[DrMitchJ]

Bill Buckner passed away today at the all too early age of 69.
He died from complications of Lewy Body Dementia ... the second most common dementia, but IMO worse than Alzheimer's. Like in all dementia cases, the family suffers the most as their loved one goes through the mental changes, personality changes, hallucinations and ( esp. in LBD) physical deterioration.

My fondest Buckner moment was his Curb Your Enthusism episode. Anyone that can laugh at themselves and their past mishaps are very admirable, and in this episode, there's a missed catch and later a redemption. Funny stuff and happy that he was in a good state of mind at the time in order for that episode. Catch it when you can ( no pun intended)

RIP Bucky

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I just looked up the episode
Season 8 episode 9 ORIGINALLY on HBO

[jbissell]

Well said.

He was quite the underrated player, and over time, I hope he is less remembered for that fateful WS play at first base than he is for his 2 decades of solid baseball stats as well as how much of a class act he was.

[rjcj2017]

The infamous error was actually the reason I became a sports fan ... I was instantly mesmerized that anything can and will happen in sports.

Plus, he's from our neck of the woods, so this hit me pretty hard.

[zeprock]

Bill Buckner was a very good baseball player and it is sad that many people's memory of him comes from one bad play. He was literally on his last legs when that ball snuck through. You don't play for 20+ years unless you are good. He was an All-Star, won a batting championship and led his league in doubles twice. He came up 285 hits short of 3000. Men with lesser stats are in the Hall of Fame.

R.I.P. Bill.

[easttexan]

R. I. P he was a good player

[jack pfiester]

Bill Buckner was a very good baseball player and it is sad that many people's memory of him comes from one bad play. He was literally on his last legs when that ball snuck through. You don't play for 20+ years unless you are good. He was an All-Star, won a batting championship and led his league in doubles twice. He came up 285 hits short of 3000. Men with lesser stats are in the Hall of Fame.

R.I.P. Bill.

Saw a great stat that only Tony Gwynn had a lower strikeout rate than Buckner in the live ball era, and Buckner never struck out more than 40 times in a season.

Today, there are players striking out 40 times in a month!

Not to beat a dead horse, but Buckner had a better career than Harold Baines.

[DrMitchJ]

Saw a great stat that only Tony Gwynn had a lower strikeout rate than Buckner in the live ball era, and Buckner never struck out more than 40 times in a season.
Today, there are players striking out 40 times in a month!
Not to beat a dead horse, but Buckner had a better career than Harold Baines.

Agreed, nothing personal against Baines, but I think Buckner was more Hall worthy than he. (And I don't really think Buckner is HOF worthy ... he's close )

Another Stat that blew my mind
I believe it was how games with 3 (or 4 ?) strikeouts.

Ichiro had 20+
Gwynn had 1
Buckner had ZERO

[y2hood]

Well, that's just too bad, feel terrible for the family. It's weird though because I've watched family members go through the same deterioration and there's this weird since of relief amidst the mourning.

I hope all can find comfort in this time of sadness.

[Phillies_Joe]

One of my all time favorites especially when he played for the Cubs (not the Dodgers). Not sure why, but loved that he wore his cap under his batting helmet when he played for them. Very good player and a nice person as far as I can tell. RIP.

LKF - Little known fact...he was the player who climed the fence in the videos trying to catch / retrieve Hank Aaron's 715 HR. It was worth 715 gold coins (dollars) for the person retrieving it at the time. A lot of money in 1974 for a player just starting out. There was a Braves reliever (Tom House?) who got it and gave it to the Hammer.......

[DrMitchJ]

One of my all time favorites especially when he played for the Cubs (not the Dodgers). Not sure why, but loved that he wore his cap under his batting helmet when he played for them. Very good player and a nice person as far as I can tell. RIP.

LKF - Little known fact...he was the player who climed the fence in the videos trying to catch / retrieve Hank Aaron's 715 HR. It was worth 715 gold coins (dollars) for the person retrieving it at the time. A lot of money in 1974 for a player just starting out. There was a Braves reliever (Tom House?) who got it and gave it to the Hammer.......

Very cool info! Thanks!