Bill Buckner

William Joseph "Bill" Buckner (born December 14, 1949 in Vallejo, California) is a former Major League Baseball player who, despite an impressive 20-year career, is best known for a ground ball that rolled between his legs in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.

Career

Buckner played his first major league game in 1969 with the Los Angeles Dodgers (at the age of 19) and his last game in 1990 (at the age of 40) with the Boston Red Sox. He was an All-Star in 1981. He won the National League batting title in 1980 with the Chicago Cubs.

Related Topics:
1969 - Los Angeles Dodgers - 1990 - Boston Red Sox - National League - Chicago Cubs

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For his entire career, Buckner was known as one of the more consistent contact hitters in the major leagues: in 2,517 games, Buckner accumulated 2,715 hits and only 453 strikeouts. He four times led the league in most at bats per strike out (1980, 1982, 1985, 1986), and four times placed second in the category (1979, 1981, 1983, 1987). For his career he averaged 20.7 AB/K (compared to 18.5 for Joe DiMaggio, 10.9 for Ted Williams, 42.7 for Nellie Fox, 44.9 for Lloyd Waner and 46.3 for Tris Speaker).

Related Topics:
Contact hitter - Strikeout - Joe DiMaggio - Ted Williams - Nellie Fox - Lloyd Waner - Tris Speaker

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Originally promoted to the majors as an outfielder, he moved to first base when he joined the Cubs. At that position, he played 1,555 regular season games and made only 128 errors in 13,901 chances, but he will always be remembered for one error he made in the World Series.

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