Hopefully we'll be doing the same for Leon Durham next year.

[Little Slide Rooter]

or Alex Gonzalez.

 

Buckner returns to Fenway Park

04/08/2008 2:07 PM ET

By Mike Petraglia / Special to MLB.com

 

BOSTON -- After Boston received its 2007 World Series rings during the pregame festivities, former Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner threw the ceremonial first pitch to former teammate Dwight Evans on Tuesday.

Most remembered for allowing Mookie Wilson's grounder to pass through his legs, leading to Ray Knight scoring the winning run for the Mets in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, a sellout crowd welcomed Buckner back to Fenway Park.

 

The misplay capped a three-run Mets rally and pushed the series to a seventh game in which the Sox once again surrendered a 3-0 lead.

 

Marty Barrett made the last out for the Sox with Buckner on deck, as the Mets won the World Series. Buckner played part of the 1987 season before being released on July 23 of that year.

 

Buckner made a return to the Red Sox in 1990, and he played in 22 games before retiring from baseball. Buckner makes his first visit to Boston since Sept. 1997, when he was at Fenway as a hitting coach with the White Sox.

 

Buckner walked out to the closing-credits theme from the movie "Glory," which was composed by James Horner. The movie is based on the history of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment during the Civil War -- one of the first formal units of the U.S. Army to be made up entirely of African-American soldiers.

 

Buckner amassed 2,715 hits and 1,208 RBIs over a 21-year career in which he wore a uniform for five different Major League teams. He won the National League batting title with the Cubs in 1980 with an average of .324, and he was named to the NL All-Star Team in '81.

 

Buckner recorded only 453 strikeouts in 2,517 games, and he had one of the best at-bats-per-strikeout rates in the history of the game. In 1986, he drove in 102 RBIs during the regular season to help the Red Sox win the AL pennant.

 

This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

 

[bukie]

If anybody deserves a public apology after the Cubs win a World Series, it's Steve Bartman.

[Banedon]

Leon Durham was my favorite cub growing up....

 

It took me a long time to forgive Mark Grace for taking Leon's place.

[David]

Bartman should throw out the first pitch or something, since he's the one who actually didn't deserve the crap he got, unlike those other two, (especially Gonzalez, who didn't take nearly enough heat).

[Little Slide Rooter]

It's kind of interesting though. We traded Buckner to Boston in the middle of the '84 season, 2 years before the incident, at which point Durham took over at first. Who was he traded for? Dennis Eckersley, who weant on to serve Kirk Gibson one of the most famous meatballs in World Series history just 5 years later.

[chasinf5s]

Gonzales and Durham have never reached 1 percent of the level of hatred Bosox fans had for buckner

[Banedon]

It's kind of interesting though. We traded Buckner to Boston in the middle of the '84 season, 2 years before the incident, at which point Durham took over at first. Who was he traded for? Dennis Eckersley, who weant on to serve Kirk Gibson one of the most famous meatballs in World Series history just 5 years later.

 

 

Durham wasn't traded for Eckersley:

 

December 9, 1980: Traded by the St. Louis Cardinals with a player to be named later and Ken Reitz to the Chicago Cubs for Bruce Sutter. The St. Louis Cardinals sent Ty Waller (December 22, 1980) to the Chicago Cubs to complete the trade.

 

May 19, 1988: Traded by the Chicago Cubs to the Cincinnati Reds for Pat Perry and cash.

 

November 28, 1984: Signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs.

 

April 3, 1987: Traded by the Chicago Cubs with Dan Rohn to the Oakland Athletics for Brian Guinn (minors), Dave Wilder (minors), and Mark Leonette (minors).

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Durham wasn't traded for Eckersley:

Buckner was

[Little Slide Rooter]

Durham wasn't traded for Eckersley:

Buckner was

 

Thats what I meant. Buck traded for Eck, and Durham took over first from the outfield. Still, all 3 would go on to be the tail end of some of the more infamous moments in post season history.

[Banedon]

Doh...that should have been obvious.

[KingCubsFan]

Gonzales and Durham have never reached 1 percent of the level of hatred Bosox fans had for buckner

There aren't many people in the world I hate more than Alex Gonzalez. If I ever saw him in Chicago, I would make sure he didn't feel welcome

[Little Slide Rooter]

Gonzales and Durham have never reached 1 percent of the level of hatred Bosox fans had for buckner

 

Thats because until recently, Cubs fans chose to blame curses and long dead livestock rather than the true culprits.

[CubsGM]

So this is Steve Bartman one day, right?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJeD62glbyM

[SABR Gamer]

So this is Steve Bartman one day, right?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJeD62glbyM

 

I sure hope so...seriously if he got anything but cheers I would be ashamed to be a Cubs fan.

[Post Count Padder]

So this is Steve Bartman one day, right?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJeD62glbyM

That was awesome. It's a shame what happened to him. He could have been a Hall of Famer but is remembered most for that play. Great to see him get applause.

[TruffleShuffle]

this just gives me the opportunity to post the greatest youtube video ever

[RedFlash]

Am I the one, who believes that if I was Bill Buckner, even tho I would grin and bear it on the return to Boston, I would still hold some bitterness/resentment at the city, and the media? The ONLY reason why they did this, is because of the 2 Championships in 4 yrs. Had they not won it in 2004 and 2007, he would still be despise in Boston. To me....this was as fake of a "welcome home ceremony" as I ever seen. They should have done this, before the 2004 World Championship.

[CuseCubFan69]

Am I the one, who believes that if I was Bill Buckner, even tho I would grin and bear it on the return to Boston, I would still hold some bitterness/resentment at the city, and the media? The ONLY reason why they did this, is because of the 2 Championships in 4 yrs. Had they not won it in 2004 and 2007, he would still be despise in Boston. To me....this was as fake of a "welcome home ceremony" as I ever seen. They should have done this, before the 2004 World Championship.

 

And the Cubs should do this for Bartman now, do it when they play the Mets and have Alou be the catcher.

[CubColtPacer]

Am I the one, who believes that if I was Bill Buckner, even tho I would grin and bear it on the return to Boston, I would still hold some bitterness/resentment at the city, and the media? The ONLY reason why they did this, is because of the 2 Championships in 4 yrs. Had they not won it in 2004 and 2007, he would still be despise in Boston. To me....this was as fake of a "welcome home ceremony" as I ever seen. They should have done this, before the 2004 World Championship.

 

And the Cubs should do this for Bartman now, do it when they play the Mets and have Alou be the catcher.

 

The Cubs asked him to do it last year. Bartman understandably refused.

 

Or am I dreaming? Now I'm doubting myself on this, so don't completely belive me here. I'm really not sure now that I think about it if it was simply proposed as an idea or if they actually asked him.

[CuseCubFan69]

Am I the one, who believes that if I was Bill Buckner, even tho I would grin and bear it on the return to Boston, I would still hold some bitterness/resentment at the city, and the media? The ONLY reason why they did this, is because of the 2 Championships in 4 yrs. Had they not won it in 2004 and 2007, he would still be despise in Boston. To me....this was as fake of a "welcome home ceremony" as I ever seen. They should have done this, before the 2004 World Championship.

 

And the Cubs should do this for Bartman now, do it when they play the Mets and have Alou be the catcher.

 

The Cubs asked him to do it last year. Bartman understandably refused.

 

Or am I dreaming? Now I'm doubting myself on this, so don't completely believe me here. I'm really not sure now that I think about it if it was simply proposed as an idea or if they actually asked him.

 

I can't tell you if you're dreaming CCP but I hope if the Cubs did ask, that he would say yes and there would be all cheers for the kid when he threw the pitch.

[badnews]

I think it would be stupid to applaud Steve Bartman. What is he, a Nobel Peace Prize Winner? Give me a break. I save my applause for people who actually deserve it. What did Steve Bartman do to deserve applause? Nothing. He got a bit of a hard time for a while, big deal, so do a lot of people.

 

Applauding Bartman would be like applauding Elián González.

 

I think the only people who think applauding Bartman is a good idea are those who are wildly desperate to try and convince fans of other teams that we're not still plagued by it or something. My advice is to not give a crap what they say either way. I know, let's erect a statue of him next to Ernie Banks just to double-triple-show for 100% sure that we're over him. Let's sign him to a 10 year/$200 million contract to further convince people. Let's elect him mayor of Chicago. Just to really, truly, positively, no doubt over it. And if that doesn't convince people, let's all let him have a night with the wife of every man in Chicago. That should really do it. Or eat free at every restaurant.

 

Because let's face it. Steve Bartman is a hero, and what happened to him is a national tragedy.

 

Okay, you guys do all that, and while you're at cut the kid you bullied on the playground in 3rd grade a blank check. I think I'll live in the real world where we don't give people applause for no good reason.

[CuseCubFan69]

I think it would be stupid to applaud Steve Bartman. What is he, a Nobel Peace Prize Winner? Give me a break. I save my applause for people who actually deserve it. What did Steve Bartman do to deserve applause? Nothing. He got a bit of a hard time for a while, big deal, so do a lot of people.

 

Applauding Bartman would be like applauding Elián González.

 

I think the only people who think applauding Bartman is a good idea are those who are wildly desperate to try and convince fans of other teams that we're not still plagued by it or something. My advice is to not give a crap what they say either way. I know, let's erect a statue of him next to Ernie Banks just to double-triple-show for 100% sure that we're over him. Let's sign him to a 10 year/$200 million contract to further convince people. Let's elect him mayor of Chicago. Just to really, truly, positively, no doubt over it. And if that doesn't convince people, let's all let him have a night with the wife of every man in Chicago. That should really do it. Or eat free at every restaurant.

 

Because let's face it. Steve Bartman is a hero, and what happened to him is a national tragedy.

 

Okay, you guys do all that, and while you're at cut the kid you bullied on the playground in 3rd grade a blank check. I think I'll live in the real world where we don't give people applause for no good reason.

 

Cool, let's go to extremes.

[Soul]

I think it would be stupid to applaud Steve Bartman. What is he, a Nobel Peace Prize Winner? Give me a break. I save my applause for people who actually deserve it. What did Steve Bartman do to deserve applause? Nothing. He got a bit of a hard time for a while, big deal, so do a lot of people.

 

Applauding Bartman would be like applauding Elián González.

 

I think the only people who think applauding Bartman is a good idea are those who are wildly desperate to try and convince fans of other teams that we're not still plagued by it or something. My advice is to not give a crap what they say either way. I know, let's erect a statue of him next to Ernie Banks just to double-triple-show for 100% sure that we're over him. Let's sign him to a 10 year/$200 million contract to further convince people. Let's elect him mayor of Chicago. Just to really, truly, positively, no doubt over it. And if that doesn't convince people, let's all let him have a night with the wife of every man in Chicago. That should really do it. Or eat free at every restaurant.

 

Because let's face it. Steve Bartman is a hero, and what happened to him is a national tragedy.

 

Okay, you guys do all that, and while you're at cut the kid you bullied on the playground in 3rd grade a blank check. I think I'll live in the real world where we don't give people applause for no good reason.

 

I'm glad to see you've put so much thought into this.

[JonnyRed]

I became a big Red Sox fan after I found my favorite player traded to Beantown back in 1984. He didn't deserve all the ridicule and blame that he's gotten over the years, and I agree with him that the media is at fault for keeping stories like his and Bartman's going. I may be a sentimental fool, but I shed a couple of tears while watching Billy Buck walk in from the Green Monster yesterday. It was long overdue.

[Guest]

Buckner should have gone to the mound, thrown the first pitch and then given the fans of Boston the finger as he walked off the mound. Then , in the inevitable interview with the media after the game, Buckner should have told the fans to eff off. The dude took way, WAY more crap for that play than he deserved since Schiraldi and Stanley had already blown the lead (all with 2 outs, no less).