[轉錄] Buckner says spare A-Rod
Buckner says spare A-Rod
Singling out Alex really gets his goat
BY MICHAEL O'KEEFFE
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
The guy who made the most famous gaffe in baseball history says Yankee fans
and the media need to go easy on Alex Rodriguez, even if A-Rod was a bust in
the American League division series against the Angels.
"I wouldn't criticize Alex Rodriguez as much as he's going to get
criticized," Bill Buckner said yesterday at the ESPN Zone in Times Square.
"What message does that send to kids? That you don't take chances? That
you'll get penalized if you take chances?"
A-Rod will surely take a lot of heat during the offseason for hitting a
meager .133 versus the Angels, but Buckner says it's not warranted. And
Buckner, of course, knows a thing or two about catching flak.
Despite a quite respectable career - 2,715 hits, a lifetime .289 batting
average over 20 years, just 128 errors in 13,901 chances at first base -
Buckner will forever be remembered as the guy who let Mookie Wilson's
grounder squirt through his legs in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, the
error that ultimately allowed the Mets to steal the championship from the
long-suffering Boston Red Sox.
In New England, people treated Buckner as if he was Benedict Arnold or Tokyo
Rose.
"So many people were rude or obnoxious about it," said Buckner. "They
wouldn't let it go away. I was a little bitter about it for a year or two.
People would be great about it, and then someone would say something. It was
hard on me. It was even harder on my family."
Buckner eventually learned to embrace his role in baseball history. On
Saturday, he signed autographs with Wilson at a New Jersey memorabilia shop.
"With Mookie, it's fun. He's a friend," Buckner said.
"I'm a positive person," Buckner said. "I looked at it as a learning
experience. A lot of people have said 'I look up to you. With what you went
through, that helped me (get through hard times).'
"Look at Al Oliver," he said, referring to the 1970s star. "He was a good
player. He had more hits than me (2,743). But nobody remembers him."
Buckner took the rap for the Red Sox's 1986 collapse, but it really was a
team effort. With two outs in the 10th inning and Boston up 5-3, reliever
Calvin Schiraldi gave up three big hits that allowed the Mets to narrow the
gap. Schiraldi's replacement, Bob Stanley, threw a wild pitch that let Kevin
Mitchell score and tie the game.
Ray Knight then scored from second when Wilson's feeble grounder rolled
through Buckner's legs, giving the Mets a 6-5 win. Two days later, the Mets
won Game7.
"I saw Stanley the other night in West Virginia, at a card show," Buckner
said. "I know it bothered him. I said, 'This had nothing to do with you. You
threw good pitches. You did everything you were supposed to do.'
"It was a team deal," Buckner adds. "The team didn't quite do it. Part of
being a good team is when someone makes an error, you pick him up. You cover
for him."
Boston waived Buckner halfway through the 1987 season, but he hung around the
big leagues for a few more seasons. In 1990, at age 41, Buckner returned to
Boston. When he hoofed out an inside-the-park home run in an April game
against the Angels, he started thinking he had a few more good years left,
that he maybe even would reach the 3,000-hit mark. Two days later, he dove
for a ball and injured his shoulder. Couldn't swing a bat, couldn't run,
couldn't throw. Couldn't play. Baseball and Boston were done with him.
A few years later, Buckner moved to Boise, Idaho. He says he wasn't chased
out of New England; the California-born Buckner says he always planned to
move back to the West once his career ended. He has interests in car
dealerships and commercial real estate and coaches his 16-year-old son's team.
Buckner was in New York yesterday to help Johnnie Walker kick off an ad
campaign built around an updated version of Ernest L. Thayer's "Casey at the
Bat." This time around, Casey homers in the final game of the season to win
the pennant for the Mudville Nine.
"Normally I wouldn't have done this, but I like the theme of the campaign,"
said Buckner. "This is about second chances. Keep going. Don't give up. Work
hard and good things will happen to you."
Buckner believes A-Rod will get plenty of chances to redeem himself in
postseason play. "I don't think Reggie Jackson had any special talent that
made him Mr. October," Buckner said. "In baseball, you go through cycles. You
try to get yourself into that zone, but hitting is so streaky. And in the
World Series, everyone performs at high levels, hitters and pitchers. He
wasn't getting a lot of pitches to hit."
Originally published on October 12, 2005
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