckner like a rugby match.
Buckner passed away today at the age of 69 to Lewy Body Dementia, a disease I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. A terrible form of dementia, the second worst behind Alzheimer's, Lewy Body gets its name for the protein deposits that form on the nerves cells in the brain that affect thinking, movement, and memory. Basically, all of your motor controls. It is the same disease that destroyed the final years of Robin Williams' life, which led to his suicide. Imagine everything that you are being stripped away piece by piece.
While the disease affected Buckner in the final years of his life, that singular moment in the World Series lived on his brain for the rest of his days. That's unfortunate because one moment shouldn't determine someone's legacy. It's wrong, short-sighted, and shows the clickbait and quick to judge the nature of our species.
Here's what people fail to remember. Buckner played for 22 years in the Major Leagues, accumulating 174 home runs, a .289 batting average, and finished in the top ten in MVP rankings four different times. He was an All-Star in 1980 and averaged 175 hits-per-season over his career. His final hit came off Kevin Brown in Texas on May 30, 1990.
As Shoeless Joe Jackson said to Moonlight Graham in Field of Dreams, Bill Buckner was good. He put together a fine career that shouldn't be marred by one error. Buckner owned a .992 fielding percentage over 13,277 innings at first base.
Buckner deserved better from Boston, and baseball, fans. He shouldn't have been shunned like Steve Bartman after a bad play. When you play in 2,517 Major League games and put up solid numbers, people should remember you kindly.
Kids dream of being the hero in big sports moments as a kid, going through the motions over and over again. They rarely think about being the goat, because it's too painful. Then again, there are three times as many goats in the playoffs as heroes. Three times as many players come up short or make a mistake in the big moment.
It happens A LOT. Ask any member of the 2006 Detroit Tigers. Ask Kolten Wong. Ask Nelson Cruz. Ask many. It shouldn't negate a career.
If you google Bill Buckner, the most results that come up are from Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. That's a shame. Go to his Baseball Reference page instead. Look at the hits, longevity, and resilience.
That is the true Bill Buckner story.
Thanks for reading.
