A Moment/Lifetime in Hell
Bill Buckner was one of baseball's premiere hitters from the 70s and 80s. The dude won an N.L. batting title, was exceedingly good in the clutch, and was almost impossible to strike out. He finished his career with a gaudy total of 2,715 hits, the 59th most in Major League history. Among the players with a lesser amount include Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Willie McCovey, Mickey Mantle, Orlando Cepeda, Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk, Jim Rice, Richie Ashburn, Duke Snider, Nellie Fox, Ozzie Smith, Bill Mazeroski, Luis Aparicio, RalphKiner, Eddie Matthews, Billy Williams, Jimmie Fox, Reggie Jackson, Ernie Banks, Joe Morgan, Ryne Sandberg, Enos Slaughter, Mike Schmidt, Willie Stargell, Yogi Berra, Gary Carter, Roy Campanella, and Harmon Killebrew - Hall of Famers, ALL..........................................................................................Now, granted, a lot of these other players either hit for more power and/or were better fielders but, still, 2,715 hits is 2,715 hits. Add to that the fact that nobody, NOBODY, ever played the game any harder and, yeah, you really are looking at a hell of a Major League ball player in Bill Buckner..................................................................................................Unfortunately, we tend not to remember much of any of this, do we? We remember that miserable Mookie Wilson dribbler that skipped to the right of a gimpy Bill Buckner's glove in game 6 of the 1986 World Series. I mean, really, though, how frigging unfair is that?..................................................................................................P.S. Bill Buckner's legacy gets even more accentuated when you compare it to that of former Yankee hero, Don Larsen. Larsen, folks, had an exceedingly mediocre Major League career. But, because he pitched that frigging perfect game in the 1956 World Series, he's a God damned frigging legend now. Go frigging figure, huh?
He does belong in the Hall of Fame. Great post.
ReplyDeleteJMJ
I second that JMJ; Billy Buckner should be in the HoF.
ReplyDeleteIf it wasn't for that fat, useless, bastard Bob Stanley uncorking a wild pitch just before that fateful error, it only would have only been a tie game.
And another thing, it is far from certain that Buckner would have even beat Mookie to the bag had he made the play.