For once and for all, can the Boston fans forgive Bill Buckner? As a long time Mets fan and a baseball fan it always bothered me as to how the baseball world has treated Bill Buckner. For the record, Bill Buckner was an excellent baseball player. He was not a Hall of Famer but he certainly was a player worth mentioning when discussing the greats of the game. He was a player in the class of Keith Hernandez. His life time stats bare this out. Buckner’s batting average was .289. He hit 174 home runs, had 1209 RBI and 2715 hits. When you consider he was less than 300 hits away from 3000 and also was an excellent defensive player, you realize just how good a player Buckner was. He played for a number of teams coming up through the Dodger system. His career spanned 20 years where his most productive seasons were with the Cubs and Red Sox. So why then does Buckner get such negative recognition? As if you didn’t know.

“There’s a little roller up the line…behind the bag…it gets through Buckner…here comes Knight…and the Mets win it” said Vin Scully, sometime in the late evening on October 25, 1986 at Shea Stadium. Its history now and all Mets fans regardless of age know this. There is nothing new I am divulging here. But is it fair? Is it fair to cast all the blame on one Bill Buckner?

Quiz; If Bill Buckner made the play and assuming that Wilson did not beat Bill to the bag, what would have been the result?

A. The Sox win the series

B. The Sox win the game

C. The Game goes to extra innings

D. None of the above

If you answered C, then you know your Mets history. I can’t tell you how many Mets fans I have run into over the years who assume the Sox would have won the game or won the series had that play been made. Many fans think that’s how the Mets won the series not remembering there was still one game to play. The point is that although Buckner made the error and the Sox lost, others had to have been responsible to get Buckner into that predicament. And of course there were two other culprits who in my opinion should have taken the brunt of the ire from Red Sox nation.

First and foremost is ex-Met Calvin Schiraldi. He came into the 10th with a two run lead, got two quick outs then could get no more. Wally Backman led off the inning hitting a fly to left caught along the line by Jim Rice. Keith Hernandez hit a ball to deep center field caught just in front of the track by Dave Henderson. The Diamond Vision board displayed Congratulations 1986 World Champion Red Sox. Schiraldi had one out to go, one out. But he couldn’t get it. Carter, Mitchell, and Knight hit three consecutive singles plating one run. With runners on first and third, McNamara summoned closer Bob Stanley who promptly threw a ball under Mookie Wilson’s feet for a wild pitch. Kevin Mitchell barreled down the line and scored the tying run while Knight moved to second. At this point the Sox, fueled by Schiraldi and Stanely had blown it. Bill Buckner had nothing to do with it. Having watched the Mets come from behind 39 times that season, you knew the game was over, if not that inning, then perhaps the next. Yes baseball fans, the combination of Calvin Shiraldi and Bob Stanley is what lost the World Series that night for Boston. How is not getting one more final out or throwing a wild pitch less of a mistake than misplaying the ball hit by Wilson? But because it was a ball through the wickets, a little league mistake, Buckner became the whipping boy of Boston fans. Frank McNamara has to take the blame too. Why did he not put a defensive replacement in for Buckner? Bill had bad ankles and hobbled around first base in pain for most of the series.

A devastating loss, for certain but the Sox did not role over and die. It rained on Sunday and game 7 had to be postponed till Monday evening. The Red Sox held the Mets through five innings by a score of 3 to 0. Then in the Bottom of the sixth, the Mets scored three off of Bruce Hurst to tie the game. Then in the 7th Calvin Shiraldi once again takes the mound for Boston. Pitching 1/3 of an inning he is charged with 3 runs. The Mets went up 6 to 3 and were six outs away from their second World Championship. The Sox and Mets both scored two in the eighth and the Mets won game 7 by a score of 8 to 5. The losing pitcher is Calvin Shiraldi. In fact he lost both games 6 and 7. So if you had to pick one player to vilify why pick Buckner? When you consider that Buckner had to move away from Boston because of the taunting of Red Sox diehards, you have to realize it just was not fair.

As a Mets fan of course I was ecstatic. After all while the world viewed the series as Boston blowing it, the reality is that the Mets were an unbelievable team when it came to come from behind wins. Any Mets fan in 1986 would attest to that. The Mets were just as responsible for the game 6 win as Schiraldi and Stanley were for blowing it. The Mets had their number. It’s just too bad that Mookie Wilson and Bill Buckner must be tied to the virtual hip throughout all of baseball history over a play that ultimately is not what won or lost that series.

Bill Buckner was invited to the celebration of the ’86 AL Champs that will take place in Boston during the Mets-Red Sox inter-league series this week. Many of the ’86 Sox will be there, unfortunately Bill declined and that’s a shame. I’m sure Schiraldi and Stanley will be there. After all it was all Bill Buckner’s fault, right?