The Ball Goes Through Buckner

On October 25, 1986, in the bottom of the tenth inning of Game 6 of the World Series at Shea Stadium, a slow ground ball hit by Mookie Wilson rolled through the legs of Boston Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner. Ray Knight scored from second base, and the New York Mets won 6-5, forcing a seventh game.

Boston had been one strike away from winning its first championship since 1918, twice. The Red Sox led 5-3 entering the bottom of the tenth. The first two Mets batters made outs. Then Gary Carter singled. Kevin Mitchell singled. Ray Knight singled to score Carter, making it 5-4. Bob Stanley came in to relieve Calvin Schiraldi and threw a wild pitch that scored Mitchell, tying the game at five.

Wilson then stepped in against Stanley and fouled off pitch after pitch in a grinding at-bat. He hit a slow grounder toward first base. Buckner, playing on damaged ankles that had required extensive pregame treatment all season, bent down. The ball skipped under his glove and into right field. Knight scored. The Mets had won.

The image of Buckner doubled over as the ball rolled behind him became the defining symbol of the Curse of the Bambino for the next 18 years. Buckner had been a productive major leaguer for 22 seasons, collecting 2,715 hits and winning a batting title in 1980. None of that protected him. He received death threats and was eventually driven out of Boston, moving his family to Idaho.

Buckner returned to Fenway Park in 2008, a year after the Red Sox won their second title in four years, and received a standing ovation. He died in 2019 at age 69. The Mets won Game 7 two nights later, 8-5, to take the championship.